STUDY ON SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AT VISAKHAPATNAM STEELPLANT (RINL), VIZAG

UNDER THE ESTEEMED GUIDANCE OF O.V.KISHORE

Senior Manager (Mktg) Marketing Department Visakhapatnam Steel Plant

PROJECT REPORT
(A project report submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of the degree of Master of Business Administration)

SUBMITTED BY N.SHANMUKHA PAVAN TEJ

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

FACILITED BY HR DEPARTMANT SRI O.R.M. RAO AGM (HRD) (HRD) VISAKHAPATNAM STEEL PLANT RINL, VISAKHAPATNAM STEEL PLANT VISAKHAPATNAM (2011-2013) SRI M.L.S. VARMA Dy. MANAGER

CERTIFICATE
This is to Certify that this Project work entitled SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AT VISAKHAPATNAM STEEL PLANT is a bonafide work done and submitted by N.SHANMUKHA PAVAN TEJ, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Master of Business Administration by the IIPM during 2011-13.

O.V.KRISHORE SR MANAGER MARKETING DEPARTMENT VISAKHAPATNAM. Place: Visakhapatnam. Date: 07/08/2012.

DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this project work entitled SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, has been undertaken by me in requirement for the award of Master Degree in Business Administration from INDIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT. I also declare that this project report is the result of my own efforts & that the same has not been submitted to any other University institution for the award of any degree or diploma.

Place: Visakhapatnam. Date: 07/08/2012.

signature of the student N.SHANMUKHA PAVAN TEJ

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I express my sincere thanks to Mr. O.V.KISHORE, Senior Manager (Marketing), of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, who have taken time and effort in helping me in getting proper information and guiding me throughout the project without which it would not have been possible for me to complete this project. I express my sincere gratitude to Mr. O.RAMA MOHAN RAO, Asst. General Manager (HRD), for giving me permission for doing the project in RINL. Its my great pleasure to extend my sincere thanks to the INDIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT for allowing me to do the project of my choice. Finally, I express my sincere thanks to my friends who have helped me giving ideas, providing information, records etc., for fulfillment of this project.

Place: Visakhapatnam. Date: 07/08/2012.

N.SHANMUKHA PAVAN TEJ

INDEX
Chapter I 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 HISTORY [01-24] 02 04 05 23

Development of steel industry in India Liberalization History of Visakhapatnam steel plant Major production units and Service Units

Chapter II

WARE HOUSES

[25-29]

Chapter III 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5

PROCESSING PLANTS

[30-48] 31 34 36 39 44

Coke Oven and Coal Chemical Department Sinter Plant Calcining and Refractory Material Plant Blast Furnace Steel Melting Shop

Chapter IV 4.1 4.2 4.3

FINISHING PLANTS

[49-57] 50 53 55

Light and Medium Merchant Mill Medium Merchant and Structural Mill Wire Rod Mill

Chapter V

DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

[58-62]

FUNCTIONS OF VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS CONCLUSION BIBILOGRAPHY

[63-68] [69] [70]

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER 1 HISTORY

Chapter 1

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

THE INDIAN IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY

Whats in a name? Nothing, one might say. For steel a century old metal-there additionally seems no reason for any possible non-unanimity of thought. But here precisely are the chances of our going wrong. True, like most Industries, the Indian steel industry has experienced the highs and lows of a business cycle that has been impacted by globalization and has been subjected to the vagaries of market forces in a liberalized setup. But at the end of it all, what we have today is a highly evolved, resilient and an ever-vigilant industry, which through adoption of state-of-the-art technologies has not only withstood the test of time but has also globally transformed the way men think and do business in steel. 1.1 DEVELOPMENT OF STEEL INDUSTRY IN INDIA: Steel Making as a craft has been known to India for a long time. However, its production in significant quantity started only after 1900. The Indian Steel Industry began with the setting up of Tata Iron and Steel Co. in 1911. The Chronological Order of the Events (pre independence): 1830 Joshua Marshal Health (who can be considered as a pioneer of modern steel industry in India) constructed the first manufacturing plant at Porto NOVO in Madras Presidency. But it was a financial failure. In 1874 James Ersking founded the Bengal Iron Works. It passed on to M/s.Hoave Hiller & Co., in 1882 and to M/s.Martin & Co., in 1885. 1899 it was due to the great vision and enterprise of Sri.Jamshedji Nusserwanji Tata that the Tata Iron & Steel Company (TISCO) was registered and in 1906 Sakchi in Bihar was chosen as the site for the Tata Iron & Steel Company (TISCO). The same place is now known as Jamshedpur. In 1911 the company started its production. Its initial capacity was 10000 MTs of ingots and within 2 years it achieved a capacity of 50000 MTs of Ingots per year. 1939 it reached a capacity of 1.5 lakh MTs per year. Chapter 1 2 By

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT In 1918, initially IISCO was founded and the Bengal Iron & Steel Company was merged with it in 1926. IISCO initially started to manufacture only PIG IRON for Export to UK and Japan. It started to produce Steel from 1939. Mysore Iron & Steel Ltd., (Presently known as Visvesvarayya Iron & Steel Ltd. (VISL) at Bhadravati in Karnataka was formed in the period 1940-50, owing to the pioneering efforts of Sri.Mokshagundam Viswesvarayya. Initially it started producing Charcoal Pig Iron. Only from the year 1936, it started producing Steel and after 1945 adopted Electric reduction of Iron Ore. Now it is producing Ferro Alloys & Special Steels. With help of abundant raw material available within the country, the Industry has grown significantly since independence. Prompted by the socialistic pattern of development, the license for large scale integrated steel units was received for the public sector. As a result, TATA IRON & STEEL COMPANY (TISCO) plant situated in Jamshedpur was the only integrated plant outside government control. Besides, the Government had price distributive controls over mild-Steel manufacturers. Imports were subjected to quantitative and tariff based restrictions and foreign investments were also restricted. Thus, till 1991, investment in this sector came mainly from plan allocations. The additions to capacity were also restricted. The additions to capacity were not uniform. During the first 3-five year plans, there was a significant addition to capacity-over 14 million MTs of crude steel. However, during the seventies and eighties, additional investment was not made due to lack of funds. The expansion of existing steel plants also suffered delays due to the scarcity of invertible resources. In the seventies, most of mini-steel plants (most ranging within 10,000 to 50,000 tons per annum capacity) came up with Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) technology, producing steel from scrap. These were set up in the private sector to meet shortage, which Arose due to stagnation in investment and capacity creation. In the eighties, steel units using electric induction technologies were introduced. These units were based on scrap and were best suited to cater to remote areas. The units, however, were not essentially cost-effective compared to the large integrated plants. Once the price control on steel was removed in 1992, these units could not 3 Chapter 1

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT withstand competition in the wake of rising electricity cost and increase in the price of steelscrap. At the time of price decontrol, mini-steel units based on EAF and EIF accounted for a combined capacity of 7 million MTs per annum. The steel industry development strategy took a paradigm shift in 1991 after four decades of elaborately controlled development. No doubt, of all the industries, steel received maximum support from the Government, but due to lack of competitiveness, the industry became inefficient. The departure from import substitution had a far-reaching impact. 1.2 AFTER LIBERALIZATION: The aim of liberalization policy measures has been that the Industry benefits from invertible resources for upgrading and addition of capacities through the participation of the private sector. The de-regulation of prices was to enable the participation of the private sector. The de-regulation of prices was to enable the industry to generate resources internally. Beside these industry specific reforms, overall measures taken for liberalization of the economy helped the steel sector. For example, the convertibility of the rupee made Indian steel products competitive in the international market. Indian units can use the availability of good quality raw material and cheap labor to their advantage. However, this advantage may not last long, as there is an effort the world over reduces manpower by adopting high level of mechanization. The fact that after the initiation of reforms, 19 new units had proceeded to implement Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) by continuous casting route cannot be ignored. To come up with an aggregate capacity of over 11 million MTs is ample evidence of powerful impact these reforms have had on the growth of the industry. A number of private sector enterprises have come forward to set up steel units. With increasing competition from within and more imports due to duty cuts, the domestic manufacturers are under pressure to reduce costs and improve technology. SAIL has undertaken modernization of its Durgapur, Rourkela and Bokaro plants. It involves conversion of traditional open hearth the ingot casting there are even better technologies available such as the BF-Electric Arc Furnace which facilities setting up of smaller units. The 4 Chapter 1

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT main challenger facing the steel sector is to exercise its own vision for growth. The more it moves away from the clutches of protection, the more efficient it will become. It should be allowed to upgrade its technology and export steel in a big way. CLASSIFICATION OF STEEL INDUSTRY: Steel Industry _______________________________________________________________ Integrated Steel Plants 1.3 HISTORY OF VISAKHAPATNAM STEEL PLANT: With a view to give greater impetus to Industrial growth and to meet the aspirations of the people from Andhra Pradesh, Government of India decided to establish Integrated Steel Plant in Public Sector at Visakhapatnam (AP). The announcement to this effect was made in the Parliament on 17th April' 1970 by the then Prime Minister of India late Smt. Indira Gandhi. A site was earmarked at Balacheruvu creek near Visakhapatnam city by a Committee set up for the purpose, keeping in view the topographical features, greater availability of land and proximity to a future port. Smt. Indira Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the plant on 20.01.1971. Seeds were thus sown for the construction of a modern & sophisticated Steel Plant having annual capacity of 3.4 Million Tons of hot metal. An agreement was signed between Governments of India and the erstwhile USSR on June 12th, 1979 for setting up of an Integrated Steel Plant to produce structural & long products on the basis of detailed Project report prepared by M/s M.N. Dastur & Company. A Comprehensive revised DPR jointly prepared by the Engineers from erstwhile USSR (now Russia) & M/s M.N. Dastur & Company was submitted in Nov' 1980 to Govt. of India. Feb'82 formed a new Company called Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. (RINL) and transferred the Chapter 1 The construction of the Plant started on 1st February 1982. Government of India on 18th Mini Steel Plants Re-rolling Mills Alloy & Special Steel Plant

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT responsibility of constructing, commissioning & operating the Plant at Visakhapatnam from Steel Authority of India Ltd. to RINL. Due to poor resource availability, the construction could not keep pace with the plans, which led to appreciable revision of the plant cost. In view of the critical fund situation and need to check further increase in the plant costs, a rationalized concept was approved which was to cost Rs. 6849 Crores based on 4th Quarter of 1988. The rationalized concept was based on obtaining the maximum output from the equipments already installed, planned / ordered for procurement and achieving higher levels of operational efficiency and labor productivity. Thus the plant capacity was limited to 3.0 Million Tons of Liquid Steel per annum. In the process, one of the Steel Melt Shops and one of the mills were curtailed. The availability of resources were continued to be lower than what was planned and this further delayed the completion of the construction of the plant. Finally all the units were constructed and commissioned by July' 92 at a cost of Rs. 8529 crores. The plant was dedicated to the nation by the then prime Minister of India Late Sri P. V. Narasimha Rao on 1 st August 1992. Since Commissioning VSP has already crossed many milestones in the fields of production, productivity & exports. Coke rate is of the order of 509 Kg/Ton of Hot metal, average converter life of 2864 heats an average of 23.6 heats per sequence in continuous Bloom Caster. Specific energy consumption of 6.07 G Kal / ton of liquid steel, a specific refractory consumption of 8.94 kg and a labor productivity of 265 Ton / man-year are some of the peaks achieved (during the year 2004-05) in pursuit of excellence.

Chronological order of events of VSP 1962 -1963: Minister of Steel and Iron announced 5th integrated steel plant at Visakhapatnam in line with report of BASIC (British, America Steel for India Consortium) formed to study a suitable location for the proposed plant. BASIC emphasized the then trends of locating plants at deep water sites in order to cater to exports on expanding scale. BASIC narrowed down to 6 Chapter 1

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Hospet (Karnataka) from the six potential sites offered by the Government before finalizing Visakhapatnam. The location for the plant was also confirmed by HSL (Hindustan Steel Ltd.) 1966 1969: After the preliminary announcement, there was no follow up on the matter due to several constraints on the part of the Government. It was at this juncture that Sri Tenneti Viswanadham, proud son of Andhra and a distinguished freedom fighter, led the relentless crusade for setting up the Steel Plant in Visakhapatnam. The tenacity of purpose exhibited by him and others during the period is reflected by the electrifying slogan Viaskha Ukku, Andhrula Hakku. The agitation gained momentum when the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi on 4th Nov 1967, wrote off the possibility of setting up the 5th steel plant in the country, citing non-availability of adequate resources as the reason. 1970: The agitation turned violent, which resulted in loss of 32 valuable lives and injuries to thousands. The Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi then made an announcement on 17 th April 1970 for setting up the plant in the proposed site at Visakhapatnam. The site selection committee was constituted in June 1970 to study alternate sites in Visakhapatnam area for the proposed integrated steel plant. The committee recommended area close to the sea coast near Balacheruvu creek. 1971: The site was formally inaugurated by Mrs. Indira Gandhi, on 20th January 1971.In February, the Government entrusted the preparation of feasibility report for the project to M.N. Dastur & Company (P) Limited, Calcutta. 1972: M.N. Dastur & Company prepared and submitted the feasibility report with a capacity of 2 million tons and concluded that a project with a capacity of 3 million tons would better optimize investments and costs. 1973: The Public Investment Board (PIB), Government of India, considered the feasibility report and asked for a detailed project report for further approval by the Government. Chapter 1 1974: First block of land was taken over on 7th April.

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT 1975: Formal order was placed on Dastur & Company for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR). 1977: M.N. Dastur & Company, finally submitted the Detailed Project Report (DPR) in the month of October. 1979: An understanding between the Governments of India and USSR for technical and economic cooperation for setting up the steel plant was reached on 12 th June. Visakhapatnam Steel Plant was to become the third integrated steel plant in the country to be set up with the Soviet Unions assistance after Bhilai and Bokaro steel plants. Cabinet approval for Visakhapatnam Steel Plant was accorded in June. The details of the project approved are given below: Details of the project report 3 Million tons SMS1 (1.08 million tons) consisting of 2 x Liquid steel capacity 130cum converters SMS2 (2.18 million tons) consisting of 2 x Project cost 130cum converters Rs. 2256 Crores

Government also requested for Comprehensive Revised Detailed Project Report (CRDPR) with firmed up cost estimates. The project that was conceived in 1962 took 8 years for in-principle sanction of the Government and further 7 years for the preparation of DPR. 1980: Subsequently M.N. Dastur Company and GIPROMEZ of USSR worked hand-in-hand to prepare a Comprehensive Revised Detailed Project Report (CRDPR), which was submitted to the Government on 30th November, which was duly approved.

1981: Construction of major roads, construction water and electrical supply, drinking water pump house and boundary wall were among the initial activities started during the year. Highlights of CRDPR are as follows: Details of CRDPR Capacity 3.4 million tons of liquid steel 8 Chapter 1

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Project cost Time schedule

2.983 million tons of saleable steel Rupees. 3897 Crores Six years (by December 1987)First stage of 1 million ton by 1985

1982: The project was originally conceived as one of the five operating units of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). With issues related to project management and execution of the biggest and most modern steel plant becoming unmanageable, the Government decided to form a new corporate entity called Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) for speedy execution of the Visakhapatnam Steel Project. Accordingly, RINL was formed on 18 th February. The year also saw the commencement of construction activities. Over 19,100 acres of land was already acquired out of the total requirement of 25,661 acres. 6,400 acres were exclusively for plant and 6,600 acres were earmarked for construction of township. Approximately 12,000 acres were earmarked for utilities like material storage yards and future expansion requirement, which were tentatively projected for 10 million tons but 25 years down the line the area was found enough for expansion up to 16 million tons. The immediate challenge for the project execution was that of establishing road and rail connectivity. Construction power lines were already in place. 1983: Even in those early days of computerization in India, the project adopted interim computer system SN-23 for project monitoring and other functional areas like Personnel, Finance and Materials management. There was tremendous thrust on construction activities like site leveling, civil and structural drawings, excavation; equipment ordering etc. and more than 50% of the work in each of the category were completed by the year end. Initial construction activities of dwelling units in township were started during the year. 1984: Though the company committed itself to nearly 60% of the construction and equipment ordering, funds availability was never commensurate with the project schedules, which were being adversely impacted and commissioning of the plant by December 1987 Chapter 1 9 looked increasingly impossible.

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT 1985 & 1986: There was a substantial increase in project cost above the sanctioned cost of Rs. 3,897 Crores as a result of escalations due to delayed implementation and under provisions in DPR estimates. This also raised questions about the economic viability of the project. In view of this, a thorough review of the project was done and rationalized concept was mooted as an alternative. Rationalized concept was formalized in consultation with Dastur & Company with the aim of reducing the capital costs without significant downsizing of the capacities envisaged in CRDPR. Changes were made in the downstream units of the plant starting from steelmaking as shown below: Iron making Steel making Original concept Rationalized concept Two 3200cum Blast furnaces (3.4 Two 3200cum Blast furnaces (3.4 million ton per annum capacity) SMS-1(1.15 Mt) strand bloom casters SMS-2 (2.25 Mt ) Three 130 ton converters and Six 4 strand bloom casters (Total of 3.4 million ton liquid steel Finishing with SMS-1 & 2) Light Medium products:0.71 Mt Wire rods : 0.6 Mt Medium Merchant & products: 0.7 Mt Mt Billets : 0.173 Mt Total : 2.983 Mt Total : 2.656 Mt Merchant Light Medium Merchant million ton per annum capacity) SMS 4-strand continuous bloom casters (Total of 3 million ton liquid steel)

Two 130 ton converters and Four 4- Three 150 ton converters and Six

products:0.71 Mt Wire rods : 0.85 Mt Structural Medium Merchant & Structural products: 0.85 Mt

Universal Beam Mill Products : 0.8 Billets : 0.246 Mt

The idea was to obtain maximum output from the equipment already installed or planned for procurement and achieving higher levels of operating efficiency & labor productivity than what was originally envisaged. 10 Chapter 1

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

To make the plant viable, it was felt necessary to operate it at high levels of efficiency comparable to international standards and achieve rated capacities in the shortest possible times. The challenge ahead can be seen from the comparative table below: Design for high levels of operational efficiency Capacity utilization of best 73.4% to 85% (Bhilai Cross 100% in the shortest integrated steel plant in India Steel Plant) during the period 1981 69 tons / man / year 230 tons / man / year (Bhilai Steel Plant) The rationalized concept submitted to Government in 1986 had presented a viable option to make the project a reality by making an optimum use of investments already made to the tune of Rupees 2335 Crores for construction during the period 1982 1986. The project was accordingly revised and scheduled for implementation in two stages, Stage-1 by 1988 and stage-2 by 1992. Facilities Coke Ovens Sinter Plant Blast Furnace Steel Melting Shop Stage 1 Batteries 1 & 2 Sinter machine 1 Blast Furnace 1 LD converter 1 & 2 Continuous casting Stage 2 Battery 3 Sinter machine 2 Blast Furnace 2 LD converter 3 Continuous 1985 Labour productivity possible time

casting &

Rolling mills

machines 1,2 & 3 machines 4,5 & 6 Light & Medium Merchant Medium Merchant Mill Wire Rod Mill Structural Mill

Capacities: Hot metal Liquid steel Saleable steel 1.7 Mt 1.5 Mt 1.326 Mt 3.4 Mt 3.0 Mt 2.656 Mt

In spite of the hectic project execution activities the focus on environment was never lost and against a target of 1 lakh trees, a total of 1.34 lakh trees were planted. Other soft issues like institutionalizing organization culture, mission and performance rewards got prominence during the period. A special task group was formed to evolve related policies. 11 Chapter 1

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

1987: The positive effect of rationalization resulted in construction work progressing at full steam. By this time commitments to the extent of Rupees 4,740 Crores and an expenditure of Rupees 3,034 Crores was already made. Government approved the revised cost estimates of Rupees 6,849.70 Crores, as a fall out of rationalized concept. There was buoyancy all around and in order to sustain the momentum and ensure high levels of commitment required to perform at international levels of efficiency the introduction New Work Culture that would distinguish Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in the coming years was planned meticulously. The basic tenets of the New Work Culture as it was put into action can be exemplified by the systems introduced: Multi-skilled work system Socially useful productive work such as plantation & horticulture during training Overlapping shifts for improving punctuality and smooth handing over / taking over of shift responsibilities Adoption of best operating and maintenance practices to cope with the high levels of automation envisaged for the plant Thus there was constant thrust on converting ideas into working systems. The clarity of purpose and comprehensiveness of thinking of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant collective can be seen from the direction set by the top management through mission and objectives, which show the intent towards all stakeholders: Mission: To produce steel at international levels of efficiency and strengthen the national economy. Objectives: To construct and commission VSP by July 1990 with in a cost of Rupees 6281 Crores To achieve rated capacity within 12 months of commissioning To operate and maintain the plant at international levels of efficiency and to achieve a place for pre-eminence for VSP in the Indian steel industry Chapter 1 To achieve and maintain labour productivity of not less than 230 tons / man / year To ensure quality products and meet market demands To achieve high levels of safety standards 12

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

To enrich the quality of life and work To provide for growth and development of the employees To develop well trained, motivated and talented work force which would form a nucleus for future development of the Indian steel industry To take measures for conservation of environment To act as a catalyst for the growth of ancillary industries and promote the welfare of the people of the area

1988: This was an eventful year in the history of VSP, as pre-commissioning activities in almost all the major technological units were started in the primary zones. Highlights of pre-commissioning and commissioning activities during the year Lighting up of first CO Battery thus becoming the third unit in the steel industry to use Butane-Propane gas for the purpose Commissioning of 60 MW Turbo Generator Commissioning of Raw material handling facilities Commissioning of Main Receiving Station

Afforestation was one of the thrust areas of the year. A 500 meters wide green belt along the boundary line was created. 1989: Godavari the biggest Blast Furnace (Volume of 3200cum) was ready for commissioning by the month of November but had to wait for commissioning due to the delay in completion of Yeleru water scheme of the State Government. Highlights of commissioning activities during the year CO Battery-1 along with By-Product Plant on 6th September Sinter machine 1 on 14th November

Apart from the brisk progress on technological front, employee welfare amenities like housing, medical facilities, subsidized canteens, consumer cooperative stores, cooperative Chapter 1 credit and thrift society and parks got prominence during the year.

13

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT During January, one millionth tree was planted in the project premises and the target of planting 3 million trees was firmed up as companys commitment towards pollution control, which meant 1 tree for every ton of steel that would be produced in the plant. 1990: Major highlights during the year include: Commissioning of Blast furnace 1 (Godavari) on 28.03.1990 by Mr. Bonda Kannaiah (Employee Number 100091), Khalasi, the senior most employee working in Blast Furnace area. Blast Furnace 1 (Godavari) was dedicated to the nation by the then honourable Prime Minister Mr. V.P. Singh on 03.05.1990 Visakhapatnam Steel Plant products like Pig Iron and granulated slag made maiden appearance in Indian markets Commissioning of Converter-A and continuous Casting Machine -1 of Steel Melting Shop during September and Converter-B and Continuous Casting Machine-2 in November Gross sales of Rupees 245.15 Crores was achieved during the first year of commercial operations (1990-91) VSPs commitment as part of social obligation of 5000 jobs for the people displaced due to the project was fulfilled during the year as a total of 5224 were recruited over the years. Safety incentive first of its kind in Indian steel industry was introduced in the first year of operations. Launch of small group activities in the form of Quality Circles during April.

1991: The year has been one of pride and achievement when all major units of Stage 1 were commissioned by October and the commissioning activities of Stage 2 started from the month of September with the commissioning of Continuous Casting Machine 4. VSP made its initial mark in international markets with the export of 1500 tons of Wire Rods to Japan and Sri Lanka. Considerable thrust was given to development of ancillary units during the year, particularly spares to the company. 108 local small scale industrial units were selected for development. Chapter 1 to downstream industry based on by products and upstream engineering units for supplying

14

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT 160 bed modern multi-specialty hospital - Visakha General Hospital- was inaugurated during the year. The hospital would cater to the health needs of the employees, their families and the peripheral villages. The project cost was updated to Rupees 8348.73 Crores. 1992: Highlights of commissioning activities during the year: Krishna Blast Furnace -2 by CH. Sai Ram (Employee Number 116040), Junior Trainee, the junior most employee in Blast furnace area Lighting up of Medium Merchant and Structural Mill furnace Lighting up of Coke Oven Battery - 3

With the commissioning of 3 million ton facilities, the plant was dedicated to the nation by the then Prime Minister Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao on 01.08.1992. Challenge now shifted from commissioning a gigantic Steel Plant to operating the plant with most advanced technological profile and achieves 100 percent capacity utilization. The year also saw VSP finish as the largest exporter of steel as company earned Rupees 212 Crores from exports in the first year of full-fledged operations (1992-93) with a view on employee development, comprehensive performance appraisal system was introduced for executives. Financial restructuring of capital base was approved during the year, to make company financially viable. Salient features of financial restructuring were as follows: Conversion of 50% of outstanding Government loans into equity and balance into non cumulative preference share capital Conversion of interest liability to Government into interest free loan for 7 years

The approved project cost was updated to Rupees 8529 Crores excluding mines. 1993: This was the year when VSP embarked upon cost reduction measures, which resulted in lowering of cost of liquid steel by 11% from the levels of previous financial year (199293). Energy conservation was a distinct thrust area for the company and the initiatives taken up during the year would lead Visakhapatnam Steel Plant becoming the most energy efficient The major initiatives taken up include: Chapter 1 15 plant in the country in the years to come.

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Changeover of Coke Oven Battery 2 from CO gas to mixed gas firing (optimized fuel mix) Commissioning and streamlining of auxiliary power generation stations like Back Pressure Turbines and Gas Expansion Turbines in Coke ovens and Blast Furnace areas

Commissioning of LD gas recovery plant Commissioning of computerized energy centre (SCADA) to optimize utilization of fuel and utilities

Thrust continued on export of iron and steel products. VSP maintained its position of largest exporter in the country with the volume of exports crossing 1 million tons during1993-94. Marketing network got a boost with opening of 6 new branches in the country, taking the total to 24, which would serve the company and the markets for a long time to come. With the operation of plant in full swing, spreading awareness on safety related issues was a priority. 11,342 employees and contract workers were trained on various safety aspects during the year. As a social movement under Green Visakha program, 15000 saplings were planted on a single day by involving residents of township and surrounding villages taking the total trees planted in the plant premises to 2.76 million. In order to promote ancillary industries various schemes for financial support and purchase preference were initiated. 1994: During the financial year 1993-94, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant achieved operating profits and cash profits of Rupees 50 Crores were recorded in 1994-95 for the first time. The year also saw quantum improvement in many of the techno economic parameters like BF coke rate, energy consumption, labor productivity, and refractory consumption and BF productivity. There was a visible thrust on standardization and improvement of various processes and as a result Wire Rod Mill became the first unit in the plant to obtain ISO 9002 certification. corrosion resistant rebars, non-rimming electrode quality and cold heading quality wire rods and high tensile structural steel products were developed and stabilized during the year. 16 Chapter 1 1995: During this year major thrust was on new product development. High strength

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT The concept of Strategic Business Units (SBU) was implemented in areas like Coke Oven and Coal Chemicals (COCD) and Project Engineering and Consultancy Services (PECS) to provide autonomy and ensure accountability. The company recorded cash profits for the second year in succession during 1995-96. 1996: Visakhapatnam Steel Plant got the MOU rating as GOOD from Department of Public Enterprises for the year 1996-97. After having stabilized the production at about 80% capacity utilization, the company formulated Vision 2001 to be self-supporting growing company with continuous improvements in productivity, quality and customer satisfaction. This was done through three exploratory workshops involving cross section of executives. Company spelt out its core values to define behavioral norms among the employees. The Core values identified were: Commitment Customer satisfaction Continuous improvement Concern for environment

1997: Corporate plan 2001-02 was released during the year. The focus of which was on optimal utilization and productivity improvement of existing assets with marginal investments. Solid waste utilization as a means of cost reduction was initiated. Thrust was on LD slag as replacement of lime stone in Sinter Plant and recovery of scrap from LD slag for charging into converters. Total Quality Movement (TQM initiative) was introduced in the company and all executives were extensively trained. Further Quality Action Teams (QAT) was formed for taking up TQM projects. 1998: As the accumulated losses exceeded the threshold of 50% of paid up capital the mater was reported to Bureau of Industrial Financial Restructuring (BIFR), it was proposed to converting a total of Rupees 3330 Crores of its loan and Rupees 791 Crores of interest component into equity and preference shares (1993 & 1998). 17 Chapter 1 convert Government loan into capital in 1998 With this restructuring Government would be

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Government directed the company to formulate turnaround strategy for the long term financial viability of the plant. M/s AT Kearney assisted by M/s Mecon was appointed as consultants for techno-economic study for turnaround strategy and profitability of the company. 1999: The agreed upon targets in Memorandum of Understanding with Government of India were exceeded for liquid steel and saleable steel. In spite of improvement in physical and fiscal performance of the company, the matter of BIFR report ability was still a cause for concern as the company was still awaiting the capital restructuring proposal submitted to the Government. The plant was accorded ISO 9002 certification from iron making to all downstream units covering all finished products making it first integrated steel plant to achieve this honour. 2000: For second year in a row the company exceeded the agreed upon targets in Memorandum of Understanding with Government of India in almost all areas of production and sales. Astute financial strategies of swapping the high interest loans with low interest loan and effective cash management put the company on the path of recovery as far as financial performance was concerned. 2001: The long cherished dream of the company to achieve rated capacity was realized during the year 2001-02.The company also received the MOU Award from Department of Public Enterprises for its performance in 2000-01. Specific energy consumption was at 6.62 Gcal/tls, which is the first instance of a Steel Company in India to breach the 7.0 level. Solid waste recycling continued to be thrust area and a major driver for cost reduction with initiatives like recirculation of pitch, coke dust and benzol muck in coke ovens, usage of coke dust in base mix etc. During the year the company was certified for ISO 18001 and ISO 14001. VSP along with Bhilai Steel Plant and Tata Steel participated in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study. 2002: The year 2002-03 has gone into the annals of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant as a year of spectacular turnaround. Factors leading to the spectacular turnaround are recorded as: 18 Chapter 1

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Innovation and up gradation of plant equipment Efficient operations management coupled with optimum waste utilization and cost reduction measures Marketing policies and strategies aided by speedy decision making to achieve record sales Healthy human relations with emphasis on motivation and morale boosting of employees Dynamic financial and cost management

The company achieved net profit of Rupees 520.69 Crores for the first time. Labor productivity of 253 t / man / year was achieved which exceeded the DPR norm of 230 t / man / year for the first time. To overcome the water crisis arising out of consecutive monsoon failures in the catchment areas of Yeleru reservoir (source of water for plant operations), VSP entered into an agreement with State Government to pump the water from Godavari river into Yeluru canal. This would help resolve the water crisis of not only the steel plant and the industrial belt in the vicinity but also the city of Visakhapatnam. 2003: Largely acknowledged as a year of consolidation, the company registered a net profit of Rupees 1547.19 Crores for the year 2003-04. Rated capacities were surpassed for third year in a row. The company was awarded the Prime Ministers Trophy for excellent performance in steel industry. During 2002-03, VSP achieved a composite score of 1.00 the highest score a public sector enterprise can achieve with respect to Memorandum of Understanding with the Government. Soon after the incredible turnaround that the company staged, it shifted its focus on ever changing competitive landscape. In order to assess the companys competitive position, opportunities in the market place and technological trends, series of workshops called Envisioning the future were conducted by involving 200 executives across the company to formulate vision, mission and objectives. Further brainstorming among senior leaders resulted in crafting strategies to achieve the objectives. Also Visakhapatnam Steel Plant The company took upon itself to pursue an ambitious vision of being a continuously growing world class company. 19 Chapter 1 collective identified fifth core value Creativity and Innovation.

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

2004: Though the company was still awaiting the approval of financial restructuring package by the Government, the huge profits made over two successive years had ensured that the company was no longer in the potentially sick category as accumulated losses had slid below the 50% of paid up capital. During the financial year 2003-04, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant became a debt free company. Corporate plan for expanding the plant capacity to 10 Million tons by 2020 was approved. Company posted net profits for the third consecutive year and set a record of Rupees 2008 Crores in net profit for the year 2004-05. Capacity utilization of 120% was achieved during the year. Companywide Knowledge Management movement was initiated during the year to develop a culture of learning and sharing. Information Technology (IT) infrastructure was put in place to facilitate gradual shift to online transactions. Transactions involving marketing, finance and materials functions were made online. 2005: The year saw Visakhapatnam Steel Plant achieve one of its challenging objectives: The company was placed among the five lowest cost liquid steel producers in the world as per the Long Product cost study done by Commodity Research Unit, United Kingdom Thrust was on informal communication channels to connect employees with top management. Initiatives introduced in this direction are as given below: Dil Ki Baat forum for executives to interact directly with top management Chairman Tho Mata forum for non-executives to interact with top management were introduced in the company. Chairman Online Web based system to interact with Chairman cum Managing Director During the month of October, Government approved the companys ambitious expansion plan of doubling its liquid steel capacity to 6.3 million tons by 2008-09 with an investment of Rupees 8,692 Crores. 2006: The year began with the achievement of the most daunting objective of company wiping out of the accumulated losses. The company was conferred with the status of 20 Chapter 1

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT MINIRATNA Category-1 by the Government of India in recognition of the stupendous performance over the years. On 20th May, honorable Prime Minister, Dr. ManMohan Singh laid the foundation stone for the expansion project of the company. With the expectancy of buoyant growth in the country, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant realigned its long term plans to meet the demand for infrastructure development and submitted a corporate plan of expanding plant capacity to 16 million tons by 2018 for the approval of Ministry of Steel. To overcome the crisis of increasing raw material prices the company forged Memorandum of Understanding with National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Manganese Ore India Limited (MOIL) for joint ventures to tide over the concerns of Iron ore and Ferro alloys. Continuous innovation in the core area of production to achieve highest levels of performance in the techno-economic front in Indian steel Industry has always been the hallmark of the company. The year saw Visakhapatnam Steel Plant crafting a roadmap for process innovation all along the value chain with the adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) during December 2006. With focus on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), objectives were formulated to integrate CSR with business strategy and participate in Global Compact program of United Nations. 2007: The year 2007-08 began with VSP being adjudged the best integrated Steel Plant for the year 2005-06, winning the coveted Prime Ministers Trophy for the 2 nd time. VSP also bagged the coveted CII Significant Improvement award in 2007. The year 2007-08 registered production level of 3.91 Million tons (Mt) of Hot Metal, 3.32 Million tons of Liquid Steel and 3.07 Million tons of Saleable Steel. Capacity utilization have been 115%, 111% and 116% respectively. The year had been a challenging one with RINL being confronted with a host of problems; the raw material crisis and the demand on increased maintenance due to ageing equipment, being more pronounced. Despite these hurdles, performance was satisfactory and the Chapter 1 conscious efforts to improve the value added Steel paid dividends. The production of value added Steel at 1.89 Million tons registered a 74% improvement over previous year and was 62% of the total Saleable Steel, the best since inception. 21

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT 1.4 MAJOR PRODUCTION UNITS AND SERVICE UNITS There are 10 major production units and 28 service units in the steel plant. Major Production Units 1) Raw material Handling Plant (RMHP) 2) Coke oven & Coal Chemical Department (C&CCD) 3) Sinter Plant (SP) 4) Calcining & Refractory Material Plant (CRMP) 5) Blast Furnace (BF) 6) Steel Melting Shop (SMS) 7) Light & Medium Merchant Mill (LMMM) 8) Medium Merchant & Structural Mill (MMSM) 9) Wire Rod Mill (WRM) 10) Roll shop & Repair Shop (RS&RS) Service Units: 1) Thermal Power Plant (TPP) 2) Air Conditioning Systems (ACS) 3) Central maintenance-electrical (CME) 4) Central maintenance-mechanical (CMM) 5) Civil Engineering Department (CED) 6) Electrical Repair Shop (ERS) 7) Electro Technical Laboratory (ETL) 8) Energy Management Department (EMD) 9) Engineering Shops & Foundry (ES&F) Chapter 1

22

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT 10) Environment Management system (EnMD) 11) Field Machinery Department (FMD) 12) Instrumentation Department (INSTN) 13) Information Technology Department (ITD) 14) Maintenance Management Systems (MMS) 15) Plant Design (PD) 16) Power engineering maintenance (PEM) 17) Production Planning & Monitoring Department (PPM) 18) Quality Assurance & Technology Development (QATD) 19) Raw Materials Department (RMD) 20) Refractory Engineering Department (RED) 21) Safety Engineering Department (SED) 22) Scrap & Salvage Department (SSD) 23) Spare Parts Cell (SPC) 24) Technical Services Department (TSD) 25) Telecommunications Department (TELE) 26) Traffic Department 27) Utilities Department 28) Water Management Department

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CHAPTER 2 WARE HOUSE

25

Chapter 2

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RAW MATERIAL HANDLING PLANT (RMHP):

Ware house consists of Raw material handling Plant receives the basic raw materials required for the steel making process from various sources through railway wagons and by road. These are stacked by stackers and reclaimed by reclaimers and distributed to various departments of steel plant through conveyor system. The Iron ore Fines, Iron ore Lump, Sized Iron ore, Limestone, dolomite, Sand, Quartzite and manganese Lumps are Stacked in coal yard. Coke is sent directly to Blast Furnace after tippling from ore and flux wagon tipplers. The raw materials are sent to various departments as indicated below: Sinter Plant : Iron ore fines, Limestone, Dolomite, Sand & LD Slag. Sized Iron ore, limestone, LD slag, Manganese Lump, Quartzite & Coke. SMS CRMP TPP COCCP : : : : Dolomite, Sized Iron ore, Dolo chips. Limestone, Dolomite, Dolo chips. Crushed Boiler Coal. Imported Coking Coal, Medium Coking Coal. Blast Furnace :

The Raw Material Handling Plant is divided into two sections: 1) Coal Handling Plant 2) Ore Handling Plant The facilities available in two sections are COAL HANDLING PLANT Two wagon tipplers Five ground and ten track hoppers Ten stock beds Boiler coal crushing plant Stackers, reclaimers & stackers cum reclaimers Reclaimers conveyors Stacking conveyors ORE HANDLING PLANT Three wagon tipplers Ten ground and track hoppers Twelve stock yard beds Lump ore crushing plant Lump ore screening plant Reclaiming conveyors Stacking conveyors

Peripheral unloading system for railway wagons coming directly up to pushers. 26

Chapter 2

SALIENT FEATURES OF RMHP

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Blender reclaimers for blending of ores and flux in which the bucker wheel has a lateral motion across the bed.

Wheel on boom reclaimers for reclaiming different materials from same bed in ore & flux yard and same type coals in CHP.

Two ring granulators for crushing of boiler coal. Three blender reclaimers for blending for blending of iron ore fines and flux. PLC control of all systems. Drier for drying SMS sized ore. Preparation of sized iron ore for use in BF to enable close size range of raw materials. Dust extraction system is provided at various locations of RMHP to absorb the dust generated during the process.

Raw materials sent to various departments are PLANT Coke Ovens Thermal Power Plant Sinter Plant Blast Furnace Steel Melting Shop CRMP RAW MATERIALS Imported coking coal, medium coking coal and primary coking coal Boiler coal Iron ore fines, limestone, dolomite, sand and LD slag. Sized iron ore, limestone, manganese lump, quartzite lump, coke, sponge iron, pellets and LD slag. Sized iron ore and dolomite. Limestone and dolomite.

RAW MATERIALS SPECIFICATIONS The different raw materials are stored in the beds of stockyards and ground hoppers and track hoppers and their identification, color and sizes as follows. SL NO 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . MATERIAL SMS Limestone returns Limestone(BF grade) Dolomite (BF grade) Manganese lump 27 SIZE 25mm. 6 to 80mm. 40mm. Chapter 2 6 to 40mm.

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

5 . 6 . 7 . 8 . 9 . 10 11 12 13 14 15

Sand and Quartzite lump Sized i ron ore Iron Ore Lump Iron Ore Fines Limestone (SMS grade) Dolomite (SMS grade) Coke Quartzite Lump Sponge Iron Pel l ets LD Slag -BF&SMS

0 to 3mm 10 to 50mm 150mm 10mm 50mm 50mm 10 to 60mm 10 to 30mm 3 to 20 20mm 10mm 10 to 30

MAXIMUM STORAGE CAPACITY AND NUMBER OF STOCK PILES IN RHMP Material No of stock piles & Approx size (M) Lump Iron ore Iron Ore Fines Sized Iron ore Limestone sintering Calcining Dolomite Sintering Calcining (flux grade) Manganese ore Sand Boiler coal Imported coking coal Medium coking coal 2-150*30*11.70 3-325*30*11.72 2-170*30*11.70 2-90*30*10.90 2-14*30*10.90 1-90*30*10.90 1-70*30*11.70 1-70*30*11.70 1-50*30*11.00 2-290*30*5.50 2-290*60*5.50 5-290*50*8.00 2-290*25*8.00 1*290*60*8.00 24 32 44 40 47 40 48 44 35 30 50 43 Storage capacity (days) Tons 116,039 343,543 133,907 39,613 97.165 65,773 19,806 22,489 7,574 135,850 312,396 72,640 STOCK Cum 47,636 163,592 54,656 24,758 60,728 41,108 12,379 9,778 5,410 169,812 390,495 90,800 Chapter 2 28

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Unloading Facilites: Facility Ore & Flux Rotary Wagon Tippler Wagon Pushers Track Hopper Ground Hopper Transfer Car 3 nos and 1200 tph 6 nos 10 nos & 155m3 each 10 nos & 155m3 each 1 no Numbers Provided Coal 2 nos and 850 tph 4 nos 1 set 1 set 1 no

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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER 3 PROCESSING PLANTS

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Chapter 3

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT There are 8 processing plants in the steel plant. 1) Coke Oven and Coal Chemical Department 2) Sinter Plant 3) Calcining and Refractory Material Plant 4) Blast Furnace 5) Steel Melting Shop 6) Light and Medium Merchant Mill 7) Medium Merchant and Structural Mill 8) Wire Rod Mill

3.1 COKE OVEN AND COAL CHEMICAL DEPARTMENT

Coal Preparation: From the storage yard, the coking coal is sent to foreign material removing section to remove foreign matter of above 150mm size. Iron traps for ferromagnetic articles and cylindrical screens are provided for this. For averaging and proportioning of coal , 16 nos of bins each 800 tons of capacity are provided along with continuous action feeders of up to 100 tons per hour capacity each. The crushing s carried out in reversible hammer crushers 2 operating and 1 standby. The crushed and blended coal is conveyed to two coal towers each of 4000 T capacity. Weigh bridges are provided under coal towers to weigh the coal charge. System of pneumatic blow down of blends provided i n the coal tower to take care of jamming of coal. Battery: The prepared coal charge in the coal tower is drawn by a charging car on the top of the batteries and charged into the ovens as per sequence. The charged coal is Chapter 3 gradually heated by the heating was of the oven in the absence of air to attain a temperature of 1000-1050o C at the central axis of the coke mass towards the end of coking period. The coking period is generally specified between 16hrs and 19hrs 31

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT depending on oven condition and product on requirement. The volatile matter of coal is liberated during carbonization is collected n gas collecting mains in the form of raw coke oven gas passing through stand pipes and direct contact cooling with ammonia liquor spray. The residual coke is pushed out of the oven by pusher car through a guide into coke bucket. The red-hot coke is taken to coke dry cooling plant for cooling. There are 3 batteries, each having 67 ovens. Each oven can ho d 32 tons of dry coal charge. The volumetric capacity of each oven is 41.6 m3.

COKE DRY COOLING PLANT: There are three coke dry cooling plants, each having four chambers. Capacity of each chambers 50-52 TPH. Each coke dry cooling plant consists of cooling chambers with individual after and lifting shaft, waste heat boiler, dust catching arrangements and smoke fan. The cooling chamber has two technological zones. Red-hot coke is charged into the upper zone where cooling takes place in lower zone by circulating gases. Gas is forced by smoke fan into distribution channels in the lower part of the chamber and fed into the cooling zone. The gas flows upwards and gets heated. Circulating gases enter boiler, cyclones and returned to bottom part of cooling chamber by smoke fan. The coke is cooled from 1000 - 1050 oC to 180-200 oC where the circulating gases are heated from 160-180 oC to 600 li 800 oC. The cooled coke from the cooling chamber is discharged on to the conveyor continuously through a rotary discharging system. COKE SORTING PLANT: From the dry cooling plant, coke is discharged into de dusting units by conveyor. De dusting units are provided with equalizing bunkers and belt feeders to compensate for irregularity of coke discharge from dry cooling plant. From the de dusting unit, coke is conveyed to crushing section. It is first separated into +70mm and -70mm fractions. The +70mm fraction is fed to two roller-toothed crusher (2nos. each of 120 TPH capacities). 32 Chapter 3

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT The crushed product along with -70mm fraction is conveyed to screening plant where 25to70mm and 0to25mm fractions are separated using roller screens. 25to70mm coke is conveyed to blast furnace. Bunkers of 600 tons capacity are also provided for loading i nto wagons J trucks and dumpers for sending to yard. 0 to 25mm fraction is fed to vibrating screens provided to separate into nut coke (10 to 25 mm size) and breeze coke (0 to 10mm). Nut coke is sent to blast furnace and breeze coke is sent by conveyor to Sinter Plant. The by products are Ammonia, Tar and Benzoyl.

33

Chapter 3

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

3.2 SINTER PLANT

SINTERING: Sintering is a process of Agglomerating iron ore fines into a porous mass by nc p ent fus on caused by combust on within the mass of the ore particles. HISTORY OF SINTERING: Iron ore fines (0-10 mm) which were a result of mechanized mining could not be charged in a Blast furnace because they reduce the permeability of burden in a blast furnace. These iron fines that were generated at mines could not ignored because of their huge quantity and High iron content. To use these fines effectively in a Blast furnace many processes were developed. Sintering being one of them and widely in integrated steel plants. Raw materials used in sintering: 1) Iron ore fines (0-10 mm) 2) Coke - used as fuel 3) Limestone & Dolomite - to maintain required sinter basicity 4) Sand - to maintain required sinter basicity 5) Metallurgical wastes - to use wastes effectively and thus reduce the cost of sintering 6) Lime - to enhance the process of sintering Sintering process 1) Preparation of various raw materials. 2) Mixing & Blending. 3) Mixing with sinter returns in presence of water to form green balls. 4) Charging on to the machine. 5) Ignition and suction. VSP SINTER PLANT-OVERVIEW: Sinter plant of VSP has the capacity to produce 5.256 MT of sinter per annum, which will cater for 80 % of I r o n bearing feed to Blast furnace. Two Sintering machines of 34 Chapter 3

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Dwight Lloyd type having 312 M2 total grate area are provided for this purpose.

Sinter machine is designed to operate at the rate of 1.2 T/hr/M2 for 330 days in a year.

Sinter plant consists of the following main sections 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) Flux crushing section Fuel storage yard Coke crushing & Flux screening sect on Receiving bins Raw material bins Material Mixing & Distribution Plant Base mix yard Secondary sinter mix & Pe et s ng P ant Sinter machine building with Sinter cooling

10) Fan building 11) Slime-dewatering pump house 12) Sinter Screening Plant 13) Gas Cleaning Plant 14) Air Cleaning Plant

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Chapter 3

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

3.3 CALCINING AND REFRACTORY MATERIAL

PLANT
CRMP i.e. Calcining & Refractory Materials Plant is an integrated unit of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. This plant plays a significant role in the manufacturing of liquid steel. The main customer of CRMP is Steel Melting Shop (SMS). Calcining has two units.

CALCINING PLANT: Calcining plant produces lime and calcined dolomite, which are used for refining of hot metal to steel in the converter. This plant has 5 rotary kilns of 325 tons/day capacity. Lime is produced by Calcining limestone and calcined dolomite is produced by Calcining dolomite. Limestone is procured from Oman & Thailand and Dolomite (SMS grade) from Madharam mines of VSP. The size of both the raw materials is (25 - 60) mm. Both the raw materials are received and stacked at RMHP. RMHP reclaims these materials and conveys to LSDS (Limestone & Dolomite Screening Plant) via a stream of conveyors. LSDS has two screens of 25mm size (VS6 & VS7) to screen out the m nus fraction from raw mater a s. The -25mm size is sent to RMHP for use in Sinter Plant. The +25mm size Limestone is stored in bunker 5 and +25mm dolomite is stored in bunker 6. These materials are then conveyed to the stone bins of all the kiln by operating the weigh feeders below the two bunkers. Limestone and dolomite are charged to separate kiln. The materials from the stone bin flows by gravity into the preheater. Material inside the preheater gets preheated by the hot flue gas coming out of the kiln and is then charged into the kiln by activation of hydraulical l y operated rams. The feeding of raw material into the kiln can be varied by regulating the frequency of the ram The fuel used for firing of the kiln is PCM (Pitch Creosote Mixture). This is supplied by CCP (Coal Chemicals Plant) through pipelines. This fuel is stored in four tanks in 36 Chapter 3 pushing.

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT pump house. Pump house pumps the fuel to the kilns through PHF unit (Pumping, Heating & Filtering Unit) of each kiln at 4-5 kg/cm2 pressure. This fuel generates a temperature of 12500C - 13000C inside the kiln to calcine limestone & dolomite. The product of the kiln, i .e. lime and calcined dolomite are discharged to a contact cooler provided for each k i l n . The cooled product is discharged and sent to the Flux Storage Building. Lime and calcined dolomite are screened and stored separately in Flux Storage Building. There are two 10mm screens in FSB as SMS requires +10mm size on y. The stored material is then sent to SMS as per demand. The-10mm size is sent to Briquetting plants, Sinter Plant, PCM, Water Treatment Plant and to outside sales.

The hot fuel gas coming out of the rotary kiln is passed through the preheater, cyclone and bag filter by ID Fan. Dust, carried by the hot gas, is separated in cyclone and bag filter and stored in dust hoppers and dispatched to Sinter P ant by pneumatic tankers. The clean gas i s then l et off through chimney.

BRICK PLANT: Brick plant produces Pitch Bonded Magnesia Carbon Bricks for lining of Converters and Steel Ladles. Total twelve shapes of bricks are currently produced: - CD1 to CD8 and LB1 to LB4. The main raw materials of brick are Sea Water Magnesia (SWM) and Fused Magnesia (FM). Sea Water Magnesia is imported from Ireland and Israel. Fused Magnesia is imported from China. Graphite Flakes is used as additives and Aluminum Powder is used as antioxidant. Liquid pitch is used as binder, which is supplied by COCCP by tankers. In mill house, SWM is crushed, ground and screened into different sizes of (0-0.2), (0-0.5), (0.51.6), (1.6-3) & (3-5) mm and stored in separate blending bunkers. Graphite & aluminum powder are stored in separate blending bunkers. These fractions of SWM and additives are collected by scale car from blending bunkers n predetermined quantities and Chapter 3 discharged into mixer. Pitch is added during mixing and mixing is done as per set mixing program. The mixer temperature is maintained between 1400C and 1800C.

37

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT The Brick Plant has two 1600 T capacity hydraulic presses to press these bricks. After pressing the green bricks are p aced on take-off belt. The green bricks are lifted from the take-off belt and placed on a tempering pallet manually. Pallet filled with the green bricks is then placed on a tempering car. The tempering of bricks is done at a temperature of 2500C. The tempered bricks are then packed in polythene covers and stored in Brick store. These bricks are dispatched to SMS as per requirement of SMS and RED.

38

Chapter 3

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

3.4 BLAST FURNACE

BURDEN HANDLING AND FURNANCE CHARGING: Burden materials are received in the stock houses, one for each furnace through a junction house. Coke is handled by two conveyors (one standby) 01600mm width and 350TPH capacity, sinter, lump ore by two conveyors (one standby) of 1400 iron width and 800TPH capacity, Sized ore and additives will be handled by one reserve conveyor of 1500mm width and 800TPH. Junction house has a cross over through rolling reversible conveyor and stationary reciprocating conveyor. For each furnace, there are 5 bins for sinter, 5 bins for coke, 3 bins for lump ore, 1bin for nut coke, 3 bins each for limestone/LD slag and quartzite used Silica bricks and manganese ore. Coke, sinter and iron ore are screened in screens upto 400m3/hr capacity to remove the fines. The screened material is fed to then inclined conveyor for burden handling to top through a horizontal conveyor. Conveyors for burden handling to top are of 2000mm Width 62160m3/hr capacity and are operated continuously. The materials are positioned in conveyor in separate batches at certain intervals and in a certain sequence as per preset programme. PLC systems provided for batching, weighing and feeding of the burden to the furnace top. The Paul wurth, bell loss top system is installed for furnace charging. The system consists of two bunkers of 47 cubic meter capacity each, charging moving hoppers rotating trough. All drives are hydraulically operated except for trough rotation and tilting which are electrically operated. Semi clean BF gas and nitrogen are used for pressure equalization in charging bunkers. Nitrogen is used for cooling rotating trough drive and for blowing off stock bin gates and sealing valves of charging arrangement. Mechanical gauge rods are provided for measuring stock level. Exhaust station and air cleaning plant are provided for handling system. The exhaust air is directed to electrostatic precipitators (2nos) for cleaning. The plant capacity is

39

Chapter 3

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT 3.65x10m3 hr. The dust content of air is reduced from 2.85 gm/cum to 0.1gm/cum, 200tons of dust is collected every day. The dust collected is balled in granulation plant and is automatically transported in trucks to Sinter plant. The burden handling system premises are hydraulically flushed600m3/hr water). Total effluents generation is 600m3/hr. After primary settling, the water is pumped to sinter plant for further use. HOT BLAST STOVES: There are four hot blast stoves for each furnace with a total heating surface of 224,000m2. The dome can be heated to a temperature of 1450 C maximum while the waste fuel temperatures up to 400 C. The stoves are capable of giving a blast temperature upto 1300 C. Stoves are heated by a mixture of blast furnace gas and coke oven gas having a calorific value of 1,100Kcal/N cum. Pressure of mixed gas before burners is 600mm W.C. Gas mixing stations provided to mix BF gas, CO gas in required proportion and to get the necessary calorific value. Separate stations are provided for each furnace. Mode of operation Of stoves in successive (staggered parallel also can be operated). High temperature zone is lined with scilica and mullite corundum refractories, medium temperaturezone, with kaoline refractors and low temperature zone with fire clay refractores. The shell of dome and cyndrical part is heat insuated with a heat proof gunnite concrete in high temperaturezone. Gaps between shell and walls are filled with mats from fibrous materials. Checker-work is lined with hexahedral refractors with round cells of 41 mm dia. Combustion chamber is in-built construction of elliptical shape. The chimney is of 80 m high, 3.5m diameter at the mouth. It is of reinforced concrete and fire clay lined. Stack for back drought is made of metal with refractory lining. Air supply for burners is centralized. Three fans (one standby) of 120,000 m3/hr, 1080 mmwc capacity each are provided for the purposes. Water cooling arrangement has been provided for cooling of hot blast valves and burner cutoff valves. Chapter 3 40

FURNACES:

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Two blast furnaces of 3,200m3 useful volume, each capable of producing 1.7MT of hot metal per year while operating for 350 days are installedThe lower part of the hearth bottom is lined with graphitized carbon blocks while upper parts with high refractory mullite bricks in the center and with carbon blocks in the periphery. Side was of the hearth are lined with carbon blocks in lower part and alumino silicate bricks are used for lining of bosh, belly and shaft. Furnace top is lined with non cooled steel slabs of suspended construction, when on cooled cast iron slabs are used for furnace dome. Insulation layer was provided between slabs and shell of dome. Lower part of the hearth bottom is air cooled. Peripheral cooling plates are used for cooling of upper part of hearth bottom, hearth, tuyerezone, bosh, belly and lower part of shaft. For middle part of the shaft, peripheral plates with independently cooled projections are used. There are 664 cooling plates. Besides, there are 32 breast coolers, 32 tuyere coolers, 32 tuyeres and 8 nozzles in furnace dome. The water requirement for coolings 5555m3/hr (6475m3/hrmax.) per furnace at 80mmwc. Clean re circulating water with suspended matter upto 50mg/litre is used. The hot metal is discharged into 140T hot metal ladles by rocking runners in cast house. Hot metal ladle cars are moved by a car pusher. At every notch a notch opening machine and an electric gun is provided. The cast house is circular in shape and two circular cranes 20/5+5 T and a circular platform (5m width) for maintenance and observation of tuyers stocks also provided. There are 16to20 casts in a day. Cast house has good aeration. Provision has been made for gas and dust exhaust from iron notches, skimmers, rocking runner covers and from housing of the drum of the conveyor from burden handling to top. Four mill fans (one standby) of 160,000m3/hr capacity and 900kgf/cmz pressure and two exhaust fans (1standby) of 492000m3/hr capacity and 430Kgf/cm2 pressure are provided. Dry cleaning of the gas is carried out in electrostatic precipitators, two horizontal type three fold precipitator is having needle type discharge electrodes and !S! shape collecting by dump track. Clean gas is fed to chimney of 5m dia, and 100m height. The total Chapter 3 electrodes C\2m height) ares provided. Dust is granulated and dispatched to sinter plant

41

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT capacity of the plants 972,000nrVhr. Dust content is reduced from 2.5gms/n3 to 0.1gms/m3 .About 60T of dust is collected day from two precipitators.

There are four railway tracks for hot metal transportation [two on either side] one service sub track and one track for flue dust disposal. Independent running railway tracks are provided for delivery of metal to each SMS. Two rail weigh bridges are provided for weighing hot metal sent to SMS and PCM. For auxiliary freights, automobile transport is provided. The furnace process control is computerized. Four gas off takes run vertically from furnace dome, which are connected to each other in pairs, firstly forming two vertical off takes and these two joining to form one central vertical off take which is connected to adjust catcher of 12m dia through a down comer. Dust catcher and gas pipe lines are lined with fire clay bricks. Moistening and discharge of dust is carried out by a screw conveyor. The furnace can be separated from dust catcher by 3,000mm dia cut off valve in upper part of the dust catcher. CAST HOUSE SLAG GRANULATION PLANT: The molten slag produced by the furnaces is fed to cast house slag granulation plant to produce granulated slag. Two granulation plants are provided for each furnace adjoining the cast houses on two opposite sides. Slag is discharged from the furnace 16 to 20 times a day duration of each discharge being up to 60 minutes. Each granulation unit comprises two process lines (one stand by), designed to receive all slag through two iron notches. Each process line comprises of one granulator, one slag air lift, one granulated slag dehydrator, one receiving bin and water supply re-circulating system. Steam from receiving hopper is discharged to atmosphere through a chimney. The granulated slag from the dehydrator is discharged into an intermediate hopper and from there it is fed to final storage through a conveyor system. The granulation of pumps in a quantity of 2000 m3/hr at a minimum pressure of 5atm in the granulator. Temperature of pumped water is around 90 degrees C. with an average suspended 42 Chapter 3 liquid slag is done by water jets and the granulation water is delivered by dredged

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT matter content of upto 2 g/liter. Through put of make up water is 300m 3 granulation plant. For air lifting thickened pulp from receiving bin to separator, compressed air is used. The handling granulated slag from both furnaces has a capacity of 600 TPH. Two conveyor systems one acting as standby is provided. The storage is open casting machines of 1700 TPD capacity are installed to treat off grade metal and metal diverted due to stoppages in SMS. The machines can handle one furnace production. Each PCM is served by a 75 T, overhead trolley to tilt the 140 T hot metal Ladle. Pig weight is about 45 Kgs. Facilities for lime washing of moulds and re-circulating water system for cooling the pigs, including a settling tank, is provided. The cold pig from machines are collected in wagons and sent to open ganty pig iron storage yard. The yard is of 300 x 40 m size and cold pigs are stored in separate lots according to grade. Two 150 T Rail weigh bridges are provided to weigh outgoing loaded wagons.

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3.5 STEEL MELTING SHOP

In steel melting shop of Visakhapatnam steel plant, LD process of steel making has been adopted. The liquid steel obtained from LD process is cast into Blooms through continuous Casting machines. Steel melting shop is divided into two major sections. 1) Converter shop 2) Continuous Casting shop Converter shop: 1) Bulk handling material section 2) Mixer shop 3) Converter bay 4) Scrap yard 5) Slag yard 6) Ladle preparation bay Continuous Casting Shop: 1) Tundish preparation Bay 2) Argon rinsing station & IRUT & LF 3) Gas cutting machines 4) Bloom storage yard. Mixer shop: It is very difficult to supply the hot metal from blast furnace to the converter as per its requirement, unless there is an arrangement for storing the hot metal in SMS. Mixer serves this purpose. There are two mixers in SMS. The capacity of each mixer is 1300 Tons hot metal. In mixer temperature of hot metal is maintained by burning coke oven gas with air. The mixer vessel is in cylindrical form with two removable spherical ends. Length of the vessel is 10.67 M and diameter is 7.64 M. The mixer is installed on a mixer platform and is served by mixer crane. The main units of the mixer are shell assembly roller support tilting Chapter 3

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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT mechanism, hand brake, gas & air distribution system, installation of blower, lubrication system, electrical system. The average life of mixer is about 1.6-1.8 MT, lining duration is about 30 days. To reduce abnormalities in LD steel making, blast furnace is supplying hot metal to SMS. BULK MATERIAL-HANDLING SECTION: The bulk materials used in converter shop of SMS. Calcined Lime Dolo used as flux in LD-converter. Requirement 6-10 T as per heat weight and hot metal composition, iron ore lump Uses gas coolant in steel making. Requirement 0.5 3.0 T as per blowing conditions. Raw or calcined dolo used to lining life of converter. Lump coke useful to pre heat the lining of newly lined converter. One of the requirements for continuous casting process is that the liquid steel should be killed. For this and to make different grades of steel, Ferro alloys coke breeze/petroleum coke and aluminum are added in the ladle during taping of steel from converter to ladle. CONVERTER BAY: Hot metal contains different impurities above safe level which make Pig Iron brittle. But steel is nothing but refined hot metal. Refining is only possible when things are in molten phase. Refining is done by blowing oxygen in the LD converter charged with Hot Metal, scrap, flux, iron ore etc. In this refining process temperature of liquid steel is kept at 1700 C. Different grades of steel are made by adding various ferro alloys & additives in different quantities during taping of liquid steel from converter to steel ladle. Oxygen is blown in the converter through oxygen lance. It consists of three concentrically arranged steel tubes with connecting branches for metal-flexible-hoses. Central pipe is for supplying oxygen, intermediate pipe is for incoming cooling water and outside pipe is for outgoing water. At lower part of lance there are 4 nos. convergent-divergent copper nozzles symmetrically arranged at 17.50 to the lance axis. During blowing LD gas is generated. This is a very poisonous gas because its main component is carbon monoxide. LD gas cooling, cleaning and collection system comprises of tube bar-tube type skirt, gas cooling hood and stack, closed over valve, flare-stack, gas holder 45 Chapter 3

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT etc. when the gas composition is acceptable it is recovered and collected in gas holder. Unacceptable LD gas is discharged through flare stack. SCRAP YARD: Scrap is used as coolant. Scrap may be heavy or light. Light should be less than 1.5 M. Sometimes cast pig iron is used as a scrap in case of shortage on steel scrap. Purpose of scrap yard is to supply scrap to the converter periodically without any interruption following equipments are available in scrap yard. 1) Scrap Box Transfer Car 2) Scrap Weigh Bridge 3) Scrap Box 4) Magnetic EOT Crane Scrap should not have dust, moisture or water, grease, oil etc. generally 15 T of scrap is charged in each heat. SLAG YARD: The slag generated in LD converter during refining of hot metal is collected in vessels called slag pots. This slag is dumped in the pits which are present in slag yard. For doing so, slag pots, slag pot transfer cars slag dump cars EOT cranes etc are needed. LADLE PREPARATION BAY: Ladles after prolonged use get worn out and need to be repaired. After one or two heats plates for slide gate control mechanism for teeming liquid steel need to be changed or repaired. All these and many other activities are done in ladle preparation bay. There are 26 steel ladles and 4 hot metal ladles in SMS. The bay will facilitate the following main functions. Horizontal Ladle Stand Vertical Ladle stand Relining pits Ladle Drier EOT crane For slide gate fixing, plate changing etc. For heating ladle For relining the ladles By burning coke-oven gas, ladle is heated To handle the ladle Chapter 3 46

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT ARGON RINSING STATION: The liquid steel which is taped from LD converter is not homogeneous in composition and temperature. To make the liquid steel suitable for continuous casting purpose by making it homogenous inert gas rinsing is done. Generally argon gas is used for this purpose. Both bottom and top purging facilities are available. Bottom purging is superior than top purging. When both are used at a time it is more effective. In general 12 minutes rinsing is done. For all the 3 LD converters steel transfer car track, 3 ARS are available. In case of LD-2 steel transfer car track IRUT is installed along with steel temperature rising, Argon rinsing is also done simultaneously to raise the temperature at IRUT oxygen blowing is done and simultaneously Aluminum is added. In ARS aluminum is also added for complete deoxidation and to increase Al% in liquid steel to make it suitable for continuous casting purpose. There is one furnace in ARS bay. In ladle furnace composition adjustment and liquid steel temperature rising can be done. Simultaneously Argon rinsing is also done along with the above said activities. In ladle furnace temperature of liquid is raised by electric arcing. There are 3 graphite electrodes for this purpose. When rinsing is over after achieving desired temperature and composition ladle covering compound is added at the top of liquid steel in the ladle. This reduces heat loss from ladle. TUNDISH PREPARATION BAY: Tundish is a refractory lined container having 4 nozzles through which liquid steel is poured in all 4 moulds of a C.C. machine at a time. Pouring of a liquid steel from tundish to mould is controlled by stopper-rod mechanism. During casting tundish is placed over mould and below steel ladle. Tundish maintains the constant ferrostatic pressure and it helps in floating of the nonmetallic inclusions at the top layer of liquid steel and thus-metallic inclusions are prevented from entering into mould. In tundish preparation bay used tundishes are cooled bby water/compressed air and lining is demolished. All the relining activities, stopper-rod assembly fixing are done in this bay. GAS CUTTING MACHINES: The strand which continuously comes from the copper mould after getting completely solidified should be cut as per our requirement to facilitate easy handling etc. In order to cut the blooms accurately a gas cutting machine using acetylene and oxygen is used. 47 Chapter 3

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Since the bloom travels with certain speed the machine used for cutting the bloom should travel along with the bloom. For this grippers are used which grips the bloom and travels along with it taking the oxy-acetylene flame with it. Each CC machine has been provided with 4 cutting machines to cut the four blooms at a time.

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CHAPTER 4 FINISHING CENTERS

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Chapter 4

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Visakhapatnam steel plant has three sophisticated Rolling mills designed to produce 2.7 million tons /annum of finished products from continuously cast blooms with a wide range of product mix. The mills are: 1) Light and Medium Merchant Mill (LMMM) 2) Medium Merchant and Structural Mill (MMSM) 3) Wire Rod Mill (WRM) Some of the salient features of the mills are: 1) High capacity and high speed 2) Automatic minimum tension control in stands 3) Double sided cooling beds of walking beam type 4) High capacity and high productive sawing lines. 5) Automatic bundling machines 6) Adoption of closed circuit TV at furnaces 7) Evaporative cooling systems and waste heat recovery

4.1 LIGHT AND MEDIUM MERCHANT MILL:

Keeping in view the latest developments the light and medium merchant mill is designed with the operation floor on a second store elevation namely 5 mts. This arrangement has many advantages. It provides better drainages for both lubricants and water mill scale. The oil cellars can be placed at slightly below the ground level without deep excavations but ensuring adequate drainage. The oil and water pipes and cable trenches are readily accessible. Blooms for LMMM are placed on charging grids of 150 tons/hr capacity each by 16 tons claw cranes. The blooms are then delivered to the furnace approach roller table by an inclined elevator from bloom storage roller table. The approach roller table is provided with a weighing scale, a tilter and disappearing stops. The blooms are positioned in front of the furnaces and then pushed by hydraulic pushers on to the charging skids of the furnaces. There are two nos of walking beam type furnaces of 200 T/hr capacity with double row charging. The blooms also can be discharged from the charging side of the furnaces in case of emergency. Heated blooms are placed piece by piece 50 Chapter 4

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT by discharging devices on to the furnace delivery roller table. The blooms are de-scaled by high pressure de-scaler. In five box passes and one each of diamond and square passes the blooms are reduced to 125 mm square in the 7 stands. The finishing speed will be 1.3 to 1.6 mts/sec. A four crank shear installed behind the mill stands is designed to crop both ends and to cut billet lengths as per requirement of WRM & sales as per requirement to achieve optimum yield in cutting. Billets feeding the LMMM are cropped at the front and back ends. Normally one bloom is rolled for LMMM and the next one for the WRM alternately billets are also aold. The billets for WRM and for sale are cooled on 2 turn over-type cooling base to a maximum discharge temperature of 400 C. these billets are picked up by magnet cranes of 16 T capacity in the intermediate billet storage and transferred to the transfer grids in the shipping area or dispatched for sale. Billets after cropping by the 4 crank shear and having a length of about 32 mts are transported to the in line 2 strand roller hearth furnace 0f 200 t/hr capacity. Billets normally arrive at the furnace with a surface temperature of 1100 C. billets are heated to a discharging temperature of 1150 C to 1130 C. The continuous multi-line mill comprises 8 stand double strand roughing train 2 nos 4 stand single strand finishing trains. Hoopers are provided in between the finishing stands for tension free rolling in order to obtain good surface quality and tolerances. Housings are of closed top type. Roll necks are mounted in anti friction bearings. Shears for crooping and emergency cutting are arranged ahead of the first of roughing mill stand and up stream of intermediate mills. Snap shears for emergency cuts only are ahead of finishing mill. The rotating shears after the finishing mills crop the materials leaving at rolling speed and cut into multiples of specified sales lengths. The finished bar now enters the cooling stretches. The are two cooling stretches each installed just downstream the last stand of the finishing mill. The purpose of the colling stretches is to cool down the rebars to such an extent so as to produce desired mechanical properties. It also serves to control the scale formation. Chapter 4

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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT The bar leaving the last stand of the finishing mill passes through a cooling stretch. The cooling efficiency of this installation is such that a surface layer of the bar is quenched into martensite the core remaining has been formed under the skin when the rebar leaves the cooling stretch a temperature gradient is established in the cross-sections of the bar causing to flow center to the surface which results in self-tempering of the martensite. Finally during slow cooling of the rebar on the cooling bed the austenitic core transforms into ferrite and pearlite. To achieve the required mechanical properties it is sufficient to maintain the tempering temperature within a pre determined range.

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4.2 MEDIUM MERCHANT AND STRUCTURAL MILL

The medium merchant and structural mill is one of the modern rolling mills of Visakhapatnam steel plant. It is the third and last rolling mill as per the rationalized concept. This is a single strand continuous mill having production capacity of 8,50,000 T/yr. the product mix of MMSM is shown

The important feature of this mill is that universal beams have been rolled first time in india the same weight the section is stronger and stiffer due to greater moment of inertia and higher radius of gyration. 53 Chapter 4 using universal stands. Parallel flange beams have advantage over conventional beams as per

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

The steel grades which can be rolled include mild steel, medium carbon steel, chromium steel, spring steel, forge quality, bright bar quality and various structural steels. The quality and tolerance of the finished products meet Indian and International standards. The mill is designed to achieve 50% DIN tolerance. PRODUCTION PROCESS: Blooms charged on the charging grid are conveyed one by one to furnace approach roller table which are weighed and charged to either of the furnaces in two rows. Heated blooms are discharged singly and rolled in 20 stand continuous mill. The maximum speed of rolling is 9 m/sec. four crank shear behind finishing train divides the bar optimally to charge the divided bar to either side of the cooling bed. After cooling the profiles which need straightening are straightened by an in line straightening machine and are collected into layers on the collecting bed. These layers are then fed to a cold saw line for cutting into desired saleable lengths. Each saw line consists of one stationary saw and two movable saws which are suitable for tandem cutting. After saw cutting the bar layers are conveyed to a cross transfer where visual inspection is done. Defective bars are tracked and piled/bundled separately. Rounds, angles and flats are bundled by the bundling machine where as other profiles are formed into nested packets by the piling machines. The packets/bundles are weighed and tagged with labels to identify the product size, heat no. order no, quality etc. before dispatch/transferring to storage yard.

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4.3 WIRE ROD MILL

The wire rod mill of VSP is high speed 4 strand no-twist continuous mill designed to produce 8,50,000 T of wire rod coils. The mill is designed to produce plain wire rods from 5.5mm to 12.7mm dia and rebar in 8mm, 10mm and 12mm diameter in coil form. However sizes up to 14mm are being rolled presently. The mill is constructed at an elevated level of 5350mm. Rolled billets of 125mm x 125mm square cross section, length ranging from 9.8 m to 10.4 m and weighing approx 1250 kgs are used as input material. The mill is designed to roll steel stock of 0.9% max. The rolled billets received from billet mill are placed on charging grid I&II at zero level in packet from with the help of electro magnet cranes. The billets are moved towards cross transport by means of 4 rope operated pawl transfer. The charging grid I has AC drive and charging grid II and transfer them to billet elevator. The billet elevator takes the individual billets to mill floor level at 5.35 m. using billet transfer device and billet positioning device, the packet of 4 billets are made on approach roller which are further carried to furnace entry using another 4 groups of roller tables arranged in tandem. After the billets are positioned in front of walking beam furnace, the walking beam of furnace collects the billets from roller table and charge them into furnace. The furnace is combined type walking hearth cum walking beam furnace of 200 T/hr capacity. The walking beam is operated by 180 bar hydraulic pressure system. The furnace is approx 42M long and 11M wide. The billets are heated to 1200 C gradually in 4 different zone using 60 flat flame roof and 6 long flame burners at bottom soaking zone. The in-house mixed gas of calorific value 2000 Kcal/nm3 is used as fuel. The mixed gas and combustion air is preheated to 250 C and 520 C respectively. In recuperators before combustion at burners. The heating time approx 71 minutes and each walking beam cycle is 72 sec in which billet packets are moved by 900 mm. the furnace is equipped with waste heat recovery systems i.e gas & air recuperators. The combustion products are let out into atmosphere through a 45 M high chimney. The complete process control is done by microprocessor based instrumentation control system. Slight positive and oxidizing atmosphere is maintained inside the furnace. The homogenously heated billets are discharged by hydraulically driven discharging machine called peel bar into groove of stand 1. 55 Chapter 4

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT A billet withdrawing machine is arranged furnace exit and stand 1. It uses pinch roll to feed or return billets from or into furnace. The four shiftable position billet switch is provided in front of withdrawing machine to feed four strands of mill individually. A 4 strand pendulum shear and high pressure water descaler is arranged between billet switch and stand 1. Presently these are taken out of operation. The roughing mill comprises of seven continuous 4-strand two high horizontal strands. The mil stand housings are of closed too design and roll are having morgoil oil neck hearing. The rolls of 610 mm dia x 1000 mm length are used at stand no.1 to 5 placed at 21 housing and rools of 490 mm dia x 920 mm are used in stand 6 & 7 placed at 16 housing. The primary reducer secondary reducer and universal spindles are used to connect DC motor drive and mill stand. The feed stock reduces to 46 mm square after reduction in each stand varies from 20-30%. The pass design is oval-round sequence and stand 7 is having square pass. The ovals are twisted using twist roller guide at oval pass delivery and fed to round pass through roller entry. At all other places static guides are used for guiding the stock to roll groove. Four rotating crop and cobble shears are provided after 7 one for each line. The cold & spilt front end of the bar head is cropped automatically before feeding to intermediate stand. In case of disturbances in forward equipments/areas the shear chops the complete stock into small pieces. The intermediate group of stand comprises of 6 two high horizontal stands. Rolls of 490 x 800 mm are used in 16 housing for stand 8 to 10 and rolls of 375 mm x 700 mm are used in 12 housing at stand 11 to 13. Roll material is SG cast iron. Roll neck bearing is of morgoil design. The stock is reduced to approx 23mm round and moves at about 5 m/sec after sstand no 13. The primary reducers and universal shafts are used to connect DC mill drives and mill stands. The roll pass sequence is oval-square and stand 13 is having round pass. The ovals are twisted by twist roller guides installed at each oval delivery and fed to round pass using roller entry guides. At all other places, static guides are used for guiding the bar. All the twist guides and roller entry guide rollers in roughing and intermediate mill are cooled by water & lubricated by oilair mixture. Roll passes in mill stands are cooled by water 3-4 kg/cm 2 pressure. Material from stand no 13 is fed to individual finishing lines using rod feed troughs. Chapter 4

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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT The 4-prefinishing blocks, one at each line, are installed ahead of stand 13. The rod feed troughs guides the stock coming out from stand 13 to pre finishing block via horizontal hooper. The pre finishing block is having one horizontal and one vertical stand enclosed in a closed housing & driven by a one common drive. The stock size is reduced to approx 19 mm round at this stage and speed goes up to as high as 8 m/sec. the tungsten carbide roll rings of 8 diameter are used in these stands for rolling of stock. These rings are mounted on a tapered shaft at 400 bar hydraulic pressure. A water cooling stretch named A1 water box is installed ahead of these pre finishing block to facilitate partial cooling of stock before final rolling at finishing block. This facility is used mainly during high carbon & rebars rolling for grain refinement & increased UTS in final wire rod. Water cooling at 12 bars & air at 6 bar pressure for stripping of water droplets from stock surface. A crop & dividing shear is provided ahead of water cooling stretch to crop cold front end of bar before feeding to finishing blocks. Also this gives a dividing cut to bar in the event of trouble in equipments in forward stream and the bar gets diverted to a chopper located at down 0 level with the help of 3-way diverter switch. There are 2 choppers installed which is common for line 1 & 2 and line 3 & 4. Horizontal looper is provided before 10 stand no twist finishing block. The looper ensures tension free rolling. The loop height control is automatic through computer using signals from loop scanners provided individually for all horizontal loopers.

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CHAPTER 5 DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

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Chapter 5

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT The marketing department started its operations with 24 branch offices and stockyards in various states are catering to the needs of the customers in various segments to have close coordination and instantaneous decision making. These are attached to 5 regional offices. 1) East 2) West 3) North 4) South 5) Nepal There are 295 enterprising persons working in marketing department which enabled us to achieve a productivity of more than 11,191 tons steel sales/man year. All the branch offices and regional offices are fully computerized with client-server environment. The stockyards are connected to Regional offices and Head quarters at vizag through a VPN for transmitting data at high speed. This helps in distributing 450 varieties of items from the manufacturing range of around 3500 varieties distributed in various stockyards to make available the right product at right time. This has enabled lower inventory cost. For effective material handling at stockyard, consignment agents/handling agents are appointed on long term contract basics and as business partners. They take the responsibility of unloading, transportation of material from siding to the stockyard, proper stacking, accounting and delivery of the right material to the customer. The material is moved to the stockyard by rail, but to improve our logistics, we are also dispatching some quantities by road and CONCOR to serve our customers better. The transporters are also our business partners playing very effective role. Movement of material in containers to stockyards, wherever railways siding is not available is also undertaken by us Chapter 5 in moving the material faster to the place of consumption.

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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT The marketing setup was envisaged for selling Mild Steel products only in the initial stages with our regular interactions with the customers from time to time at various levels like CMD, Directors, Head Quarters level, Regional Level, Branch Level and visits of cross functional teams, we could develop various grades of special steel products for marketing to actual end-use segments. This has improved our net sales realization/Profitability to a large extent. We have developed almost all types of special steels like, En series, High carbon, EQ, Chromium steels etc are also developing Boron steel for special applications. Marketing Department of Vizag steel plant with all its modern and innovative marketing tools is functioning at world class levels. This is evident from export of our products in more than 25 countries enabling us to be a global player in steel marketing. The total gross sales of Rs 8482 Crores during 2005-06 with a previous year by selling 3.30 million tons of steel. The main activities of Marketing Department are as follows: 1) Collecting Market feedback and Customers requirements for the preparation of Annual Plan in coordination with Works Department, for the sale of Pig Iron, Steel and Byproducts 2) Preparation of Marketing Policies 3) Finalization of Long Term Contracts, MOUs, Spot Sale Agreements etc., in Domestic and Export Markets 4) Preparation of Monthly Rolling Plans in coordination with Works Department for meeting the sale commitments 5) Processing of Materials like straightening of Coils, Cutting, Bending, Bundling, Packaging etc., at the Plant premises and in Branches to meet Customers demand as well as transportation requirements 6) Dispatch of products to various Stockyards by Road or Rail or to Customers from the Plant on direct dispatch basis 7) Operation of the Contracts for Transportation of Products by Road and Stockyard Handling/ Consignment Agency Contracts for Domestic Sales, Stevedoring Contracts and third party inspection agency for Exports Chapter 5

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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT 8) Sale of products at branches, Headquarters and on direct dispatch basis to the Customers in domestic markets and on Ex-Works and Free of Road/Free of Rail (FOR) Visakhapatnam basis in Exports subject to tying up of Commercial and Financial terms and conditions. Ensure documentation as per the procedures and as per the statutory requirements 9) Rendering after sales services, obtaining customer feedback and Customer Relations Management.

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FUNCTIONS OF VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS OF RINL/VSP

Directorate of Operations Production Planning and Control: 1) Formulation of long term production plans and infrastructure support. 2) Formulation of Annual and Monthly production plan. This involves detailed planning for product mix and value added Steel along with Marketing Dept. 3) Analyzing Plant performance against targets on a periodic basis and taking necessary corrective actions. Techno-economics and Quality: Formulation of Techno-Economic norms and Energy Management parameters and reviewing the same against targets periodically. Inputs and Basic Infrastructure: 1) Long term and short term planning for procurement of raw materials like Imported Coking Coal (ICC), Medium Coking Coal (MCC), Boiler Coal, Iron Ore Fines and Iron Ore Lumps etc., 2) Formulation of Annual Inward and Outward Traffic movement plan for raw materials and finished products in consultation with Marketing and Material Management Departments.

Repairs and Maintenance Planning: Planning of major Capital Repairs, Shutdowns, Spares requirement and ensuring preparedness before taking up the repairs.

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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Mines planning: 1) Formulation of annual and monthly production plans for BF Limestone, BF grade Dolomite, Mg Ore and Sand at VSP Captive Mines. 2) Monitoring of production and dispatch of Limestone, Dolomite, Mg Ore and Sand from Captive Mines.

Projects planning: 1) Long and short term planning for all developmental schemes of capital nature comprising modernization and technology up-gradation. 2) Planning and implementation of Additions, Modifications and Replacement (AMR) schemes. 3) Expansion of Plant Capacity from 3.0 Mt liquid Steel to 6.3Mt.

Research and Development: 1) Identification of Technological Improvement scopes for various processes and plan for adoption 2) of them by acquiring design and know-how capability. 3) Indigenous development of technology involving laboratory investigation. 4) Development of new grades and products in coordination with Marketing Department.

Information Technology: 1) Formulation of Organizational IT-Policy, IT-Security Policy and IT-Vision. 2) Identification of IT enabled projects for various processes and implementing the them.

Budget plan and control: 1) Identification of Budget requirement under various heads. 2) Control of the Budget and Spares, Consumables & Raw Materials Inventory. 64

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Systems and Procedures: 1) Streamlining the Contract Management System to ensure consistency of approach and adoption of sound principles of contract management. 2) Ensuring the implementation and maintenance of quality management system requirements for ISO 9001:2000 Certificate. 3) Monitoring pollution control activities of the Plant and interaction with the State and Central Pollution Control Board.

Project Division Design & Engineering Department: 1) Liaisoning with Consultants and Government Authorities in connection with designs, specifications, approval of drawings and Liaisoning work for various types of clearances. 2) Preparation of drawings, design and specification for AMR and Non-AMR jobs. 3) Assisting indenting departments in technical discussion with parties and preparation of technical recommendation. 4) Layout clearances of various facilities coming in the Plant and Township. 5) Operation of Consultancy contracts.

Construction Department: 1) Exercising supervision of work at sites both for quality and quantity checks. 2) Preparation of Contractors bills, processing of extra items and closure of contracts. 3) Liaisoning with Suppliers, MM department, Design & Engineering Department and Stores in connection with progress of work at site. 4) Arranging interactive training sessions (PAT/FAT) with all concerned departments like Works, Design, Consultants and Suppliers in terms of contract and handing over the unit to Works Department for operation.

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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Contracts Department: 1) Awarding of contract from the point on receipt of administrative approval from indenting departments. 2) Conducting commercial discussions with parties. 3) Arranging Tender Committee meetings and preparing recommendations for awarding work. 4) Preparing COM/Board Note for decisions at those forms. 5) Participating in claims and arbitration proceedings.

Project Monitoring Department: 1) To monitor the physical and financial progress of all the works executed by Construction department. 2) To monitor the progress of works executed by D&E as well as Contracts department. 3) Preparation of various types of reports for information of Government and different levels of Management. 4) Interaction with Departments and Consultant for updating the schedules and networks for Project Monitoring.

Directorate of Finance & Accounts 1) Making arrangement for long-term fund requirements. 2) Accounting of all minority transactions and preparation of financial statement of the Company and getting the same audited as required under law. 3) Maintaining records with regard to the cost of products produced by the Company. 4) Release of payments to suppliers/providers of goods and services. 5) Release of salaries to the Employees. 6) According concurrence to proposals for investments & expenditure as per the policies, procedures and the Delegation of Powers. 66

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT 7) Conduct Internal Audits, Stock Verification and Statutory compliance. 8) Making working capital arrangements. 9) Submission of periodical reports to banks as per their sanctioned terms. 10) Organizing for payment of Central Excise, Sales Tax, Income Tax and other statutory payments. 11) Co-ordination with statutory Auditors and Government Audit. 12) Generation of various MIS reports pertaining to F&A department for Management Information and Control.

Directorate of Personnel

PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT: 1) Manpower Planning 2) Employees Induction 3) Service Matters, Policy & Rules 4) Industrial Relations 5) Employees Welfare 6) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 7) Replies to Parliamentary questions 8) Official Language Implementation

Legal Affairs: Legal Affairs deals with all legal matters including Arbitration, Coordination with Standing Councils, Legal Advices etc.

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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Management Services: 1) The activities that come under the purview of Management Services are 2) Quality Circle 3) Suggestion Scheme 4) Incentive Scheme 5) Reward Scheme 6) Procedural Orders etc. Training & HRD: The activities that come under the purview of Training & HRD are 1) Leadership Training 2) Training on Motivation and Attitude 3) Team Building 4) Skill Training 5) Induction and Orientation 6) Plant Practice Lectures 7) Basic Engineering Lectures 8) Plant Specialized Training, 9) Management Development, 10) On the Job Training, 11) Multi Skills/SUPW and Mentoring.

Corporate Strategic Management (CSM): CSM is the think tank of the organization. The Department is engaged in formulation of VMO (Vision, Mission & Objectives) of the organization and developing the strategy to achieve VMO. It has various wings which inter-alia include Knowledge Management Cell (KM Cell). It has also developed the Corporate Plan of RINL. It takes up strategic tasks of the organization. 68

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CONCLUSION
This report describes the Supply Chain Management and its use in the company. Any company that is involved in the production of goods has a process which begins from purchase of the raw materials to the finished goods and reaching the final products to the market. Many of the company have an effective Supply Chain Management so that they can reduce their manufacturing cost and place their product at a competitive price in a short span of time. This report describes the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant effective utilization of their raw materials and also the by-products which are emitted during the process of the manufacturing of the goods and also the effective transportation system that is involved in reaching their product to the market.

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BIBILOGRAPHY

1) ORIENTATION TRAINING GUIDE FOR MANAGEMENT TRAINEES. 2) WEBSITE OF VIZAG STEEL PLANT - www.vizagsteel.com.

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