World class manufacturing: A steel industry case study

The steel industry is faced with a challenge to remain competitive and cutting edge. This is mainly due to the decline of steel demand over the last decade. The low steel demand creates a competitive environment that requires companies such Company Y to produce the steel at lower cost, on-time and at the right quality. Company Y is a multinational steel company with operations around the world including South Africa and Germany. This research paper uses a comparative case study method specific to World Class Manufacturing (WCM) to improve quality, cost and reliability between Company Y Germany (Site B-with WCM) and Company Y South Africa (Site A-Without WCM) sinter-making plants. The comparison study finds that Site A lost just above 30 million rand due to the lack of efficiency (i.e. low optimisation on raw material and fuel rate). In addition Site A has 15% more defective material and lower plant reliability with total unplanned stoppage time of 519 hours. The key solutions to close the gaps of the drivers of cost, quality and reliability between Site A and Site B are the following: Implement raw material management system to ensure the by-products are used, create a quality plan that manages quality from supplier to end product and implement autonomous maintenance.