trailer world issue One 2008

Title Above 70 % some steels start to corrode. “If you drive out of the warehouse without a tarpaulin you could well have white rust on the coils by the time you reach the works gate,” says Kosubek. 60 percent of the goods are transported by road and 40 percent by rail. The branch canal to the works harbour does not achieve the frequency that would be appropriate for a triple-mode transport approach. The fulﬁlment of the desire to move more and more by rail depends on the eﬃciency and re- liability of the carrier, as the steel logistics people make clear. So when the logistics processes were redesigned there were also managers from Railion at the table, in order to be able to satisfy the high demands of Salzgitter’s logisticians. Right at the top of the speciﬁcations for the freight subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn were timetabled rail movements with individual wagon tracking. One aim of the systematic integration of steel transportation at Salzgitter is to achieve a better information capability in relation to the custom- er. Because behind every tonne of steel that leaves the works there is an order and hence a company that cannot aﬀord any loss of production. “The software cannot do it all on its own,” says Harland. It’s about management systems that keep everyone involved equally well informed.” In several phases of the “Top Operating Process” (TOP), Harland and his crew have initiated a logistics oﬀensive in order to optimise volume and value ﬂows. The outcome is evident not only in the com- plete monitoring of the processes but also in terms of higher speed and better delivery quality. Whereas the throughput times used to be around 60 hours, today it takes just about four hours from generating the order through to the transport note to the steel haulier. Delivery reliability has been improved by an amazing 20 percentage points, to 97 percent. “In the 2007 customer satisfaction study we made a tre- mendous leap forward,” says Harland with delight. Logistics as a company-wide function is thus turning into a sales argument par excellence at Salzgitter Flachstahl. The next phase in the TOP process will be initiated this year: the establishment of an e-service platform, by means of which it will be possible to achieve paperless control and monitoring of processes. “Machines maintain themselves,” explains Harland, getting to the heart of the project: “People should be there to manage exceptions, not the routine.” In the end the web-based solution is intended to make steel produc- tion transparent for the customer, right down to the level of the individual item. (rp) »In the 2007 custom- er satisfaction study we made a tremen- dous leap forward.« Dr. Jürgen Harland (47) has gradually developed Salzgitter Flach- stahl into a logistics company that also produces steel. 12 Issue One 2008 Photos:Pusch,Fender

trailer world issue One 2008

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