Johannesburg, 11 Oct 2005
EOH Manufacturing Systems, a division of EOH, one of SA`s largest consulting, technology and outsourcing companies, has been appointed by Intech Instruments, a Durban-based black empowerment partner to SAPO (South African Port Operations) to provide the ports in Saldanha with a material tracking system.
Intech was appointed principal contractor to SAPO for its central control room project in Saldanha in 2003.
Focused on providing manufacturing execution systems (MES), EOH Manufacturing Systems will provide SAPO`s iron ore terminal expansion project with a much needed material tracking system for its iron ore terminal.
"Our Wonderware ArchestrA-based material tracking system will track the iron ore from various mines, stacking it onto stock piles and reclaiming those piles onto selected ships. The project will primarily prevent iron ore contamination, ensuring the different grades of iron ore do not mix," says Ghalib Rassool, EOH Manufacturing Systems, Managing Director.
According to Rassool, the benefits to SAPO includes the provision of execution visibility to enable efficient route planning and stockpile selection as well as maintaining accurate and relevant records of all transactions and equipment utilisation and availability.
The iron ore terminal expansion project was initiated in 2002 with an aim to increase the throughput capacity of iron ore from 22 million tons per year to 38 million. The upgrade included the purchase of new equipment and upgrade of existing systems such as its Futuristix Wonderware control system.
"With Wonderware as our preferred platform, our main requirement was a system to track material into the plant that integrated with our existing technology. It needed to provide us with production efficiency information, full product traceability and ensure there was no contamination," says Shan Reddy, area manager, Central Control Room Upgrade, SAPO.
In conjunction to the material tracking system was EOH Manufacturing Systems` Wonderware Production Event Module (PEM) solution.
"New to material tracking systems, PEM enables the creation of applications to record production events, which are critical to understanding product and production history. PEM provides the capability to capture and report forward and backward genealogy of materials, equipment and personnel utilised in production, and all other relevant events that happened to a lot, batch, or serial number as it was produced," says Rassool.
The modular nature of PEM enables a scalable approach to building applications to collect data on product genealogy and production history. "Using PEM, small applications that target specific production issues or regulatory requirements can be quickly and easily implemented. These applications can then grow to accommodate a larger scope or enhanced functionality. In this way, it enables incremental, low-risk deployment of increased application functionality as requirements evolve," says Rassool.
According to Reddy, SAPO are already looking to further expand the handling capacity of iron ore terminal to meet the current demands, Reddy is upbeat about the progress made to date and is excited about the future expansion of the iron ore handling facility: "To date, we are very happy with the project progress made by EOH Manufacturing Systems` material tracking system and are expecting to see measurable benefits within the next two months."
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