SSAB is a leading producer in the global market of Advanced High-Strength Steels (AHSS) and Quenched & Tempered Steels (Q&T), strip, plate and tube products, as well as construction solutions with production plants primarily located in Sweden, Finland and in the US.
SSAB Europe recently selected IFS Cloud to support seven production plants in Finland and a total of approximately 2500 users, including subcontractors and mobile work order users, will benefit from the new solution once implemented. With IFS Cloud, SSAB Europe is replacing in Finland an old legacy maintenance system, which could no longer support the company. In addition to EAM, the solution will include maintenance planning board, IoT Business Connector, document management, quality assurance, warehouse management, mobile work order, B2B contracting for subcontractor and make personalized lobbies available to all users.
”We needed a vendor who could meet our requirements for advanced functionality particularly in predictive maintenance,” says Jarmo Valtokari, Project manager at SSAB Europe.
Digitalization of predictive maintenance
According to Jarmo Valtokari, digitalization is one of the key elements in SSAB Europe’s strategy. The company is aiming to build a digital platform for production asset management, where business and production continuity and development are key success factors. Support of digital transformation for predictive maintenance was not possible in their previous solution and this was one of the drivers for selecting IFS.
Improved business processes
Another key driver was IFS’ single platform, which is easy to expand as the business grows or changes and which provides all users with the best user experience through the user interface IFS Aurena.
Communication between stakeholders in SSAB as well as production facilities, different organizations and across processes will benefit from the fact that all information will be stored in one location and can be accessed from anywhere.
“Improved cooperation between maintenance and production is probably the most important benefit that we are looking to gain” Jarmo Valtokari, Project manager at SSAB Europe.
Cooperation is also crucial when it comes to maintenance. IFS Cloud will bring a lot of flexibility into maintenance, but also a wider use of the system. Jarmo Valtokari also expects that the data collected will be of higher quality and more diverse, and it can be used in developing their operations.
Photo credit to SSAB
Support for fossil free steel production
In 2021, SSAB made history by producing and delivering the world’s first fossil-free steel to a customer. The trial delivery was an important step on the way to a completely fossil-free value chain for iron- and steelmaking and a milestone in the HYBRIT partnership between SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall.
This is groundbreaking not only for the company but also for the environment. Transformation into fossil free production on an industrial scale will take time, and in addition to the digitalization of SSAB, it will have major impacts on production, ways of working, maintenance, and in improving cooperation.
Digital transformation will not only ensure business process transparency, consolidation and harmonization of processes and data it will also give access to high-quality insights to drive improved decision-making.
Evergreen future for SSAB
IFS Cloud will be delivered to SSAB Europe in Finland as a cloud-based solution with regular updates twice a year, instead of, for example, massive upgrades every five years. According to Valtokari, cloud-based solutions enable easier implementation of mobility in terms of network infrastructure. SSAB Europe sometimes work in areas with low connectivity, so it is an advantage that e.g. IFS Mobile Work Order can also be used offline. IFS Cloud will also bring increased transparency both for SSAB and their contractors.
Introducing a new EAM system requires change across an organization, and buy in from employees is crucial. When employees get familiar with the new system, and the new ways of working and operations are streamlined, Valtokari believes that the benefits will be easy to see and measure. Customized lobbies, new user interface and the fact that IFS Cloud is available via multiple devices – not just on laptop or desktop computers – will be of great benefit to all the end-users.
Learn more
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All photo credits to SSAB.
