JSE-listed CS Holdings is to implement a manufacturing execution system (MES) at Skorpion, a zinc recovery plant close to Rosh Pinah in Namibia. It is due to go live by the end of the first quarter of 2003.
The plant is owned and operated by Anglo American plc`s Namzinc subsidiary. The new system provides for production scheduling, production control, final product quality control and cast house metal accounting at the Skorpion plant, while at Luderitz it takes care of product dispatching and receiving, warehouse management, product shipping and intranet access.
"The solution integrates the plant and shipping facility in such a way that access can be obtained from any Anglo American operation around the world," says Tony Nassis, automation and IT manager at Namzinc. "We can see the entire supply chain - how the production facility is running, shipping logistics, how much stock is being held, how much is expected, and when it is due to be shipped. Additionally, the system can be used for future operation predictions.
"From a business intelligence perspective, we have all the information we need at our fingertips right from the outset, so all we have to do is apply the intelligence in our knowledge workers against that information to optimise performance and manage our stock logistics effectively."
Skorpion produces 150 000 tons of super high-grade zinc per annum, which is shipped daily via the shipping facility at Luderitz, approximately 200km away. The MES implementation follows CS Holdings` development of a solution based on the MESA`s (Manufacturing Execution System Association) S95 standard and using the Microsoft tool suite for development and integration.
The new system, says Dave Vink, executive director of CS Holdings, illustrates an innovative and practical approach to MES, and to partnership - in this case a close relationship between CS Holdings and Microsoft. Vink`s ultimate aim is to use the S95 base structure to reduce the software development requirement of future systems to that of integration software only.
"Our vision is to address a market sector traditionally serviced through bespoke solutions with an integrated solution requiring very little software development or coding. It will include the integration nerve centre, business process specification and business intelligence component. It will enable the integration of all the low-level components into the MES systems, from manual and computer-based systems to external parties, tying them in with the business process flow and providing an execution system that covers every aspect in the production area, including planning, quality management and warehousing."
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CS Holdings provides business and IT solutions that enable sustainable competitive advantage for clients through reduced cost, managed risk, improved efficiency and added effectiveness. This is done by means of integrated solutions that incorporate the complete value chain of strategy formulation, best practice business processes, appropriate information technology and optimised people effectiveness.
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