By Daniel Brody        danielb@sems.us
Managing Director – Steelman Software Solutions Inc.

Now that I have your attention what does M.E.S. stand for? Well that is all well and good but what does a manufacturing execution system do? How can an MES system really help your business? Are there really companies that have return on investments from this type of system?

Let us see if we can answer these questions for you. A manufacturing execution system (MES) is the system layer that stands between the enterprises resources planning (ERP) system. And your control systems or shop floor systems which handle process control machine control safety systems and sensoring. MES tools measures and tracks the production process; such that the ultimate, insight is gained into the ongoing real-time manufacturing process within the company. Data serves as input to manage and report the activities within the plant as they occur this provides critical information enables a rapid response to developments and changing conditions that affect the workflow of the operation. With a MES solution information is available to employees throughout the company. In some operations computer screens are mounted in strategic locations on the production floor other companies may choose to work with PDA Devices using web based walk like technology so employees can check what’s going on from wherever they are.

How can the MES system really help my business? It does this in several ways, employees become aware of what is really going on within the plant the whole system provides strategic information that can be compared to historical data. This is important and allows employees the ability to adjust equipment schedules work flow and other things within the operation to better improve against the baseline for which they are being measured. The system measures and controls the; overall efficiencies and takes all the factors into account on the basis of online information about what’s happening on the shop floor.

It is important to know that the fact that various types of historical data are also available at the same time. To produce efficiently you must be able to plan efficiently. Efficiency planning uses the best plan which is carried out on the basis of stored data. Some systems however provide no history which means that important data is lost in such a system, planning is made on the basis of capacity, your previous production data this is far less accurate, planning on the basis of the best standard combination of product, machine and tools, remembered in the system. Measuring all parameters and setting boundaries for the main parameters such as routings, dimensions, cycle time, machine time and energy consumption as well as other equipment data.

A good system should provide a simple graphical interface something with a red, yellow and green like a traffic light shows whether the machines are within the stipulated bandwidth or not. When integrated with an industry specific ERP system like Steelman’s SEMS a company gets a fully integrated view from the order desk to the plant floor exactly what’s going on in real time. How can someone improve their business without having information? As the old saying goes knowledge is power. Unfortunately MES is another area where the overall steel industry has lagged behind other industries. How do you compete with offshore cheap labor when your people do not have the right information to improve your operations efficiencies?

When purchasing a MES solution it is important to create a baseline on your current productivity without this you cannot measure the return on investment (ROI). A good system after it up and running should provide less than one year ROI. This is a tall order for any solution but with proper integration to a leading vertical market ERP product and a correct understanding of the baseline of your business in modern MES solutions that will utilize the latest technology and can provide this quick ROI.

Let us now use an example from our industry:

If a large production run one that may last a week or longer on one particular piece of equipment with extensive possibilities for analysis we are looking to better manage the process. By comparing actual production data from our MES system with pre calculations provided by the ERP system we can identify possible breakdowns staging issues Manpower issues that normally would not be visible until it was too late. The new MES system should automatically detect breakdowns and break down times while operators linked to the orders give the reason for some breakdowns two to this we can inform our sellers during the delays and sellers can tell our customers. By calling up historical production information it is possible to minimize the often RE occurring breakdowns and the reason for the breakdowns. Due to this we can spot weak spots in production processes that will become visible. This leads to improved actions increase process efficiencies and drives productivity.

How do the MES dollars and cents work out for your service centers? You have contracts for 100,000 tones to laser cut parts for customers. You sell the contracts for $300 /t = $30,000,000 now your cost is $220/t if you had a tool that improved your productivity by 1% this would add at least and other $220,000 dollars to your bottom line. Now you know why you need a MES tools.

But that is not all; management needs at tool for making decision. What do they need? A tool called Business Intelligence (BI). It not as complicated as it sound and yes I am sure you can think of other thing to use BI acronym for with your IT staff. BI is an all encompassing reporting tool linking to all the company systems. Generally deigned to present data in a clear management snapshot to stakeholders; with the capability to drill down in to the underlying detailed data. We will discuss BI tools at a later date.

This has been by the brief overview of a MES I hope that you get a new appreciation of the possibilities of using the right tool for the right job. A MES tool set can provide you not just with the return on your software best but with continued improved productivity and profitability.

Steel Enterprise Management Systems® SEMS

STEELMAN Best Practices are the easiest way to set up a business solution that provides unlimited scalability, best-of-breed functionality, complete integration, and easy collaboration for your Metal Business. With SEMS you can reap business benefits quickly and eliminate as much risk as possible. SEMS provides you with the combined benefits of a powerful solution and proven business expertise that stems from over 15 years collaborative efforts between STEELMAN and its metal customers.

SEMS is designed to reduce operational costs, increase revenues and better manage metal service centers, distributors and processors through its state of the art web based information technology. SEMS provides integration from Quote to Invoicing and Purchasing to Payment. The integration insures high level of customer service for your customers with real-time ATP and CTP information.

SEMS addresses the unique requirements of metal manufacturers, which are not easily adaptable to generic ERP products. SEMS Automates the metal specific set up of customer-vendor-product profiles by shape and metal properties, standards, grades, chemistries and other customer requirements. SEMS reduces operational costs due to its efficiencies of being a metal specific solution and allows for reduction of human errors and claims and associated costs.

SEMS can save you substantial inventory costs by the use of our “Demand Planning” and Inventory Management modules. By reporting all of the demands placed on you by each customer, you are able to lower inventory costs by planning for these demands based upon historical sales, current sales and purchasing activities, therefore; having just the right amount materials on-hand. Best of all our system maintains a perpetual list of sales and inventory activities for better management reporting. This allows everyone to from sales, to production and executive management to accurately manage all aspects of your service center. You have all the integrated tools at hand to run a more effective, efficient and profitable sales and service oriented team.

Major Modules and Features

Metal Industry Specific Features

The Steelman Advantages – At a Glance

METAL SPECIFIC

• Shape Based                        
  
• Industry Standard and Grades            
  
• Heats and Chemistry                
  
• Metal Testing and Quality            
  
• Attributes                        
  
• Metal Terminology                
  

UNIQUE METAL FUNCTIONALITY

• Attribute Based Inventory Search            
  
• Outside Processing                
  
• Toll Processing                    
  
• Industry specific Master Orders, Inquiries, Sales and Purchase Orders    
  
• Tag and Heat Genealogy    
  
• Sales and Vendor Pricing Agreements        
  
• Full Costing History                
  
• Production Planning and Recording
  
• Scrap Control                    
  
• Customer and Vendor Claims                 
  
• Customer Consignments / Vendor Consignments    
  
• Storage Program        

RULE BASED

To suite the special needs of your business without costly customizations. For example: based on the Product, Grade, Size, Properties, and other attributes defined by you, calculate or select the followings:

• Pricing and Costing
  
• Work Center Capabilities
  
• Throughput Rates
  
• Preferred Work Centers
  
• Default Yield Losses
  
• Standard Tolerances
  
• Acceptable Test Results
  

INTERNATIONAL CAPABILITY

• Multi Currency                    
  
• Multi Units of Measure                
  
• Multi Language                    
  
• North American Customs Papers         

MANAGEMENT TOOLS

• Purchasing Demand Planning            
  
• Production Demand Management         
  
• Contract Management                
  
• Profitability Analysis
  
• Performance Tracking Screens / Reports        
  

• An assortment of other Reports                        

OTHER FEATURES

• Built-in Alerts as well as user triggered Alerts for attentions                            
  
• Emails                        
  
• Bar Code and Scanning                
  
• Notes throughout the System    
  
• External Documents and Images
  
• Drill Downs    
  

EASY IMPLEMENTATION

• User Configurable Screens            
  
• User Configurable Rules                
  
• User Definable Field Labels and Hints.    
  
• User Definable Sorting of Displayed Data
  
• There is no need to deploy all of SEMS functionality from Day 1. But if you do – now, or in the future as your business grows – SEMS are here to serve you.
  
• 100% designed for the Metal Industry, in the metal language you are accustomed to, for straight-forward implementation and use. No need to spend enormous cost and time to tweak and customize a generic system and run the risk of it not working for your business.
  

See our Web Site for more information http://www.esteelman.com

Chinese site http://www.esteelman.cn

Daniel Brody – Managing Director
Steelman Software Solutions Inc.
4850 Keele Street First Floor
Toronto, ON, Canada M3J 3K1

Telephone: +1-416-495-6939 x222
email: danielb@esteelman.com

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Data Survival of Instance Failure

Amazon EBS is designed to allow you to attach any instance to a storage volume. In the event you experience an instance failure, your Amazon EBS volume automatically detaches with your data intact. You can then reattach the volume to a new instance and quickly recover.

1. You are running an Amazon EC2 instance that is attached to an Amazon EBS volume, when your Amazon EC2 instance fails or is experiencing problems.
2. To recover, you detach the Amazon EBS volume from your instance (if it has not already automatically detached), launch a new Amazon EC2 instance, and attach the Amazon EBS volume to the new instance.
3. In the unlikely event the Amazon EBS volume fails, you can create a new Amazon EBS volume based on the most recent snapshot of your failed volume.

Amazon EBS API Overview

To configure and use Amazon EBS, we provide eight new API functions. This section provides a brief overview of each function.

API List

• CreateVolume—Creates a new Amazon EBS volume using the specified size or creates a new volume based on a previously created snapshot.
• DeleteVolume—Deletes the specified volume.

  This function does not delete any snapshots that were created from this volume.

• DescribeVolumes—Describes all volumes, including size, source snapshot, Availability Zone, creation time, and status (available, in-use).
• AttachVolume—Attaches the specified volume to a specified instance, exposing the volume using the specified device name.

  A volume can only be attached to a single instance at any time. The volume and instance must be in the same Availability Zone and the instance must be running.

• DetachVolume—Detaches the specified volume from the instance to which it is attached.

  This operation does not delete the volume. The volume can be attached to another instance and will have the same data as when it was detached.

• CreateSnapshot—Creates a snapshot of the volume you specify.

  Once created, you can use the snapshot to create volumes that contain exactly the same data as the original volume.

• DeleteSnapshot—Deletes the specified snapshot.

  This function does not affect currently running Amazon EBS volumes, regardless of whether they were used to create the snapshot or were derived from the snapshot.

• DescribeSnapshots—Describes all snapshots, including their source volume, snapshot initiation time, progress (percentage complete), and status (pending, completed).

Creating Amazon EBS Volumes and Snapshots

Creating an Amazon EBS Volume

To use Amazon EBS, you first create a volume that can be attached to any Amazon EC2 instance within the same Availability Zone. This example creates an 800 GiB Amazon EBS volume.

To create an Amazon EBS volume

1. Enter the following command.

   PROMPT> ec2-create-volume –size 800 –zone us-east-1a
   

   Amazon EBS returns information about the volume similar to the following example.

   VOLUME vol-4d826724 800 us-east-1a available 2008-02-14T00:00:00+0000
   

2. To check whether the volume is ready, use the following command.

   PROMPT> ec2-describe-volumes vol-4d826724
   

   Amazon EBS returns information about the volume similar to the following example.

   VOLUME vol-4d826724 800 us-east-1a available 2008-07-29T08:49:25+0000

Attaching the Volume to an Instance

This section describes how to attach a volume that you created to an instance.

To attach an Amazon EBS volume

• Enter the following command.

  PROMPT> ec2-attach-volume volume_id -i instance_id -d device
  

  Amazon EBS returns information similar to the following.

  ATTACHMENT volume_id instance_id device attaching date_time
  

Example

This example attaches volume vol-4d826724 to instance i-6058a509 in Linux and UNIX and exposes it as device /dev/sdh.

PROMPT> ec2-attach-volume vol-4d826724 -i i-6058a509 -d /dev/sdh

ATTACHMENT vol-4d826724 i-6058a509 /dev/sdh attaching 2008-02-14T00:15:00+0000

This example attaches volume vol-4d826724 to instance i-6058a509 in Windows and exposes it as device xvdf.

PROMPT> ec2-attach-volume vol-4d826724 -i i-6058a509 -d xvdf

ATTACHMENT vol-4d826724 i-6058a509 xvdf attaching 2008-02-14T00:15:00+0000

NoteDescribing Volumes and Instances

After creating Amazon EBS volumes and attaching them to instances, you can list them using the DescribeVolumes and the DescribeInstances operations.

DescribeVolumes returns the volume ID, capacity, status (in-use or available) and creation time of each volume. If the volume is attached, an attachment line shows the volume ID, the instance ID to which the volume is attached, the device name exposed to the instance, its status (attaching, attached, detaching, detached), and when it attached.

DescribeInstances lists volumes that are attached to running instances.

To describe volumes

• Enter the following command.

  PROMPT> ec2-describe-volumes
  

  Amazon EBS returns information about all volumes that you own.

  VOLUME vol-4d826724 us-east-1a 800 in-use 2008-02-14T00:00:00+0000
  

  ATTACHMENT vol-4d826724 i-6058a509 /dev/sdh attached 2008-02-14T00:00:17+0000
  

  VOLUME vol-50957039 13 us-east-1a available 2008-02-091T00:00:00+0000
  

  VOLUME vol-6682670f 1 us-east-1a in-use 2008-02-11T12:00:00+0000
  

  ATTACHMENT vol-6682670f i-69a54000 /dev/sdh attached 2008-02-11T13:56:00+0000
  

To describe instances

• Enter the following command.

  PROMPT> ec2-describe-instances
  

  Amazon EBS returns information about all running instances and volumes attached to those instances.

  RESERVATION r-e112fc88 416161254515 default
  

  INSTANCE i-3b887c52 ami-3fd13456 ec2-67-202-27-216.compute-1.amazonaws.com domU-12-31-38-00-35-94.compute-1.internal
  

  running gsg-keypair 0 m1.small 2007-11-26T13:20:35+0000 windows vol-4d826724
  

  RESERVATION r-e612fc8f 416161254515 default
  

  INSTANCE i-21b63c22 ami-3fd13456 ec2-67-202-18-227.compute-1.amazonaws.com domU-12-31-38-00-39-28.compute-1.internal
  

  running gsg-keypair 0 m1.small 2007-11-26T13:21:51+0000 windows vol-6682670f
  

Using an Amazon EBS Volume within an Instance

Inside the instance, the Amazon EBS volume is exposed as a normal block device and can be formatted as any file system and mounted.

Linux and UNIX

This section describes how to make a volume available to the Linux and UNIX operating system.

To create an ext3 file system on the Amazon EBS volume and mount it as /mnt/data-store

1. Enter the following command.

   $ yes | mkfs -t ext3 /dev/sdh
   

2. Enter the following command.

   $ mkdir /mnt/data-store
   

3. Enter the following command.

   $ mount /dev/sdh /mnt/data-store
   

Any data written to this file system is written to the Amazon EBS volume and is transparent to applications using the device.

Using an Amazon EBS Volume within an Instance

Inside the instance, the Amazon EBS volume is exposed as a normal block device and can be formatted as any file system and mounted.

Linux and UNIX

This section describes how to make a volume available to the Linux and UNIX operating system.

To create an ext3 file system on the Amazon EBS volume and mount it as /mnt/data-store

1. Enter the following command.

   $ yes | mkfs -t ext3 /dev/sdh
   

2. Enter the following command.

   $ mkdir /mnt/data-store
   

3. Enter the following command.

   $ mount /dev/sdh /mnt/data-store
   

Any data written to this file system is written to the Amazon EBS volume and is transparent to applications using the device.

For more information please contact Daniel Brody @ Steelman

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The Legacy, Oracle EBS and i2 solutions did not complete the full set of requirements Wheeling-Pittsburg had mainly speeding the time from client request for quote to a confirmed priced order. The other issues where to provide the commercial department with the tools to provide better order status, management of order that need outside processing and claims management.

Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation technology initiatives designed to drive business efficiency and enhanced customer service was the main goal of the project. The Company currently uses solutions from Oracle Corporation, i2 Technologies, and solutions from STEELMAN Software Solutions. These technology upgrades to Wheeling-Pittsburgh’s computerized financials, planning, pricing, order management, claims management, mill scheduling and production tracking tools are designed to help the Company gain a competitive edge.

Steelman provides commercial with a single tool to management more completely a client’s needs. Order turnaround from request to firm quote with price, route and schedule was reduced from days to hours. SEMS

“Steel is different, and it has a level of uniqueness that makes it difficult to use standard ERP-type solutions,” said Jeffrey Hoffman, director of Systems Integration, Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel. “We found that Steelman SEMS was not only a powerful commercial tool, but also very well-suited for the steel industry. ERP is driven by parts, but steel is a made-to-order product. Because of Steelman’s origins in the steel industry, their product is heavily endowed with attributes that work in our environment.”

SEMS addresses the unique requirements of metal manufacturers, which are not easily adaptable to generic ERP products. SEMS Automates the metal specific set up of customer-vendor-product profiles by shape and metal properties, standards, grades, chemistries and other customer requirements. SEMS reduces operational costs due to its efficiencies of being a metal specific solution and allows for reduction of human errors and claims and associated costs.

“Working together with metals industry leaders such as Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, we can share best practices across the industry to enhance customer service, cost costs and streamline business processes,” said Daniel Brody, Managing Director of Steelman. “In the steel industry it is necessary to be able to change products specification know costs, routing and schedules upfront in order to give a client the right price and still make a real profit, Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel can do just that. They can configure the solution for use across multiple facilities; eliminate manual intervention to pricing, routing, scheduling and production material allocation processes and increase mill utilization.

Steelman SEMS provide a quick and cost effective way for Wheeling-Pittsburg Steel to complete their Oracle EBS financials implementation on time and on a more frugal budget without having to customize Oracle EBS to fit the steel industries needs Steelman SEMS simply bolted on and solved the problem for them. For companies bogged with large scale implementation of SAP and Oracle EBS Steelman may be just what the IT team needs to efficiently solve the unique needs of the Steel Industry.

About STEELMAN Software Solutions Inc.

Originally developed in 1994 by experienced steel and systems professionals, STEELMAN Software Solutions Inc. is a Toronto-based software manufacturer specializing in the development and installation of enterprise-wide software solutions exclusively for suppliers and processors of steel and other metal products. Its strength comes from a proven understanding of the steel business gained from extensive steel industry consulting history, successful system implementations, key industry partnerships, and hands on management and sales experience.

Imbedded with the Oracle 10g infrastructure software, STEELMAN’s suite of products allow you to leverage your technology to increase profitability, stay ahead of the competition, and better understand your customers and marketplace. STEELMAN is an active member of the Oracle Partner Network and Intermec Honors Partner program. For more information contact STEELMAN at

416-495-6939 or visit www.esteelman.com

Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Enterprise provides a single reporting environment to author, manage, and deliver all of your reports and business documents. Data models can be built against practically any data source from database to web service to file and more. Utilizing a set of familiar desktop tools, users can create and maintain their own report layouts based on data from these diverse sources. Reports can then be viewed on line or scheduled for delivery to a wide range of destinations.

Self help training is available at http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/xml-publisher/demoshelf/shelf.html

Step 1

First go to Oracle OTN and download the installation file for Oracle BI Publisher http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/publishing/index.html download windows version. For Steelman Employees the file is centrally located at I:\Oracle\Current\BI_Publisher\bipublisher_windows_x86_101341\Windows\Oracle_Business_Intelligence_Publisher_Standalone. Once you have downloaded the files extract it and run Setup.exe.

Select Oracle home.

Next

Select Basic.

Next

Enter your admin password this is for oc4jadmin very important don’t for get it!

Next

INSTALL

You should see this screen when the installation has completed successfully.

Exit installer.

STEP2

You know need to start the BI Publisher’s OCJ4 Service.

NOTE:

To access URL for developing reports is http://your.server.com:9704/xmlpserver

Default user name is Administrator with the same password.

STEP3

If you did everything right you should have a screen like this and be able to logon to the server

STEP4

Now you need to create the JDBC connector to your databases. After you logon click on the Admin tab at the top of the screen. You will see Data source click on JDBC Connection.

Click on Add Data Source

Now add your database connection information this should be the same as what you are used to for TNSNAMES. Plus you need to add the user in this case for non production it is DA.

Don’t for get to press test connection to make sure it works.

Press Apply settings.

NOTE: BI Publisher is a web based development tool and you need to press apply and save on various screens to save your work or changes.

Your connector should look like this now!

STEP5

File share and structure:

Oracle saves reports under the tree: C:\oracle\OraBiHome1\xmlp\XMLP I recommend sharing this directory so reports that are developed under a user can be moved to the production folder.

Production folder: C:\oracle\OraBiHome1\xmlp\XMLP\Reports

User development folder: C:\oracle\OraBiHome1\xmlp\XMLP\Users

Users need read and write rights to the directory to be able to move items to production.

Promote & Earn

Would you like to earn money with our products? Steelman SEMS™ offers three types of promotion: the basic level, Affiliate, the Silver and Gold level, Reseller. These promotions allow you to sell our products and earn commissions (for affiliates) or get Wholesale Prices (for resellers). Read the following information and join immediately!

Affiliates

Affiliates can promote our SEMS™ software and get a commission for each sale they complete. Our affiliate program is simple, quick and free! After joining it, you can place a special link to our website on your website. Then, sit back and earn extra income from visitors who follow that link and buy SEMS™ as a result. For the first sale made by one of your visitors, you earn a commission of 5%; for following sales, your commission is increased to 10%.

NOTE. The following information is only intended for those who want to become our resellers or distributors.

Steelman is currently seeking resellers and distributors to help give worldwide users access to our products. Both general resellers and resellers active in implementation consulting and training fields are welcome. Compared to affiliates, resellers get higher profit, packaged products, full marketing support and additional benefits. Resellers need to be specially trained in demonstrating and implementing in advance.

If you would like more information, please contact us with a short description of your company, channel and activities.

Steelman is also looking for resellers in your area if you know of anyone who may be interested. More information on the resellers can be found on the partner page of our websitehttp://esteelman.com/?page_id=183.

Kindest regards,

Daniel Brody
Managing Director
416-495-0010

Current Global Partners

• ICOS a.s Kosice SK
• Kingdee International Software Group Company Limited – China
• Avance Solutions Inegraies S.C. – Mexico
• SteelGroup.Co.In – Mumbai India
• Boutique System EOH Pty Ltd – Scarborough Australia

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