Tosyalı Harsco

Background

Turkish Steel Iron Leader

Tosyalı Holding established a strategic cooperation with a technology partner Harsco Environmental for the sake of creating a cleaner and more efficient metal production. This joint venture’s main focus is on metal recovery services and slag sales in the facilities of Tosçelik located in Osmaniye, Turkey.

In their facility they bring 1.2 million tons of slag waste back to the economy every year by using it as a raw material both for metal recovery and road construction, cement production, fertilizer production and other similar use cases.

A view of the scrap yard in Osmaniye.

Goals

Increasing Production Efficiency and Improving Employee Safety

At Tosyalı Harsco, the scrapyard spreads over 18 000 m2 with piles of scrap and slug all around the facility. 6 overhead cranes are then used to collect these and transport them from the scrapyard to the production for melting. On top of that there are also 2 ground vehicles operating in two different zones of the facility and also employees who oversee these processes and operate the machines on the ground.

A view of the melting process.

The first phase and core aim of this project was to track not only the real-time position of 6 overhead cranes, which are used to transport scrap around the scrapyard but also their activities – detecting the times when and places where the crane is loaded/unloaded, to increase the efficiency of the company’s production processes.

A view into the indoor facility of the Tosyalı Harsco Scrap Yard.

The focus of the second phase of this project was to improve the safety of operators within the facility by detecting dangerous situations where there is a close proximity between cranes and ground vehicles, which could potentially result in serious injuries and material damage.

Challenges

Harsh Metallic Environment and Challenging Data Processing

The scrapyard hall is literally packed with metal – from metallic parts to constructions, machines and overhead cranes that all contribute to the signal bouncing and blocking, making it harder to find a reliable and accurate technology for indoor positioning. Additionally, the fact that the facility is extremely dusty, presents additional strain to the RTLS hardware and its lifespan.

Harsh metallic environment with overhead cranes in the scrapyard hall.

Secondly, it was necessary to establish communication between the RTLS, which determines the location of each crane and the On-Edge Processors which determine the particular activity of each
crane.

Our technological partner Argeloji also had to take on the challenge of customizing the BlueOperation On-Edge Processors which are directly connected with the open/closed switches of the crane to be able to match the activity of the crane with its position.

Detail of the open/closed switch of the crane.

Direct Five Anchors Harsh metallic environment.

Another challenge was to ensure flawless cooperation and communication between three different softwares – Sewio RTLS, BlueOperation On-Edge Processors and Harsco Scrapmaster production management software.

Sewio RTLS produces 18 data logs about the positions of the different cranes every second, which need to be matched with data from the BlueOperation On-Edge Processors to determine the activity of each crane in that exact moment and all this data then needs to be crunched by the Harsco production management software, where operators need to be able to see it in real time.

Solution

Real-Time Positioning Recording the Activity of Each Crane

In order to cover the entire 18 000 m2 of the scrap yard with Sewio RTLS, considering the harshness of the environment in the facility, Argeloji had to install 83 anchors. All six overhead cranes had been equipped with Sewio UWB tags and two additional tags had been mounted on the ground vehicles to track their movement. Additionally, BlueOperation On-Edge Processors have been deployed on each crane in order to detect their activities and communicate those to the RTLS Studio.

Tracking of movement of the overhead crane in operation.

As for the safety use case, two virtual, so-called “dangerous zones” were created in those parts of the facility where the two ground vehicles operate and where dangerous situations could possibly arise. The RTLS system is able to recognize when a crane enters one of these zones. Whenever a dangerous situation like this occurs ground vehicle operators are warned by video and sound alerts to ensure their safety.

Ground vehicle operating both on the outside grounds and inside the facility of the scrapyard.

Last but not least, Sewio RTLS was fully integrated with BlueOperation On-Edge Processors and also the Harsco production management software, ensuring the smooth exchange of data needed to provide the operators with real-time and reliable data.

Results

Boost in Production Efficiency and Improved Employee Safety

Our partner Argeloji did a tremendous job in the implementation part of this project and managed to get the RTLS up and running within 2 months, which given the harshness and complexity of the environment is a truly admirable speed. Thanks to the fast implementation and launch of the system, the new platform has been delivering a positive ROI since shortly after purchase.

However, most importantly, obtaining full visibility and transparency of the material flow within the facility now allows for a continuous improvement of the processes, which led to an impressive 15% increase of production efficiency.

Inside area of the scrapyard with the overhead crane in operation.

On top of that, being able to detect the real-time positions of both cranes and ground vehicles allows us to evaluate dangerous proximities between the two entities and prevent accidents from happening thanks to alerting the operators. This led to a tremendous 20% decrease in the number of occurred on-site accidents and thus helped to significantly increase employee safety.

Inside the scrapyard, the ground vehicle in operation.

Key criteria for choosing Sewio

Reasons for Choosing Sewio RTLS

• Unlike RFID and Bluetooth or other automation alternatives, Sewio’s UWB-based technology works with higher precision, flexibility and can work in harsh metallic and variable environments;
• The ability to easily set an unlimited number of virtual zones that can be updated with a single click at any time in the future to adapt to the updates of the company’s processes;
• Proven successful IOT projects using methodology and technology, backed up by unrivalled 10+ years of UWB expertise;
• The ability to scale the system easily and quickly;
• The guaranteed long battery life, even with the high refresh rate needed for tracking movement;
• Short time for deployment (2 months only).