October 2020
In lockdown time, when production, distribution, and the entire steel industry stopped, Bendotti crossed the boundaries and limitations imposed by the new regulations thanks to a simple intuition. Through a triangulation Italy – the USA – Canada, the company carried out for the first time a performance test, obtaining, consequently, the full acceptance of the order, total in remote mode.
The furnace in question is the second WBF erected for ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada for the Contrecoeur East plant, which started up last November, just five months after the reheating furnace for the Contrecoeur West plant. One of the plus points of Bendotti’s style has always been the proximity and assistance to the customer during all phases of project development, from design to assembly and subsequent start-up of the furnace. “Unfortunately, in this case” – explained CEO Michele Bendotti – “the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown have prevented our operators from going on-site to verify and monitor in person the performance of the plant, a phase that normally precedes the signing of the FAC – Final Acceptance Certificate. Hence the idea, simple but never used until now, of using a remote connection to access a workstation in Contrecoeur. Our R&D Manager from Costa Volpino (who developed the SW Level 2), in connection with our Programming manager PLC &HMI located in Kankakee, Illinois, was able to monitor in real-time the entire HMI, keeping all the variables necessary for the performance test under control. Following the verification of the plant at peak performance, we have achieved the signing of the FAC by ArcelorMittal. Everything in remote mode”.
Necessity is the mother of invention, and a simple technology such as remote connection allowed us to quickly get around the problem. Great satisfaction for our team and, perhaps, the beginning of a new “method”.
