6 - A Case History–Allegheny Ludlum

Abstract

This chapter discusses the case history of Allegheny Ludlum (AL). Enormous hooks hold containers of hot metal, others move 20,000-lb coils of steel. A long ribbon of red hot metal moves out from under the continuous caster furnace at a barely perceptible rate of speed; the noise at times is overwhelming, and everywhere, the screens of small, grimy computer stations blink out of the gloom. Climbing several flights of steel-grate stairs brings one to where the steel recipe is blended for meltdown in the furnace. High up in the mill, the ribbon's progress can be followed toward a giant torch cutoff further down the continuous casting line. AL's primary product is a coil of steel. AL makes the raw product that goes to a manufacturer who makes pots, pans, and automotive parts. AL uses handheld terminals from Telxon, of Akron, OH, to track coil locations and to take inventory. Those coils move around among five or six different plants. The software from Novell has a standard programmatic interface called an Application Programming Interface. This allows AL to write a program on the same PC that is connected to the host and pass information to it from the handhelds.