Tata Steel & ABB: The Power of Modernisation Projects
Steel production plays a pivotal role in India's economy.
In 2023 alone, India produced over 140 million tonnes of crude steel, contributing significantly to both domestic infrastructure and exports and positioning itself as the worldâs second-largest steel producer.
The sector drives substantial global revenue, with steel exports exceeding 7.5 million tonnes, in 2023, contributing about 2% to Indiaâs GDP and enhancing its global competitiveness.
At the heart of this industry is the city of Jamshedpur, known as the "Steel City", which was established by the founder of Tata Steel over a century ago and continues to serve as a major hub for the nationâs steel production.
For Tata Steel, a company synonymous with Indian steelmaking, the ongoing modernisation of its operations is essential to remain at the forefront of an increasingly competitive global market.
Despite the efficiency of traditional bar millsâbuilt on decades of standardised processesâthere are inherent limitations as to how much they can be optimised through conventional methods alone.
To overcome these constraints, Tata Steel turned to ABB's deep domain expertise and technological prowess to modernise its new bar mill and attain better productivity, yield and availability, among other benefits.
Tata Steel and ABB have shared a close and productive relationship for over five decades, built on a strong foundation of mutual trust and technological collaboration.
This partnership is driven by a joint mission to reduce the carbon footprint of steel production, which recently reached a new milestone with the successful modernisation of Tata Steelâs bar mill in Jamshedpur, India.
Steel demand in India is expected to rise by more than 300% by 2050, rising from approximately 103 million tonnes in 2021 to 430 million tonnes by 2050.
This is, in part, driven by major infrastructure projects, rapid urbanisation and industrial growth spurred on by government initiatives such as the National Infrastructure Programme and Housing for All.
These programmes are creating a significant demand for Thermo-Mechanically Treated (TMT) bars, products which are essential for reinforcing concrete structures in buildings, bridges, highways and other critical infrastructure.
With these projects in play, Indiaâs projected consumption of steel is set to surpass 206 million tonnes by 2030, solidifying the need for increased domestic production.
Faced with increasing demand in the market and the need for greater operational efficiency to produce more using less energy and fewer resources, ABB set about the project to update and enhance operations at the mill, levelling up Tataâs efficiency at the Jamshedpur site.
Building on the deep integrated knowledge that a partnership of this kind necessitates, this project not only addressed the challenge of the Jamshedpur millâs obsolete controllers and input/output (I/O) modules on the way to greater production levels and significant downtime reductions but continues the principles of driving innovation, efficiency and sustainability across Tataâs global operations.
The need for modernisation
Tata Steel's Jamshedpur bar mill is a crucial component of its production network.
As India’s first steel plant, Jamshedpur holds historic importance, but it is also a major contributor to Tata Steel Jamshedpur’s output today, producing around 11 million tonnes of steel annually.
With the rising demand for high-strength TMT bars – especially for infrastructure and construction projects across the world – the mill needed to enhance its operational efficiency and system reliability to stay competitive and continue to serve a rapidly evolving market.
This growing demand highlighted several areas for improvement for Tata Steel. Firstly, the mill's outdated control systems were becoming a bottleneck, limiting performance and hindering productivity.
The reliance on hardware-based shear control complicated diagnostics, making it difficult to proactively identify areas for maintenance.
Furthermore, ageing legacy systems meant that expertise and support were becoming increasingly scarce, reducing the mill's ability to respond to market changes and capitalise on opportunities.
Modernising these systems was critical not just to address these technical limitations but to ensure Tata Steel could meet market demands for high-quality TMT bars, increase its production capacity and maintain energy-efficient operations.
To meet these challenges, Tata Steel sought to modernise its bar mill by implementing a superior system for rolling mill control than the existing, obsolete system already in place. The goal was to optimise processes, increase production capacity and enhance energy efficiency.
Key areas for improvement
The modernisation project, which began in February 2021 and concluded in December 2022, focused on upgrading the bar mill's automation and control systems to boost efficiency and reliability.
ABB replaced the obsolete Advant AC450 remote modular controllers (RMC) and S100 technology I/O with the more advanced AC 800PEC controllers and fast I/O XF801s.
Why are these upgrades important to Tata Steel’s production? In essence, the new controllers allow for greater precision in controlling the speed, tension and timing of steel production processes.
This level of accuracy is vital because bar mills operate at extremely high speeds, where even small errors can lead to defects, wasted material or machine wear and tear.
By implementing more responsive and faster control systems, Tata Steel can ensure that every stage of the production process is optimised. This results in smoother operations, fewer production delays and an increase in both output quality and quantity.
In particular, the new system allows for faster detection and resolution of issues, significantly reducing downtime.
The improved diagnostic capabilities help operators quickly identify faults and take corrective action, enhancing overall efficiency.
This ensures that Tata Steel can meet increasing market demand while maintaining consistent, high-quality production standards, ultimately helping the company stay competitive in a rapidly growing sector.
A unified approach
One of the critical success factors of the project was the strong, longstanding collaboration between Tata Steel and ABB.
This deep-rooted relationship allowed both teams to work closely together throughout the project, navigate challenges and deliver the desired results.
ABB's involvement extended well beyond the completion of the modernisation project, demonstrating its commitment to long-term support and continuous improvement.
As a trusted partner, ABB continues to provide remote monitoring and diagnostic services to Tata Steel, ensuring that the bar mill operates at peak performance.
Leveraging its expertise in automation and control systems, ABB offers comprehensive support in identifying and resolving operational challenges, such as cobblesâdefects that can occur during the steel rolling process.
Results
The modernisation project delivered significant, quantifiable improvements across key performance indicators (KPIs).
Tata Steel achieved a double-digit increase in productivity and equipment availability.
This growth was driven by ABB’s precision length optimisation, improvements in the rotary entry system (RES) and self-adaptive shear control systems, all of which worked together to streamline operations and boost output.
Programmable logic controllers (PLC) related delays saw equally substantial improvements, with a reduction of almost 70%.
Additionally, the upgrade resolved concerns with the obsolete Advant AC450 PLC, ensuring seamless operations moving forward.
By minimising downtime, ABB’s solutions allowed Tata Steel to maximise operational efficiency and meet the growing demand in the Indian market more effectively.
Sustainability gains
A key outcome of the project was its contribution to Tata Steelâs environmental initiatives.
The modernisation enabled the mill to reduce waste and energy consumption by improving yield and minimising defects.
The systemâs ability to prevent cobbles and rejects reduced the energy required to recycle defective materials, indirectly contributing to energy savings.
Overall, the operational improvements resulted in a leaner, more efficient operation that aligns with Tata Steelâs sustainability vision.
Tata Steel anticipates that the upgraded control systems will continue to optimise plant operations for at least a decade, with the potential for further refinements over time.
ABB remains committed to supporting Tata Steel, providing ongoing remote monitoring and support to ensure continued optimisation of the bar mill.
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