TISCO - The World's Most Cost-Effective Steel Plant

The Phase I of a Wave was two weeks long. During this phase, the cost base was examined and the items that had a maximum impact on the bottomline were identified. Individual components of the larger cost elements were identified by drawing cost trees⁹. The cost elements, which could be reduced were highlighted and the reduction targets were set. In the Phase II of the Wave, ideas were explored to reach the set targets. At the G blast furnace, throughput¹⁰ and fuel costs were identified as the key performance indicators in the Phase II. Among the different individual components of fuel costs, coke and coal were the largest cost elements. They accounted for about 50% of the total costs. A reduction target was set to bring costs down to 570 kgs per thm¹¹ from 610 kgs per thm. In the Phase III of the Wave, ideas were generated to achieve the target output of 3800 tons per day. Considering the techno-economic feasibility, 36 ideas were short-listed. The ideas were then grouped based on the capital expenditure required for implementing each idea. The Phase IV of the Wave started with the implementation of these ideas. Simultaneously, the G blast furnace also implemented 185 ideas, which did not require any capital investment.