Abstract
Problem Statement (Relevance): To make a justifiable decision about the relevance of production process improvement action taken it is important to have reliable data and to save time on the identification of quality, production and economic performance indicators of such action. Objectives: It is necessary to develop and justify a method of evaluating the action performance with random disturbances affecting the production. Methods Applied: The method is based on integral estimation of the response of the process studied to the input disturbance. The switching function of the test signal is generated based on the Walsh function, the order of which depends on the type of random disturbances affecting the process of interest. Originality: The study helped develop and justify a process performance evaluation method.The unique features of the Walsh function combined with the integral performance estimation technique help eliminate the effect of any random process factors. Another important advantage of the proposed method is a reduced time that is required for the comparative analysis of two simultaneous upgrades, strategies of or approaches to production management. Findings: The article describes the results of the practical application of the proposed method. The method was applied to analyse the performance of an action aimed at enhancing the performance of a control system which controls the slab reheating furnace within a hot wide-strip mill. This optimization was aimed at reducing the heating cost due to energy saving. The performance of the upgraded system was analysed based on the specific consumption of natural gas. The main random factors affecting the fuel gas consumption included an unbalanced performance of the furnace and the percent of the hot charge. To eliminate the effect of the above mentioned disturbances the 4th degree polynomial approximation was chosen with the total experiment duration of one month. The new system proved to be cost-effective as it enabled a 2.7% decrease in the specific consumption of natural gas. Practical Relevance: The proposed method of estimating the performance of two opposing approaches to enhancing the quality, production and economic performance indicators provides quick access to reliable data and supports optimization decisions with regard to any production process or research project.
Keywords
Integral estimation, performance evaluation, Walsh function, switching function.
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