AIS Advanced Information Systems, a joint venture between VAI and MCE, Austria, receives a contract from Sidor, Venezuela, to implement the SteelPlanner solutions to solve the daily challenge of planning and scheduling the facilities of its Flat Product division.

The first phase of the project, scheduled to be commissioned in July 2005, will address planning and detailed scheduling challenges with the implementation of the following SteelPlanner modules:

• Capacity Planning Optimization (CPO) for campaign planning of Sidor’s three continuous casters.
• Material Flow Coordinator (MFC) for cross-line schedule synchronization of Sidor’s hot end area.
• BetaPlanner MidTerm for optimal HSM campaign planning.
• BetaPlanner for optimal detailed scheduling of the HSM.
• AlphaPlanner for optimal detailed scheduling of Sidor’s three twin-strand continuous casters.
• ProductMatch for optimal slab to HSM order allocation or re-allocation.

The second phase of the project will address plant-wide capacity planning and detailed scheduling on the remaining facilities. This project is the start of a long-term relationship aiming at rolling out SteelPlanner on the complete flat product facilities of Sidor in Puerto Ordaz.

Sidor, Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela, is a company of the Techint group.

AIS is a leading supplier of planning and scheduling solutions for the metals industry. AIS Solutions increase efficiency of expensive heavy equipment by optimizing capacity planning and production schedules. The SteelPlanner^® family of Planning and Scheduling solutions are implemented and supported throughout the world through the combined efforts of consultants and integration specialists from headquarters in Linz and Brussels, as well as VAI group companies.

Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau (VAI), a company of the listed VA Technologie AG, is one of the world’s leading engineering and plant-building companies for the iron, steel and aluminum industries with a multinational company structure and special focus on technology, automation and services. VAI achieved total sales of 976 million EUR in 2003 and employs approximately 3,400 people worldwide.

MCE AG is a leading, manufacturer-independent service provider and life-cycle partner for the construction and servicing of industrial plants, buildings and infrastructures in Central Europe. The MCE Group achieved total sales of roughly 790 million euros in 2002 with a total of approximately 7,000 employees. MCE AG is owned and operated by the Andlinger & Co. Group.