Project Group alongside Bay-Forge Private Limited in the revamping of Radial-Axial Rolling Mill

Bay-Forge, a FOMAS Group Company, our long-term client, committed to Project Group the revamping of a key plant for the Indian worksite: Radial-Axial Ring Rolling mill capable of producing rings with diameter up to 6 meters.

The scope of work was to modernize the plant, which was suffering from component obsolescence issues, and to provide a new command and control system that, communicating with our software RollingCAD, would allow us to solve existing operational problems.

The Project Group team then set off to Asia. The project was carried out in multiple stages. First, our team visited and examined the facility, then presented the work plan to the Customer.

The Customer, from his side, provided a working group that has facilitated the smooth execution of the project.

Before shipping the electrical panels and control desk to India, Bay-Forge technical specialists visited Project Group’s warehouse in Reggio Emilia for material inspection and release.

The final stage involved Project Group’s technicians working on-site for electrical installation, commissioning, and final testing of the plant.

Our team dedicated eight months to this project, a short lead time that is an important strength when it comes to revamping rolling mills.

We asked some questions to our team members:

• What was the Customer’s initial request?

“The Customer required a renewal of the electrical, electronic, and control system parts, as they were no longer able to achieve the desired performance due to component obsolescence and operational issues.”

• How did we solve the customer’s problem?

“For this revamping, we renewed the mill by replacing electrical panels and control desk and by providing new control and command system that, combined with our software RollingCAD, addressed and resolved the operational issues.”

• What difficulties did you faced at the Customer’s site in India?

“One thing that should not be underestimated is the distance and time zone difference, which made it challenging to communicate with colleagues at our premises; therefore, we had to commit more time to preparing the details in the office in advance.

In addition, in order to be able to provide continuous and prompt support to the Customer, we placed great importance on remote connection of all devices, so that we could intervene promptly if needed.”

• What advantages has our solution brought to the production process?

“We studied and developed a turnkey solution to overcome all the obsolescence and operational problems, and to improve performances of the process and the rolling mill itself.

The revamping of such kind of plants ensures extended production life and allows to avoid downtime caused by the wear of old components.”

• Why choose Project Group over a competitor?

“Project Group offers a cutting-edge command and control system based on own proprietary software RollingCAD and a remote assistance service by attentive and helpful specialists; our system is then based on commercial and readily available hardware to facilitate regular maintenance activities.”

The revamping of such facilities ensures an extended productive life for the plant because old electrical and electronic parts are replaced with modern and more efficient components.

This also allows us to customize control systems and meet the needs of both the Customer and the mill.

There are four radial-axial rolling mill retrofits already scheduled by Project Group by the end of 2023, a sign that we are on the right path.