A Multi-Agent Expert System for Steel Grade Classification Using Adaptive Neuro-fuzzy Systems

Iron and steel industry is a crucial basic section for most of the industrial activities. This industry provides the primary materials for construction, automobile, machinery and many other businesses. Furthermore, the iron and steel manufacturing is highly energy consuming. The influence of an efficient process control on the cost and energy reduction and environmental effects in iron and steel industry makes the process control one of the main issues of this industry. Iron and steel industry should mainly rely on the new integrated production processes to improve productivity, reduce energy consumption, and maintain competitiveness in the market. Without rational process controlling systems, the potential benefits of new production processes can’t be fully realized. Process control is the key function in the production management. Furthermore, a high degree of real-time operation and dynamic adjustment capabilities is required. In particular, the coordination of different production stages must be considered so as to achieve overall goals of the entire production processes. In most steel companies, the principal production planning and scheduling techniques have been essentially manual techniques with little computerized decision support. These manual techniques are mainly based on the know-how and the experiences of those experts who have worked in a plant for years. Considering the above mentioned characteristics of a steel manufacturing, some important characteristics of this area can be summarized as: • Steel manufacturing is a multi-stage process, logically and geographically distributed, involving a variety of production processes (Ouelhadj et al., 2004); • In a steel grade classification, an operator has to determine the amount of additive materials in steel-making process. This is mainly based on the know-how and the professional experience of experts who have worked in the plant for years; • A high degree of real-time operation and dynamic adjustment capabilities is required; • The output of some stages is usually the input of some other stages, so integration is mandatory; • The percentage of elements in steel-making usually has a fuzzy nature Source: Expert Systems, Book edited by: Petrică Vizureanu, ISBN 978-953-307-032-2, pp. 238, January 2010, INTECH, Croatia, downloaded from SCIYO.COM