Supply ChainInventory Control inIron&Steel Industry: A CaseStudy

Thispaperdescribes acasestudy ofasupply chain inventory control thatisconcerned withtheironandsteel industry. Inthefirst, weconsider an(s,S)policy basedonthe traditional EOQ (Economic OrderQuantity) model. Inthe second, we consider fuzzy modelbasedonfuzzy logic theory combined withthe(s, S)policy andmakebothwayshavesame assumptions anddemands. We quantify thevalueofthemin termsofoperating performance. Thesimulation results showa final cost-effective inventory control system tospecify anadequate supply chaininventory management fortheironandsteel industry, therefore, itwill leadtheironandsteelmaker higher efficiency andhavemorebenefits. Index Terms-BF(Blast Furnace), Fuzzycontrol, Inventory control, Policy I.INTRODUCTION r hispaper studies aninventory control case, where aniron & steel company aimsatmeeting thefeeding demand for production andchanging market tomakerawmaterials inventory costmorecompetitive withappropriate inventory control systems bymaintaining a sufficiently supply. The company inChina, whichis2,000,000 tonsperyear, for confidentiality purposes will becalled bythename"SLC". SLChasdeveloped fast inrecent years, however, facing economic globalization intheinternational iron& steel industry, thecompany iscurrently under considerable pressure. Oneofthepoints isSLCplans tofurther improve supply chain management, andwill further lower its inventory cost. Theiron andsteel ismadebyusing theblast furnace (BF). BFprocess first makesiron bysmelting therawmaterials ina blast furnace andthenusing that iron tomakesteel inabasic oxygen furnace (BOF). Thecasestudy will concentrate onthe feeding materials. Inthis case, itcanregard only theiron oreas themainitem, theamount ofcoke, limestone andcoal powder areintheproportion oftheiron oreasfollowing equation: