Experimental Analysis of Billet Manufacturing Losses and Development of Downtime Reduction Strategies for Productivity Enhancement in a Continuous Casting Plant

Continuous casting is a key process in steel manufacturing, where billet quality, productivity, and equipment reliability significantly influence overall plant performance. This study presents an experimental investigation of billet manufacturing losses and downtime factors in a continuous casting plant using actual production and maintenance data. Major losses such as downtime, billet rejection, breakout incidents, yield reduction, and process scrap were identified and quantified. Statistical analysis, Pareto analysis, and root cause analysis were employed to determine the critical factors affecting productivity. Based on the findings, suitable downtime reduction strategies were developed and implemented. The results demonstrated a reduction in production interruptions and manufacturing losses, along with improvements in productivity, yield, and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). The proposed approach provides an effective framework for enhancing operational efficiency and profitability in continuous casting operations.