|To |Plant Manager |
| |Materials Handling |
|Company |Mittal Steel |
| | |
| | |
|From |Expeditor |
| |Rail Transport |
|Date |30 October 2012 |
|Pages |1 of 2 |

Information flow between ROC personnel and Outside Planners on wagon/plant status.

1. Current situation

Inside Planners (ROC)

Planners receive their initial report or status from their colleagues from previous shift. They get additional or new information from the East Yard Planners, system 500-8, Outside Planners and the Loco drivers. They then update the wagon status (position) as they receive it and give it to the Supt, Spoornet and the Expeditor when requested. They have e-mail facilities on their computers.

Outside Planners

They get the wagon status from the printout from the Inside Planners and update it by driving to relevant plant, sidings or tipplers to physically look for wagons. Upon noting all he captured on paper he gives this information to the Inside Planners and the Expeditor. He actually gives updated information to them to update their position report. They do not have access to PC or e-mail facilities, and they do not use formal reports for updating wagons or plant status. They use the updated printout from the Inside Planners or verbally give information to them and to the Expeditor in the morning and about twice during the shift.

Expeditor (ROC)

Expeditor generates his initial report on incoming raw material from the system 500-8 every morning. He then gets the plant status from system 500-8, East Yard Planner, Inside Planners and the Outside Planner. He updates this information and compiles a report that he mails to all relevant Managers and Rail Transport Supts, including Spoornet. He phones relevant sections or plant to enquire about the offloading status of wagons so that the TAT of wagons can be improved. He spends about 20 minutes with the Inside Planners gathering information that he requires every morning.

2. Proposed

These are the proposal brought forward in order to improve the conveying of information between the Planners and the Expeditor:

o A report should be generated by the East Yard Planners and sent to the Expeditor and Inside Planners every morning on or before 06:00. The Expeditor will help with the drafting of the report to determine what should be included for him and the Inside Planners. This will help them to have a better picture of arrivals and empty wagons already at the East Yard and the ones in the works. o Once the Inside Planners have updated their report they should mail it to the Expeditor, who will then compile a general report on wagons position. o With the inclusion of the wagon weighing activity to the Outside Planners’ tasks, it will be time consuming if they use e-mail facilities to send information. The current reporting method that they use is sufficient enough and also effective. Due to the nature of the outside tasks they perform, it is adequate that they physically gather information and directly inform the Expeditor and Inside Planners, rather that writing a report and sending it to them.

Recommended:

Mandla Zwane
Rail Transport
Materials Handling
Engineering
Mittal Steel SA
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