Abstract This work aims to reduce the energy consumption and thus increase the availability of blast furnace compressors of a steelmaking company, located in Alto Paraopeba region in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, through the elimination of waste points in the compressed air distribution. In order to develop this work, an ultrasound test in the compressed air line was performed to identify and quantify leaks in the flow. Once the leaks were identified, they were eliminated through corrective maintenance and improvements, and then the energy consumption scenarios before and after the improvements were compared. As a result, the average monthly electricity consumption in the reporting period decreased by 57.2%. In addition, one compressor was set aside in stand-by condition, as in the original plant. Thus, one can prove the efficiency in eliminating of waste points in compressed air distribution, since the reduction of energy consumption is important for the company to remain competitive, as the cost of electric energy affects the final price of the final products.

A logística, ao longo do tempo, tornou-se processo determinante para a sobrevivência das empresas em função dos seus aspectos. Os aspectos logísticos são responsáveis pelo fluxo de materiais e de informações, desde o fornecedor até o consumidor, e impactam, diretamente, no desempenho das empresas, bem como no custo dos produtos e serviços que oferecem. Isso é razão suficiente para sugerir a adição dos aspectos logísticos nas ferramentas de análise e seleção de materiais. Esse estudo tem como objetivo apresentar o desenvolvimento de um modelo de seleção de materiais metálicos que considera os aspectos logísticos no processo de decisão. Para isso, utilizou-se uma adaptação da rede PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique), relacionando-se indicadores da variável seleção de materiais com os da variável logística. Implementamos o nosso modelo e apresentamos a especialistas de empresas do setor minerometalúrgico com fins de validação. Esses relataram que não possuem sistema gerencial que realize processo de seleção utilizando informações do material com informações logísticas. Assim, consideraram o modelo proposto um importante instrumento de tomada de decisão gerencial.

Logistics has become a decisive process for the survival of companies. Logistic aspects are responsible for the flow of materials and information from the supplier to the consumer, and have a direct impact on the performance of companies, as well as on the costs of the products and services they offer. This is enough to justify the addition of logistic aspects as tools for analysis and material selection. This work aims at presenting the development of a model for the selection of metallic material, which considers the logistic aspects on the decision process. For this reason, we have used an adaptation of the PERT net (Program Evaluation and Review Technique), relating indicators of variables from material selection with those from logistics. For the purpose of validation, we then implemented the model and presented it to experts of the mining-metallurgical sector. These experts had previously reported a lack of management systems that support the selection process relating to material and logistic information. As a result, they considered the proposed model to be an important instrument for undertaking managerial decisions.