西南交通大学学报

第 57 卷 第 6 期 Vol. 57 No. 6
JOURNAL OF SOUTHWEST JIAOTONG UNIVERSITY Dec. 2022
2022 年 12 月

ISSN: 0258–2724 DOI：10.35741/issn.0258-2724.57.6.87

Research article

Computer and Information Science

PRODUCTION DATA TREATMENT FOR DECISION-MAKING USING

POWER BI: EVIDENCE AT A STEEL MANUFACTURING

使用电力双进行决策制定的生产数据处理：钢铁制造的证据

Cleginaldo Pereira de Carvalho*, Cindy Fernandes Cintra

School of Engineering of Lorena, University of São Paulo
São Paulo, Brazil, cleginаldopcаrvalho@hotmail.com, cindy.cintrа@usp.br

Received: September 15, 2022 ▪ Review: October 16, 2022

▪ Accepted: November 13, 2022 ▪ Published: December 30, 2022

This article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

Abstract
Brazil is one of the largest steel-producing countries in the world, and its steel industries are
responsible for exporting raw materials to approximately 100 countries. In the quest to improve the
quality of its production, a Brazilian steel company in the state of São Paulo collected data on rejected
materials in quality inspection and data on the disposal of this material. The study company operates its
machines and equipment with the help of automated software and, in some cases, data pointed in the
system by production employees. This research identified the points for improvement and to direct the
involved areas to address opportunities and remove these unwanted variations in the company's
production, improving productivity, cost, market competitiveness, and customer relations. With
Microsoft's Excel and Power BI tools, it was possible to identify the niche of materials that most present
quality problems, so that the company can create containment and continuous improvement plans to
transform the process, improve productivity, reduce costs with non-conformity and ensure that the
material is delivered to the customer on time. Once we had used Excel combined with Power BI,
important data showed us opportunities to improve productivity in the production line under analysis.
This research article can be used as a guide not only for steel company and for others in different
segments.

Keywords: Power BI, Decision-Making, Quality, Productivity

摘要 巴西是世界上最大的钢铁生产国之一，其钢铁工业负责向大约 100 个国家出口原材料。为了

提高生产质量，圣保罗州的一家巴西钢铁公司收集了质量检验中拒收材料的数据以及该材料的处
置数据。该研究公司在自动化软件的帮助下操作其机器和设备，在某些情况下，生产员工在系统
中指出的数据。这项研究确定了需要改进的地方，并指导相关领域抓住机会并消除公司生产中这
de Carvalho & Cintra. Production Data Treatment for Decision-Making Using Power BI: Evidence at a Steel Manufacturing, Vol.
1012
些不需要的变化，从而提高生产率、成本、市场竞争力和客户关系。使用微软的卓越和力量商业
智能工具，可以确定最存在质量问题的材料利基，以便公司可以制定遏制和持续改进计划，以转
变流程、提高生产率、降低不合格成本和确保材料按时交付给客户。在我们将卓越与力量商业智
能结合使用后，重要数据向我们展示了提高生产线生产力的机会。这篇研究文章不仅可以作为钢
铁公司的指南，也可以作为不同领域其他公司的指南。
关键词: 强大的商业智能，决策制定，质量，生产力
I. INTRODUCTION
Brazil is the 9th largest steel-producing
country in the world. For this reason, the steel
industry is responsible for exporting the raw
material to approximately 100 countries, second
only to China, its biggest competitor, and leader
in the world steel market [1]. An implementation
case was introduced, as a production
management system for steel fabrication to
support decision-making, this includes
assignments remaining, such as the limitation of
identification technology in harsh environments,
and delayed input information dependent on
monitoring timing and input methods [2].
In the quest to improve the quality of its
production, a Brazilian steel company in the state
of São Paulo collected data on rejected materials
in quality inspection and data on the disposal of
this material (rejected material can be reworked
and recovered or discarded). The generation of
products outside the quality specifications
generated big amount of work for the involved
areas since it was not possible to clearly evaluate
which factors were responsible for generating the
problems and thus, treat them.
With the help of Microsoft's Excel and Power
BI tools, it was possible to identify the niche of
materials that most present quality problems, so
that the company can create containment and
continuous improvement plans to transform the
process, improve productivity, reduce costs with
non-conformity and ensure that the material is
delivered to the customer on time. Set up in the
pulled production system (production on
demand), every discarded material generated a
new production order and delay in the delivery
initially agreed with the customer.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
About using Business Intelligence: Business
Intelligence (BI) is the process of turning data
into information and then knowledge. Knowledge
is typically gained about customer needs, the
competition, industry conditions, and general
economic, technological, and cultural trends. BI
was born in the industrial world in the early
57 No. 6 Dec. 2022
1990s to satisfy managers' requests to efficiently
and effectively analyze corporate data, better
understand their business situation and improve
the decision-making process. In the mid-‘90s BI
became an object of interest in the academic
world, and ten years of research managed to
transform a set of naive techniques into a well-
founded approach for information extraction and
processing [3].
Hassanein, Elfar, and Zaied [4] introduced a
business intelligence framework to manage water
resources, relying on a design science research
methodology, data warehousing platform, and
Power BI visualization. The results indicated that
the tool allows for improved decision-making
transforming raw data into useful information.
Additionally, the dashboards provide a good way
to visualize data and identify trends.
A significant effect directly correlates
between the business intelligence system, sensor
agility, and application agility. The results also
prove a significant effect with a strong direct
correlation between the business intelligence
system and decision-making and organizational
agility [5]. Power BI was used for the interactive
analysis and visualization. We applied our
approach to steel-coated products. The proposed
approach benefits the procurement process and
helps retain the conversion time and reduces the
breakdown period [6]. When we talk about a
large sample of data, we can talk about Big Data.
According to Laney [7], Big Data is a concept
that characterizes large sets of heterogeneous
data, which cannot be processed by traditional
computational solutions, considering its
dynamism and complexity. Given the large
volume of data, it is necessary to organize and
catalog these data. As the benefits of
visualization in the era of “big data” are widely
discussed in the library literature, and Excel is
nearly ubiquitous in office environments of all
types, Power BI offers a user-friendly — but
possibly underutilized — way for librarians to
expand their grasp of the data around them [8].
Rautenberg [9] cites some essential steps for
treating data, to prepare them to be transformed,
and they are: selection, re-evaluation, discard,

and transformation. The first is to choose the
relevant data for the study that will be developed;
in the re-evaluation stage, there is the opportunity
to validate and confirm the existing data; in the
discard, there can be the removal of outdated,
invalidated, or legally inappropriate data; the
transformation allows deriving and generating
new data from the collected data.
III. METHODS/MATERIALS
This work was developed in 8 steps, as shown
in the methodology flow in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Research methodology flowchart
A. Data Extraction and Collection
The study company operates its machines and
equipment with the help of automated software
and, in some cases, data pointed in the system by
production employees. They make all the process
and product data available, and it is possible to
extract the data for the time interval selected for
this study, with data being extracted from 2017 to
2020. Some information collected from the
products include includes dimensions, chemical
composition, final application, tolerance for
quality inspection, and customer. As for the
process, the date of operation, production lines,
quantities produced, quantities approved in
quality inspection, quantities failed in quality
inspection, the reason for failure, and the
inspector in charge are extracted.
B. Processing the Data in Excel
Given the extensive sample of data available,
it was necessary to organize these data to
facilitate and enable the study. In this process,
Microsoft's Excel tool was used to remove data
that would not add value to the study, categorize
the good data, standardize, format, and generate
new statistical data such as percentage, mean, and
frequency.
C. Visibilities in Power BI
Given the extensive sampling of data
available, it was necessary to organize these data
1013
to facilitate and enable the study. In this process,
Microsoft's Excel tool was used to remove data
that would not add value to the study, categorize
the good data, standardize, format, and generate
new statistical data such as percentage, mean, and
frequency.
IV. RESULTS
The data prepared and ready by the Excel tool
related to the Power BI tool to perform the study
and understand the relationship between the
variables of the products such as dimensions,
chemical composition, production process, the
reason for infeasibility (failure of the material,)
and customer.
A. Product 1
The company provided specific data on the
disposal of one of its products (the highest value
product for the company, with dedicated tracking
of its process) and it was named in this study as
"Product 1." The data sample covers records
from the years 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Figure 2 represents a bar graph created in
Power BI that demonstrates in descending
classification the amount in tons of product 1 that
was discarded in the 3 sampling years, classified
by reason for discard.
Figure 2. Total quantity in tons of Product 1 discarded per
disposal reason
The reasons are associated with the
production processes that involve some chemical
or mechanical deformity of the material. It is
possible to notice that Reason 25 presents 407.4
tons of discard. That I, 3 times more waste than
the second placed, Reason 34. For a fast and
high-impact action plan for the company's results,
it is possible to understand that the action to
reduce the incidence of Reason 25 is a priority.
Figure 3 now allows us to understand the
disposal behavior of product 1 by material quality.
de Carvalho & Cintra. Production Data Treatment for Decision-Making Using Power BI: Evidence at a Steel Manufacturing, Vol.
1014
Figure 3. Total quantity in tons of Product 1 discarded per
quality
Quality refers to the chemical, structural, and
mechanical characteristics that identify each
material. It is possible to notice the occurrence of
4 qualities of higher incidence of defects, being
them: Quality 19 with 54.3 tons recorded, Quality
32 with 44.3 tons, Quality 13 with 38.8 tons, and
Quality 175 with 35.4 tons recorded.
Figure 4 is a pie chart that distributes the quantity
in tons of discarded product per customer, with
great emphasis on Customer 2, which
corresponds to 39% of all discarded volume, s
presenting a great opportunity for the company.
Figure 5. Quantity in tons from Customer 1 to Product 1 discarded by reason and quality
With the interactive filter, it is possible to
verify that Reason 25 corresponds to
approximately 30% of the reasons for discarding
Product 1 for Customer 2. It is also analyzed that
Qualities 19, 13, and 175 together represent
approximately 35% of the qualities discarded for
Customer 2. From this moment on, the company
has the opportunity to investigate with more
effort and certainty the agents and variables
representing a higher incidence of deviations and
generation of non-quality costs, and thus, map
with more clarity the processes and factors that
can be improved and generate a high positive
57 No. 6 Dec. 2022
Figure 4. Total quantity in tons of Product 1 discarded per
client
Besides analyzing each visibility individually,
the tool allows you to see the relationship
between the reasons, qualities, and clients,
through an interactive filter. In Figure 5, this
filter was performed by clicking on customer 2 in
the chart of quantities discarded per customer.
Automatically, the graphs of reasons for rejection
(red bars) and of qualities with the highest
amount of rejection (green bars) are updated.
impact for Product 1 and the company's
competitiveness as a whole [10], [11].
It is important to highlight that in this study
only the variables of greater quantitative
representation were exemplified, but it is up to
the company to explore the tool and the
interactive filters in the way it wishes, to
understand the relationship of each variable with
the recorded results.
B. Stock of Discarded Products
According to TOTVS [12], there are several
consequences for the company when the issue is

stock stopped. Some problems that can arise are
the low liquidity of the product (ability to invoice
with the sale of goods), costs with the
maintenance of the stock (need to have a physical
structure, inputs, and allocation of people to
organize the environment), and loss of products
(breakdown and loss of identification, change of
position without systematic record).
Figure 6 represents the number of tons of
discarded products that were physically stored in
the company and systematically registered in
2020. It can be seen that Reasons 43, 60, 44, 78,
and 53 are the main reasons for stockpiled
deviations.
Figure 6. Stock in tons of discarded material by reason
It is worth mentioning that the steel industry
allows for the "recycling" of discarded materials
due to process deviations, therefore, the
discarded material in stock does not represent
only an unusable material for the client, but raw
Figure 8. Quantity in tons of Customers 8, 11, 18, and 34 in stock of discarded product by reason and quality
C. Material Rejected on Inspection Lines
To identify the materials that were discarded,
they are inspected to confirm technical
conformity. The company under study has 5
inspection lines. Each inspection line is
responsible for checking the superficial and
internal mechanical conformity of the material,
and they inspect materials with different size
ranges (one line inspects smaller materials, and
1015
material to be reused to generate new products.
Thus, it is important to investigate the reason
why these materials are in stock and have not
been reprocessed, and whether the reason for
discarding influences negatively or makes the
material reuse process unfeasible. The products
with the longest recorded time in stock ranged
from 292 days to 1560 days (approximately 4
years). Figure 7, a pie chart demonstrates that 4
customers represent a little over 50% of the
discarded material stock. They are customers 11,
18, 8, and 34, respectively.
Figure 7. Stock in tons of discarded material per client
By filtering the top 4 customers, it is possible
to simultaneously identify the main reasons for
discarding and product qualities associated with
these volumes, available in Figure 8.
another line inspects larger materials). The
visibilities that will be presented, were generated
from collected in the years 2017, 2018, 2019, and
2020. Figure 9 presents a pie chart showing the
proportion of pickup of materials with surface
defects by the inspection line. It can be clearly
seen that Line 4 inspects material profiles that
have high rejection for surface defects.
de Carvalho & Cintra. Production Data Treatment for Decision-Making Using Power BI: Evidence at a Steel Manufacturing, Vol.
1016
Figure 9. Percentage of rejection due to surface defects per
inspection line
Figure 10 presents a pie chart that shows the
proportion of pickup of materials with internal
defects by inspection line. Again, it can be seen
that Line 4 inspects materials critical for the
incidence of internal defects, representing almost
75% of the total sample.
Figure 10. Percentage of rejection due to internal defects per
inspection line
Presenting almost one-third of all recorded
material rejections, a filter was made to show the
data of the inspected products in Line 4. As
shown in Figure 11, grades 2279 and 2263 stand
out with the highest number of rejected parts.
Figure 11. Quantity of parts rejected internally by Inspection
Line 4
In other interactions, it was also possible to
57 No. 6 Dec. 2022
see that the main qualities rejected in the same
inspection line for superficial defects are
different from those identified in the inspection
of internal defects. In Figure 12, it is also
possible to observe that the number of parts
rejected for internal defects is lower than the
number of rejections for surface defects,
reflecting that the process through which the
product passes generates greater criticality for the
surface finish of the material and again, presents
a great opportunity for the action of improvement
and investigation with the greater effort by the
company.
Figure 12. Quantity of parts rejected by Inspection Line 4
V. DISCUSSION
After using the visibility generated in Power
BI as the main quality analysis tool for acting on
improvements, the company in the study created
several projects dedicated to improving its
procetoer to improve product quality. This
movement allowed the mapping of other basic
opportunities directed to the company's structure
that are necessary to support the durability of the
BI visibilities. The new software was contracted
to improve the usability of the data, as well as to
make a richer collection of information. It was
also necessary to update the technology of some
equipment, to allow a direct collection from the
machine with the Power BI database.
Additionally, a team of specialists was created.
To reduce problems with non-quality,
industry-raised data were treated and transformed
into BI visualizations. Process and product
variables were identified from these visibilities
that were related to some specific causes of
discarding the failed material. Through the
interaction of the graphics and the direct
connection with the equipment database, the
company could use a tool that reflected its
process in real time with a format focused on the
identification of the root cause of the occurrences.
In this way, improvement plans were developed
with projects that sought, generally, to increase
the performance of the material manufacturing
equipment and to improve the technology of the
productive systems regarding the data collection
for the company's use to improve the quality of

the products, increase productivity, improve
competitiveness in the market, and meet the
deadlines agreed with the customers.
VI. CONCLUSION
The main subject of this research was to
identify the points for improvement and to direct
the involved areas to address opportunities and
remove these unwanted variations in the
company's production, improving productivity.
Once we had used Excel combined with Power
BI, important data showed us opportunities to
improve productivity in the production line under
analysis. Process and product variables were
identified from these visibilities that were related
to some specific causes of discarding the failed
material. Through the interaction of the graphics
and the direct connection with the equipment
database, the company could use a tool that
reflected its process in real-real time a format
focused on the identification of the root cause of
the occurrences.
This research article can be used as a guide
not only for steel company and for others in
different segments.
A limitation presented for this work is that no
quantitative approaches were conducted.
As a recommendation, further works of
statistical tools could be applied, as well as a
machine learning approach since the data had
already been based on Power BI treatment and
Big Data was already available for this new
advanced analysis.
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