October 9, 2017 — Sydney & New York: BlueScope (ASX:BLS), one of the world’s most innovative steel producers, has turned to McObject’s ultra-fast eXtremeDB database management system to upgrade its Plate Mill Information and Control System (PMICS) for teams across the Plate Mill facility at Port Kembla in Australia. This is a significant enhancement of the PMICS, which had not seen any significant changes in infrastructure components for close to two decades, including the UNIX operating system, hardware, real-time databases and messaging infrastructure.

BlueScope’s ongoing process improvement activities at the facility have reached the limits of the existing system’s capabilities, which was installed 1998. Its real-time database was no longer supported and had reached its in-memory size limit. The constraints of the aging infrastructure were blocking several key process improvement initiatives and limiting the ability of the business to meet the increasing demand for innovative plate products.

After collaborating closely with BlueScope to understand the firm’s current and future needs, McObject proposed its eXtremeDB In-Memory Database System (IMDS) as a suitable candidate to upgrade the existing PMICS.

Dubravko Akmacic at BlueScope says: “The SetCIM real-time database has been exceptionally reliable for nearly 20 years, but the limitation on available free memory meant we were increasingly faced with a difficult decision every time new features were required to support the business improvement initiatives. This had a large negative impact on the time it took to add new functionality and execute the system build: months instead of weeks or days. The eXtremeDB IMDS now offers a solution that will help us save time and costs and enable us to become far more innovative in our production techniques. Some of the other key factors in our decision to go with eXtremeDB are that it offers high-performance read/write data access on essentially limitless in-memory databases (3GB for 32-bit and 18XB for 64-bit systems), is fully supported, and enjoys a global reputation as one of the best applications of its kind.”

He continues: “One of the main attractions of eXtremeDB IMDS is that it is a close fit with the existing architecture, reducing the requirement for major changes to the application code. This makes it an extremely cost-effective solution to implement and manage on an ongoing operational basis. McObject also demonstrated a flexibility and depth of support not found with other vendors that gave us confidence that the solution was a good long-term proposition.”

Steve Graves, CEO and founder of McObject, commented: “The BlueScope project has been a great opportunity to once again show eXtremeDB’s capabilities in the industrial sector. Our advanced database technology can support a wide range of verticals: manufacturing, telecommunications, financial services and aerospace, among others; the BlueScope project has been absolutely fascinating because we’ve been able to provide solutions to challenges that they face today and give them the stability and robustness that they’ll need in the future.”

The new system is expected to go live in February 2018.

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About BlueScope

BlueScope is a global leader in premium branded coated and painted steel products - the third largest manufacturer of painted and coated steel products globally; with great strengths in engineered steel buildings in key markets, and are number one in building and construction markets. They drive growth in premium branded coated and painted steel markets in Asia Pacific, and build on the strong value proposition offered to customers across the Pacific Rim from Asia, Australia, New Zealand and to the west coast of North America. Their global networks are a great strength, with more than 100 facilities in 17 countries, employing over 16,000 people serving thousands of customers. Their strong partnerships and networks are built on BlueScope's great product brands, such as COLORBOND®, Clean COLORBOND® and ZINCALUME® steels, LYSAGHT® steel building products, and Butler® and Varco Pruden® engineered buildings. They offer a large range of structural steel options under the XLERCOIL, TRUSPEC and XLERPLATE brands, and have strategic partnerships with BISAlloy for supply of Q&T steels into the Australian market.

About McObject

Founded by embedded database and real-time systems experts, McObject offers proven data management technology used across a wide range of industries and market segments. McObject counts among its customers industry leaders such as BAE Systems, TradeStation, Siemens, Philips, EADS, JVC, Pentair, F5 Networks, CA, Motorola and Boeing. McObject, based in Federal Way, WA, is committed to providing innovative technology and first-rate services to customers and partners.