Haneke Design started working with Gerdau in 2019. The global steel producer approached us for a technological solution to driver check-in woes at their Cartersville, GA, steel mill. This conversation launched a five-year digital transformation that spread from Gerdau’s Cartersville mill to an additional eight mills across North America.
It Starts With an App
Gerdau’s Driver Connection App is actually two apps.
One app is for drivers picking up loads of steel at Gerdau’s Mills. When they arrive at a mill, drivers scan a QR code at the entrance to download the app. Then, they check in within the app, which provides directions to their pick-up site.
The other app allows administrators to guide those drivers through the mill.
When the app worked at Cartersville, corporate suggested trying it at Gerdau’s Charlotte mill. Things just grew from there.
Adding Mills
Gerdau has 58 steel mill factories, including 10 in the U.S. and three in Canada, and each mill is a little different.
While this project started with two apps, it ended with closer to twenty; each new mill meant another two apps. Haneke staff traveled to each location to capture its geo coordinates, learn its processes, and reconfigure the apps’ basic functions to match the specific needs of each mill.
For each mill, Haneke generates a geofence around key locations. These virtual geographic boundaries allow the app to detect when a driver enters the mill, exits the mill, and everything in between. That driver’s location appears in the admin app, allowing admins to send instructions to drivers as they navigate the mill.
When a new driver arrives, the admin can tell the driver which bay to proceed to. From there, Google Maps takes over, giving the driver directions to that location. When the driver arrives at the appropriate pick-up bay, the app can send them another set of instructions. For mills with a smaller staff, Haneke’s automated these instructions.
Once a driver has collected their load of steel, that driver taps a button to let admins know that they’ve picked up their load. This triggers another set of instructions. Some mills have you scale out, while others direct drivers straight to the exit.
All the apps have the same basic code base but reconfigured to meet the needs of each mill.
What Comes Next
As we write this, an updated, reconfigured version of the mobile and admin apps is rolling out to Jackson, Whitby, Wilton, Cambridge, Petersburg, Manitoba and Midlothian mills, making Gerdau’s North American digital transformation complete.
