Shutdown software
Steel Plant Shutdown Software for Relines and Mill Stops
Steel plant shutdown software plans a blast furnace or converter reline, and the annual mill stops, as projects that learn from the last one. In MaintWiz the previous reline stays on record to plan against, gas and confined-space work runs under ePTW permits and isolations with gates before start, production requests come back as decisions with their effect in days and money, and refractory and other long-lead parts show their SAP status.
How MaintWiz helps: MaintWiz is a comprehensive shutdown solution for steel plants. It keeps the record of the last reline and turns every added request into a decision with its cost in days and money.
- Scope, plan, schedule, execution and close-out in one module
- Critical-path Gantt with float and baselines
- Seven readiness gates, signed off by name
- Integrated ePTW: permits and LOTO isolations on every work order
- Earned value: planned, earned and actual, with cost and schedule indices
- Spares needed, in stock and short, with SAP status
- Mobile work orders, offline on transaction screens
- 15 AI agents propose each day; your people approve
By Jai Balachandran · Technical review: Murali Nerur Pasupathy · Published · Last reviewed
What MaintWiz adds:Last reline on recordGas and confined-space permitsDecisions in days and moneyRefractory status with SAP
The reline
What makes a steel plant shutdown hard to run?
A reline comes round once in many years, with a large temporary workforce and a hazardous atmosphere.
Lost memory
The people who ran the last reline have often moved on.
Gas and confined space
Carbon monoxide and confined-space entry across many crews.
Production pressure
Production asks for the furnace back sooner, without the cost on the table.
Long-lead refractory
Refractory, staves and tuyeres decide when the reline can start.
Blast furnace operators aim for campaigns of 15 to 20 years between relines 1, and one 2008 reline was reported at a record 70 days of downtime. 2 Carbon monoxide is the defining gas hazard 3, and furnace and vessel entry is confined-space work under a permit. 4
MaintWiz
How does MaintWiz run a reline or mill stop?
The reline manager's problems, each with its screen.
| Your problem | What MaintWiz does |
|---|---|
| Lost memory | Handover, lessons learnt and archive; this reline compared with earlier ones |
| Gas and confined space | ePTW permits and isolations on every work order, gates before start, and no package closed with a permit open |
| Production pressure | Decision cards showing the effect of each request in days and money |
| Contractors | Contractor approvals with name and time; own and contractor resources by trade |
| Long-lead refractory | Spares status with the SAP request or order behind each short part |
| The plan itself | A configurable plan built from your own last reline, imported from Excel or Microsoft Project XML |
Mill stops
Can MaintWiz plan converter, caster and rolling mill stops too?
A steel plant runs several kinds of stop in a year; each is a project in the same history.
Converter relines
Planned from the plant's own lining records and heat counts.
Caster stops
Segment and roll work with permits and gates.
Rolling mill stops
Annual stops with stand and drive work on the critical path.
One roadmap
All the year's stops on one roadmap with blackout windows.
Measures
What should you measure in a reline?
A few measures tell you whether the reline went well; MaintWiz reads them from the same plan the field updates.
Reline days against plan
Blow-in against the planned date.
Incidents
Gas, confined-space and lifting incidents and near misses.
Ramp to design output
Days from blow-in to design output.
Cost against budget
Spend and forecast for the reline.
Campaign life achieved
Measured at the next reline, against the target.
Worked example
Worked example: production asks for ten days back
ILLUSTRATION: a blast furnace reline planned two years ahead; the planner who ran the last one has left.
- 1Last reline openedArchive shows its plan, duration and lessons
- 2Plan builtPackages and gates from your own history
- 3Request arrivesProduction asks for ten days back
- 4Decision cardEffect in days and money, with the risk
- 5Decision loggedApproved or declined by name
One system
Why run the reline inside the CMMS?
The reline uses the same equipment, spares and permits as everyday maintenance; keeping them in one system removes the re-keying between tools.
Work orders and history
Every reline job is a work order on the same equipment record, so findings and repairs stay in the asset's history.
Spares and SAP
Needed, in stock and short come from the same stores data, with the SAP request or order behind each short part.
Permits and isolations
ePTW permits and isolations sit on each work order, and a package cannot close while one is open.
AI agents with an approver
AI agents review scope, estimates and the schedule and write daily summaries; each proposal has a named person who approves it.
Who uses it
Who uses MaintWiz in a reline?
Each role sees its own part of one plan, so nobody works from a copy.
| Role | What they see | What they decide or record |
|---|---|---|
| Works head | Cost and duration, and production's requests | Decisions in days and money |
| Reline project manager | Packages, permits, contractors and spares | Sequence and recovery |
| Planner | Critical path and the last reline's record | The plan and its baseline |
| Furnace OEM and refractory contractor | Their packages and crews | Progress and findings |
| Safety and gas control | Permits and isolations | Entry and restart release |
Getting started
How do you start: a plan from your last reline
Start from whatever survives of the last reline, and the date production expects.
- 1
Load last stop's job list
Import the last reline's job list from Excel, or the schedule as Microsoft Project XML; MaintWiz is interoperable with Primavera P6.
- 2
Fix the blow-in date
Set the date that cannot move and let the critical path, float and baselines show what drives it.
- 3
Set the gates
Configure the seven readiness gates to your rules: materials, resources, predecessors, tools and scaffold, permits and isolations, scope and engineering, and go.
- 4
Bring the crews in
Planners, supervisors, technicians and contractors get role menus and the native mobile app, with offline work on transaction screens.
- 5
Close and keep it
Close-out records handover, lessons and deferred items, so the next stop is planned against this one.
MaintWiz is shutdown management software built into an AI CMMS, so the stop shares work orders, spares, ePTW permits and maintenance history with the rest of the plant. For the sector background, read blast furnace reline planning.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What does steel plant shutdown software do?
It plans and runs blast furnace and converter relines and mill stops: scope, schedule, gas and confined-space permits, contractors, long-lead refractory and the restart, with each stop kept for the next.
Can MaintWiz plan a blast furnace reline?
Yes. The reline is a project with its packages, critical path, gates, permits and spares, built from your own last reline and imported from Excel or Microsoft Project XML.
How does MaintWiz keep lessons from the last reline?
Close-out archives each reline with its handover and lessons, and the comparison view sets this one against earlier stops on duration, cost, scope growth and incidents.
How are gas and confined-space permits tied to the work?
ePTW permits and isolations sit on every work order, gates check them before work starts, and a package cannot close while a permit is open.
How does MaintWiz show the cost of finishing a reline early?
Decision cards show the effect of a request in days and money, and the decision is recorded with the name of the person who took it.
Can it plan converter, caster and rolling mill stops too?
Yes. Each stop is its own project, and the roadmap shows all the year's stops with blackout windows.
How are the furnace OEM and refractory contractor managed?
Their crews are resources by trade, their approvals are recorded with name and time, and their plans load as Microsoft Project XML or Excel.
Is there a ready-made reline template?
The plan is built from your own last reline, so the packages, durations and gates match your furnace rather than a generic template.
How is MaintWiz priced?
MaintWiz is a subscription that grows with your users, sites and modules, with a fixed implementation fee; ask for a written quote at a demo.
Can MaintWiz use the equipment records we already have?
Yes. Equipment lists and job lists load from Excel, schedules from Microsoft Project XML, and where the plant runs SAP, assets and their codes sync from SAP PM or MM.
Sources
Sources
Public sources read on 7 November 2026. Worked examples are for illustration.
- Publications Office of the European Union, An in-depth study into prolonging blast furnace campaign life (2001)
- Association for Iron & Steel Technology, ThyssenKrupp Steel to Restart Blast Furnace 1 at Duisburg-Schwelgern
- US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards: Carbon monoxide
- OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.146, Permit-required confined spaces
Plan the next reline against the last one
Book a demo and bring what you have of the last reline. We will build the plan and show the permits and decision cards on your own furnace.