Federal Metal Selects MSA Software

The Federal Metal Co. (www.federalmetal.com), Bedford, Ohio, has implemented the application service provider (ASP) version of the Blending Optimization Software Suite (BOSS) offered by Management Science Associates (MSA). The BOSS ASP product is designed to provide raw materials blending optimization for the Federal Metal furnace, which melts scrap metal to produce brass and bronze ingots used by the foundry industry.

The software is designed to determine the least-cost combination of materials to produce a given heat, lineup or production schedule, taking into account all of the various chemical, operating and quality specifications. It also includes an alloy addition calculation and purchase planning feature, MSA says in a news release.

BOSS ASP permits multiple users within a company, including melt shop, corporate and purchasing personnel, to run the optimization software via an Internet browser using secure names and passwords for controlled access.

“In evaluating MSA’s BOSS ASP offering, we were impressed with the product’s ease of use, the ability to integrate with our existing ERP and Spectrometer software, and the potential raw material cost savings that this full-featured optimization package offered us,” says Peter Nagusky, president of The Federal Metal Co. “We are very satisfied with our initial roll-out and are looking forward to exploring additional features of the system.”

More information on Pittsburgh-based MSA is available at www.msa.com.