Iron Ore Sintering: Quality Indices

Sinter plants process a mixture of iron ore fines, recycled ironmaking products, slag-forming agents and solid fuel (coke) with the finality of obtaining a product with the suitable characteristics (thermal, mechanical, physical, and chemical) for being fed to the blast furnace. With this objective a series of parameters are defined, including the nature and composition of each component of the mixture, and the conditions of the sintering process. Sinter characterization includes chemical and granulometric analysis, determination of the mineral phases in its structure, apart from a series of quality indices that includes reducibility, low temperature degradation, reduction degradation and Tumbler. Operated sinter plants with the maximum productivity are also important with the purpose of obtaining a sinter with uniform composition and quality for facilitating the steady state operation of the blast furnace.     

A new balanced scorecard approximation to enhance performance management systems of Chilean wineries

The Chilean wine industry faces a growing challenge in terms of the increasing global competition, along with other difficult challenges such as exchange rate fluctuations, higher labor and energy costs and climate change. In light of this, the present paper proposes a new approach to increase competitiveness of Chilean wineries based on findings of the current performance management systems practice in the industry. The methodology encompasses a thorough survey of the industry's management systems, with special emphasis on the balanced scorecard (BSC) and its derivatives. The study finds, upon examining the results, that the ISO 9001 norm and the national code of sustainability of the Chilean wine industry are the two most commonly used and that only 14% of the companies have designed a BSC of some type, offering a unique opportunity to introduce this novel approach focusing on performance and sustainability, incorporating the spatial and temporal dimensions of the industry today.