As one of China’s top industries, the steel industry has always been closely watched. With the recent developments in China’s economy, the steel industry has experienced significant changes. Due to factors such as supply-side reforms and environmental protection policies, the production environment in steel factories has become more relaxed, but the corresponding production costs have been on the rise. With the homogeneity of finished products in the steel industry, the profitability of the individual smelting companies is highly dependent on the differences between their own processing and manufacturing costs and the minute profit margins common throughout the industry. It is under such competitive conditions that cost reduction and profit maximization of the production processes have become important concerns for companies.