Metal Refining
Harnessing Proactive Maintenance and Asset Management to Elevate Quality, Throughput, and Reliability
Transformational Metrics at a Glance
How Proactive Strategies Slashed Costs, Boosted Quality, and Improved Throughput
- Cut annual operating costs by $13M through world-class PM, RCM, and Operator Asset Care.
- Shifted from 20% to 80% proactive maintenance.
- Improved first-quality yield by 20% with asset management principles.
- Increased a unit’s throughput by 40% and cut costs by 13% per ton via asset management.
Helped evolve a plant from 20% to 80% proactive.
Increased first quality yield by 20% with the application of asset management principles.
Increased a business unit's throughput by 40%
Decreased operating costs by 13% per ton
At one industrial operation, the transformation from reactive fixes to a robust, proactive asset management culture redefined their entire way of working. The introduction of world-class preventive maintenance (PM) programs and strategies, including Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) and Operator Asset Care practices, led to a dramatic $13 million annual reduction in operating costs. As the facility moved from being only 20% proactive to 80%, each shift in mindset and method translated into tangible improvements—fewer unexpected failures, more stable production, and consistently higher quality output.
Proactive maintenance saved $13M annually and drove throughput up by 40%.
With these strategies firmly in place, the results spoke for themselves. First-quality yields rose by 20%, and one business unit saw throughput surge by 40% while reducing per-ton costs by 13%. By applying a holistic asset management approach to a critical casting wheel, unscheduled outages plummeted. Production stoppages dropped from up to six per month down to just one or two, and maintenance outages decreased from as many as six per month to one. At the same time, planned maintenance intervals extended from three weeks to four, providing more efficient use of downtime and manpower.
This proactive spirit also shaped the future. By developing a comprehensive asset care program for a new small ingot line before it even started operating, the team rapidly accelerated ramp-up to full production and uncovered important design issues that could be corrected before they became costly problems. From top to bottom, the shift to proactive, structured asset management set a new standard for operational excellence, proving that thoughtful, data-driven maintenance practices can deliver extraordinary outcomes.
