ArcelorMittal Avoids €900,000 in Production Losses with ACOEM's Predictive Vibration Analysis

Customer Name: ArcelorMittal

Application: Steel Manufacturing

Location: France

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ArcelorMittal’s hot rolling mill utilizes a hybrid ACOEM vibration monitoring solution (online MV-x and offline FALCON) to ensure the reliability of its critical machinery. In June 2021, the system detected a critical +180% increase in vibration on a reducer bearing for the F6 finishing stand. A detailed spectral analysis confirmed an advanced bearing defect. This early detection enabled a planned, preventive replacement of the bearing, an operation costing €30,000. This proactive intervention successfully averted a catastrophic failure that would have resulted in an estimated €930,000 in production losses, demonstrating a clear and massive return on investment for the predictive maintenance program.

The Challenge

The primary challenge for ArcelorMittal is to guarantee the operational reliability of critical assets within the hot rolling mill, where any unplanned downtime leads to immediate and significant financial consequences.

A catastrophic failure of a key component, such as the F6 reducer bearing, would cause a complete line stoppage. This unplanned downtime is estimated to cost €6,400 per hour in lost production. In a worst-case scenario, such a failure could last 4 to 6 days, leading to massive financial losses and potential collateral damage to other expensive components like gears and motors. The business requires a robust and reliable monitoring strategy capable of detecting bearing degradation at an early stage. This is essential to move from costly, reactive maintenance to planned, preventive interventions that can be scheduled during planned shutdowns, thus maximizing production uptime.

The Solution

ArcelorMittal employs a comprehensive, hybrid vibration monitoring strategy using ACOEM’s online and offline solutions.

The installation is monitored by a combination of:

ACOEM MV-x systems for weekly online surveillance and automatic data storage.
An ACOEM FALCON collector for periodic offline measurements every four months, capturing high-resolution raw temporal signals for in-depth analysis.
The entire system, including 14 sensors on the F6 line, is managed through the XPR300 application.

The solution is perfectly adapted to the plant’s needs. The weekly online data from the MV-x acts as an early warning system. Once an anomaly is flagged, the detailed raw data captured by the FALCON allows the vibration analysis team to perform a forensic-level investigation, pinpoint the exact nature of the defect, and schedule a precise, justified maintenance action.

The Results

The ACOEM solution provided a timely and accurate diagnosis that led to a major cost avoidance.

The online monitoring system detected a +180% increase in acceleration levels on bearing #4 of the F6 reducer. A detailed spectral analysis of the offline data confirmed the presence of marked frequencies characteristic of defects on both the inner and outer rings of the bearing.

Based on the definitive diagnosis, a preventive replacement was scheduled and performed during a planned shutdown for an estimated cost of €30,000.
This action prevented a potential catastrophic failure, which would have resulted in €930,000 in production losses.
The total avoided losses for the company are estimated at €900,000 for this single event, not counting the potential cost of damage to other machine parts.
After the intervention, vibration levels returned to moderate and stable levels, confirming the success of the repair.

The Impact

This successful intervention provided a powerful demonstration of the value of ArcelorMittal’s predictive maintenance strategy and the effectiveness of the ACOEM solution.

This case validates the entire predictive maintenance process, from automated detection to expert analysis and planned intervention. Post-mortem analysis of the replaced bearing, which showed clear signs of fluting likely caused by electrical current, also provided crucial information for future root cause analysis and prevention.

This “catch” reinforces the trust ArcelorMittal places in its ACOEM monitoring systems. It serves as a textbook example of how investing in advanced reliability tools and expertise delivers a massive return on investment by transforming a potential multi-day, million-euro crisis into a routine, planned maintenance task.