Advisor : Overcome metal plant challenges such as chatter marks

Country: India
Application: Leading Indian aluminium & copper multinational with 20 plants in India (upstream and downstream), additional plants in the United States.

Executive Summary

Acoem India began its collaboration with a leading metal player in 2017, providing balancing and vibration analysis services for critical equipment at a single plant. The successful implementation of these services facilitated the expansion of the partnership, with Acoem being contracted to assess all assets at the company’s site. This marked the start of a rapid growth trajectory, as the collaboration extended from one location to include a total of eight sites.

The Challenge

In metal production, plants often encounter numerous challenges. This company also made substantial investments in equipment to improve efficiency and productivity in their upstream operations, including a power plant. While these investments yielded positive results in the upstream processes, the downstream operations, particularly the cold rolling mills, posed critical issues. These mills exhibited unpredictable load and speed variations, causing operational difficulties and creating chatter marks on finished rolls, compromising product quality and efficiency. Accessing crucial bearing points within the mills was also problematic, hindering proactive maintenance practices and potentially leading to unexpected downtime.

In addition to these challenges, the continuous speed variation between coiler and non-coiler operations presented a unique obstacle that required precise control and coordination. Failure to manage this speed variation effectively could lead to inefficiencies in operations. The consequences of these challenges were significant, with potential financial losses and reputational risks for the company. Defective batches caused by chatter marks on the aluminum sheets resulted in substantial losses. To thrive in the competitive metal production industry, the company needed to address these challenges head-on and implement effective solutions. Their objective was to achieve seamless operations, minimize downtime, and optimize the production process to position themselves for long-term success.

The Solution

Enhancing Performance and Customer Success: Acoem’s comprehensive Solution for Metal Plant

Acoem, in its partnership with this major metal player, has introduced a comprehensive solution to address the challenges faced in downstream processes. Acoem Advisor services proved to be highly beneficial for the company in several ways.

The Advisor service offered by Acoem stood out as an ideal choice. Its integration of real-time, actionable data from IoT sensors, AI-driven diagnoses, a user-friendly WebPortal interface, and a dedicated key performance indicator (KPI) dashboard provided the company with the tools and insights necessary to tackle their specific challenges effectively.

Additionally, the user-friendly WebPortal interface empowers the metal plant with intuitive access to essential data and insights, facilitating seamless monitoring and control over the production processes. The integration of Advisor services with a dedicated key performance indicator (KPI) dashboard further amplifies its usefulness. The KPI dashboard enables the metal plant to gain greater visibility into critical issues, component consumption, trending data, and the return on investment (ROI) information. This comprehensive overview allows for proactive decision-making, performance optimization, and cost reduction.

The combination of Advisor’s advanced features and functionalities, along with the expertise of Acoem’s dedicated account managers ensures that the metal plant receives continuous support and guidance to maximize the benefits of the solution.

Acoem is in the process of recruiting a Customer Success Manager specifically for industry partners like the metal plant. This dedicated role focuses on delivering valuable insights on ROI, conducting comparative studies, identifying opportunities for asset lifecycle extension, and closely monitoring maintenance expenditure following the implementation of the automated system. This proactive approach further strengthens the partnership between Acoem and the metal plant, driving mutual success and long-term growth.

The tailored features and functionalities of Advisor aligned perfectly with the company’s specific needs and requirements, making it the ideal solution to overcome the challenges they were facing in their downstream processes.

The Outcome

Building Trust and Implementing Driving Operational Excellence

The Acoem team earned significant recognition and satisfaction from the company’s Managing Director for their successful resolution of the major challenge of chatter on the cold rolling mills. This accomplishment established Acoem’s position as a trusted partner for the major metal player. With their expertise, Acoem’s Service team skillfully detected and eliminated chatter on multiple occasions, leading to a remarkable decrease in machine downtime. This impressive achievement showcased Acoem’s proficiency in alignment, balancing, and vibration products and services.

Acoem’s commitment to delivering effective solutions that support the company’s long-term objectives of operational excellence and continuous improvement was widely recognized. This fruitful collaboration serves as a global example of successful partnership, demonstrating the value of trust, expertise, and cutting-edge technology in driving positive outcomes and unlocking new opportunities in the metal industry.