Discover how to reduce equipment downtime by 50% with preventive maintenance optimization and AI. Learn about the benefits of proactive maintenance strategies and how they enhance productivity, reliability, and cost savings.

In the mining, metals, and minerals industries, equipment downtime can lead to significant financial losses. Ensuring optimal performance and preventing unexpected breakdowns are critical for maintaining productivity and profitability. Laurentide’s case study on reducing downtime by 50% through preventive maintenance optimization and AI demonstrates how integrating advanced technologies can transform maintenance practices, leading to substantial improvements in operational efficiency.

Project Overview

The steel plant that Laurentide represented was having frequent problems with a shear, which was causing a large amount of asset downtime.

In the steel-making process, shears are used to cut steel bars to the correct length. It makes sense that when this vital equipment has downtime, it can significantly affect productivity by causing a bottleneck in the process.

Reducing shear downtime became a top objective to maintain the plant's profitability because it accounted for 20% of the plant's annual unplanned downtime, or 110 hours.

Laurentide’s client could cut the downtime of the shear in half, which would save 10% of the downtime for the overall facility.

Unfortunately, failures were not effectively prevented by the maintenance routines that were initially in place. The team set out to optimize and restructure predictive and preventative maintenance in order to assist our customer in reaching their objectives. The novel solution was implemented beginning with this PM consolidation procedure.

Laurentide’s Solution: Preventive Maintenance Optimization and AI

To tackle these challenges, Laurentide implemented a comprehensive preventive maintenance optimization program integrated with AI technologies. The primary goals were to enhance equipment reliability, reduce downtime, and improve overall maintenance efficiency.

Change of strategy

A predictive strategy monitors an asset's health continuously to remain ahead of the curve, as opposed to fixing it when it breaks or planning maintenance on a regular basis, both of which require unscheduled downtime.

They took things a step further and created a clever solution that uses prescriptive analytics and machine learning to anticipate issues before they occur and provide preventative measures

An algorithmic solution to the problem

Laurentide’s experts extracted, cleaned, transformed, and analyzed manufacturing and operational data from the asset using machine learning.

The system transforms vast amounts of heterogeneous operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) data into actionable knowledge that powers choices in real time to enhance process and asset performance. It does this by utilizing libraries of sophisticated statistical and machine-learning algorithms.

Characteristics:

• To recognize and forecast complicated occurrences and abnormal conditions, expert rules combine calculations, logic, temporal reasoning, statistics, and first principle models.
• Management of abnormal circumstances based on root cause analysis and fault models
• Online predictive models are used to identify patterns and anomalies, as well as to estimate important indicators.
• Online resources that provide useful information for appropriate remedial measures
• An integration platform that pulls process data and events from the plant's systems in real time and throughout history

Result: Significant Reduction in Downtime

As a result, there are significant cost savings when preventative maintenance is optimized and Industry 4.0 concepts are applied to a single asset.

The outcomes are being monitored at this time after the solution was installed, commissioned, and put into use. The bottom line benefited significantly from the 50 hours of downtime that were cut in 2020 and kept in 2021. We project that the savings over the first three years of use will total $1 million.

Leveraging Technology for Maintenance Excellence

Laurentide’s success in reducing downtime by half through preventive maintenance optimization and AI showcases the transformative potential of advanced technologies in the mining, metals, and minerals industries. By moving from reactive to proactive maintenance, companies can achieve substantial improvements in operational efficiency, cost savings, and equipment reliability.

At CRE Philippines, we understand the critical importance of minimizing downtime and maximizing equipment performance. Our PM Optimization Training program is designed to equip your team with the skills and knowledge needed to implement effective preventive maintenance strategies. Through comprehensive training in predictive maintenance and AI applications, we help you transform your maintenance practices and achieve similar success in your operations.

Discover how PM Optimization can help you reduce downtime and enhance productivity. Contact us today to learn more about our training programs and reliability solutions.