How INX Scaled Reliability Without Adding More Chaos

At INX International Ink Co., the metal-decorating inks used on aluminum beverage cans must be produced with precision and consistency. Any disruption can ripple across production lines, customer commitments, and the broader supply chain.

So, how do you keep production running when catastrophic downtime has historically been part of the job? You stop waiting for equipment to fail—and for INX, that meant building a predictive maintenance strategy with AssetWatch, combining AI-driven insights with dedicated human expertise.

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Noria’s Wes Cash hosted an insight-packed session on Scaling Reliability with INX: Aligning People, Processes, and PdM, featuring AssetWatch and INX leaders who have been through the journey firsthand:

• Heather Lovero (Enterprise Solutions Director, AssetWatch)

• Michael Patulski (Director of Operational Excellence, INX International Ink Co.)

• Borpit Intawiwat (Director of Engineering, Process Technology and Automation, INX International Ink Co.)

• Joe Torchia (Plant Engineer, INX International Ink Co.)

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This Isn’t Just Another Predictive Maintenance Rollout

Manufacturers aren’t new to reliability challenges. Reactive maintenance, unexpected downtime, and firefighting have been part of the job for years. But what INX experienced highlights a different kind of shift:

• Reactive maintenance wasn’t sustainable — teams were constantly responding to failures instead of preventing them, with little time to address root causes  

• Traditional tools couldn’t keep up with process variability — changing loads, SKUs, and operating conditions made it harder to rely on static thresholds or manual checks  

• Data existed, but action lagged — insights weren’t always clear, trusted, or prioritized in a way teams could consistently act on  

• Downtime carried compounding impact — when equipment failed, it wasn’t just a repair issue—it meant lost production, delayed orders, and added pressure across the operation

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Three Moves That Helped INX Scale Reliability

INX didn’t overhaul everything overnight. Instead, they focused on a few practical shifts that delivered results quickly and scaled across teams without adding unnecessary complexity.

1. Start Small, but Move Fast

Digital transformation doesn’t have to be a multi-year initiative to show value. INX saw impact early—sometimes within hours or days of implementation.

Predictive monitoring helped the team:

• Identify issues before they become failures  

• Schedule maintenance instead of reacting to breakdowns  

• Avoid long lead-time delays for parts and repairs  

In one case, early detection turned what could have been a six-week downtime event into a planned repair completed in hours.

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2. Turn Insight Into Action

INX was able to quickly move teams from alert to action. Instead of letting insights sit in a dashboard, they built a process around responding to them, whether that meant inspecting an asset, adjusting lubrication, or planning a repair.

Just as important, they created a feedback loop:

• Teams acted on recommendations  

• Results were validated through data  

• Confidence in the system increased over time

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3. Make Reliability a Shared Responsibility

INX treated reliability as a cross-functional effort, not just a maintenance initiative. That meant aligning maintenance, engineering, and production around a common view of asset health.

Instead of debating opinions, teams could point to data and make decisions faster. The result:

• Faster response times to issues  

• Better communication across teams  

• More consistent execution across sites

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The Bigger Opportunity

Success starts with finding the right partner—one that supports your team, helps you act on insights, and builds a strong foundation for long-term reliability. From there, it becomes part of how your team operates every day, not just another initiative layered on top.

The bottom line? Teams that invest in predictive maintenance with the right approach are building more consistent operations, improving how teams work together, and creating a reliability program that can scale across plants.

Didn’t see the event? You can now watch Scaling Reliability with INX: Aligning People, Processes, and PdM on demand.