Furnace roll bearing save prevents $500k loss and averts 48 hours of downtime.
The Challenge
Unplanned downtime destroys profitability in continuous process manufacturing. In their quest for operational excellence, Worthington Industries searched for a remote condition monitoring solution to reduce machine failures and increase uptime at their Toledo hot-dipped galvanizing facility. The steel processor implemented Vero® across the plant and realized an 18% decrease of machine-related downtime and a 17% reduction in reworks.
Creating Value, Resolving Issues
The Worthington Steel Delta Galvanizing Plant, located near Toledo, is a clear example of how machine health insights can drive proactive maintenance and deliver stellar returns.
Within weeks of installing Vero®, the early detection of a furnace roll bearing failure by the AssetWatch® Condition Monitoring Engineer (CME) allowed for the planning of its replacement on a down-day. The bearing vibration was undetectable by naked ear and touch.
If this bearing had failed during a line run, it would have caused approximately 48 hours of unplanned downtime and potentially $500k in lost gross margin.
Below are the results from the first six months of Vero® service at the facility.
“With our AssetWatch® Condition Monitoring Engineer, I feel like I have a highly qualified tech on my team.”
Jeremie Lieb Maintenance Agile Team Lead
Condition based monitoring in action
Within weeks of installation, the Delta Plant we had a HUGE win with early failure detection and proactive, planned replacement of a furnace roll bearing, preventing approximately 48 hours of unplanned downtime and potentially $500k in lost gross margin.
One Sensor Saved a Potential $500k in Lost Gross Margin!
Enterprise Results
After initially deploying Vero® at its flagship steel processing facility in Columbus, OH, Worthington Industries expanded the proactive maintenance system across their enterprise. In total, more than 1,700 vibration+temperature sensors are now tracking the health of 525+ critical machine assets at 16 steel processing and pressure cylinder facilities located throughout North America.
Since the first installation, more than five million full-spectrum vibration and temperature readings have been gathered by Vero® sensors and delivered to AssetWatch® for processing and visualization on its cloud-based software platform. Assisted by machine learning, expert Condition Monitoring Engineers (CMEs) have analyzed the data and have issued more than 200 prescriptive maintenance recommendations.
“Worthington Industries is a global leader in its field, but we needed a solution that was outside our purview. We sought out a partner that had specialized expertise.”
Brad Kern, VP, Steel Operations
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