Brazil’s largest steelmaker Gerdau announced on Monday it will roll out GE Digital’s software and services to connect 600 assets in 11 mills the local steel producer has in Brazil.
The technology is expected to “transform” Gerdau’s industrial operations in an initiative that was labeled by the two companies as innovative in the global steel industry.
Gerdau will use GE’s asset performance management (APM) system, which consists of software, services and remote monitoring and analytics expertise out of GE’s industrial performance and reliability center in Illinois, in the US. The technology identifies, among other functionalities, impending equipment failures before they happen in weeks or months in advance.
“With this added lead time, companies can transition from reactive to preventative and
predictive maintenance processes and help avoid unplanned equipment downtime,” a joint press-release from the two companies said.
Gerdau ran a test of the concept by monitoring 50 of the company’s assets. It said the test resulted in two “catches” of “potential asset issues that could be addressed through early planned maintenance without impact to the business.”
“The savings resulting from these preventative actions were equal to the cost of the pilot; as a result, Gerdau received value immediately and the proof of concept was validated.”