Minor failures, major cost

For more than a century, Gerdau has enjoyed a long reputation as a process innovator in the steel industry.

A company with more than 35,000 people across 13 countries, the goal of a 20% reduction in maintenance cost was significant. It would not be easy to accomplish, but accomplishing the reduction was critical to the company’s profitability.

The transformation Gerdau needed would take them into uncharted territory for many in the steel industry: the digital realm of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

Dreaming big pays off

• Raw material inventory reduced from three days to seven minutes
• Savings of more than 130 hours in unplanned downtime
• Truck driver productivity gains of more than 100% with a resulting 5% drop in freight costs
• 93 hours per month saved in scrap classification
• An initial investment of $1.5 million yielding annual savings of $4.5 million

Download the case study to view the roadmap for digital transformation in the steel industry.