Bokaro Steel Plant(SAIL) partners with minto.ai™ to begin trials of AI-based Predictive Monitoring system

We at minto.ai™ started the deployment of it’s Industrial IoT system connected to it’s platform spidersense™ in steel plants. With the on-going and future deployments in Steel Plants, we have entered an important segment where we believe there is a need to add value with our Industrial IoT platform called spidersense™.

Image 1: As featured in Times Of India - Please click the image to read the full story

Please read our thoughts below explaining the rationale behind the need and opportunity for digital products in steel plants

What is the Significance of Steel Industry?

3.8% share of annual global GDP accounted for by the steel industry and 10.7% share of annual global GDP considering the indirect impact.
Every $1 of value that is added by work within the steel industry itself, a further $2.50 of value-added activity is supported across other sectors of the global economy, as a result of purchases of raw materials, goods, energy, and services.
For every two jobs in the steel sector, 13 more jobs are supported throughout its global supply chain. In total, some 40 million people work within this supply chain.

Image 2: A steel plant in action

What is the need to implement the Industrial IoT technologies in the Steel plants especially for the maintenance of Electrical Rotating machines?

In Steel industry, maintenance cost accounts for 10 - 15% of production cost. Maintenance affects the target, quality and profitability of the plant.
Electrical Rotating Machines (ERM) are very critical assets in steel plants especially in the Blast Furnace, sinter plant, hot-strip mill, coal handling plant, wire rod mills etc..
Implementation of Industrial IoT technologies in the Maintenance of ERMs can not only improve availability but also reduce maintenance costs and enhance reliability of machine performance and quality of the output.
Under the current business environment, cost competitiveness of steelmakers has assumed a priority role. As a global phenomenon, effective maintenance management has been accepted as the key to corporate strategy for reduced costs. This has led to integration of maintenance management function with production and business problems, not just equipment problems. With this realization that maintenance management can cost 35 - 40 percent of revenues and, in most cases up to 15 percent of unit production cost, steel companies are increasingly opting for new maintenance technologies which can be effectively and relatively easily implemented for reduced costs and increased profitability. According to industry estimates, a 10 percent reduction in maintenance costs translates to a 30 percent increase in profitability.

What are the Challenges to implement Industrial IoT technologies in the Steel plants?

Machines are very difficult to access
Monitoring machines that undergo constant stress amid heat, water & scale.
Monitoring equipment/IoT devices have to function seamlessly in the plant under the hot ambient temperatures.
Availability of wireless-communication infrastructure.

Considering these challenges, What is the Industrial IoT product offered by minto.ai™ to process manufacturing plants especially steel plants?

spidersense™ , the Smart & Real-Time monitoring platform for electrical rotating machines (ERM) is an Industry4.0 product built by minto.ai™ to help process manufacturing plants to reduce unplanned downtime and improve throughput/availability & energy efficiency
spidersense™ with it’s unique technology based on Electrical Signatures (sensors don’t require access to the machine’s location) monitors the health of these ERMs in real-time and helps the maintenance engineers to not only reduce unplanned breakdowns but also improve operational efficiency.
spidersense™ leverages machine learning & IoT to detect the equipment health degradation issues in ERMs before they fail so that the plant team’s can schedule the interventions proactively. By facilitating the real-time condition of the ERM , maintenance can be proactively planned and the inventory & operations can be optimised.
spidersense™ is built on better technology, simple to use & understand and efficient product that not only upskills maintenance engineers but also helps them to optimise their operations.

Note: Motors and generators which are commonly called as Electrical Rotating Machines are ubiquitous and are critical to run our world. 47% of the world’s produced energy is being consumed by electric motors, which are also the fulcrum of the industrial processes. Failure of these ERMs cause significant damages ranging from unplanned outages to the inefficient operations which adversely impacts the plant’s throughput & production quality and ultimately the profits.

Coverage of our association with SAIL, India in the media:

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