Know about a machine failure 5 days in advance — before production stops and customers wait

Kovosteel engineering plant: one unexpected breakdown costs 50 000 CZK per day

The Kovosteel engineering plant operates 12 CNC machining centres. One unexpected machine failure cost the company an average of 50 000 CZK per day — halted production, overtime, emergency repair crews, delayed orders and penalty clauses. Management performed calendar-based preventive maintenance — but the calendar does not know whether a machine is running under normal or elevated load. The result was either maintenance too early or too late.

After installing IoT sensors on critical machines and connecting them to an AI analytics system, the situation changed radically. AI monitors vibrations, bearing temperatures, current consumption and dozens of other parameters every second. It learns each individual machine's normal operating profile and immediately detects deviations that a human technician would miss. On average 5 days in advance it sends an automatic alert: "Spindle bearing No. 4 showing elevated vibrations — recommended replacement next Thursday during the planned maintenance window."

In the first year of operation there were zero unplanned stoppages. Emergency repair crews who used to arrive on weekends at triple rates are no longer needed. Machines run more evenly and their service life has been extended. "We stopped firefighting and started managing production," says production director Pavel Sedlacek. "And the machine does it for us."