In aluminium manufacturing, productivity isn’t always limited by furnace capacity. Sometimes, it’s limited by time.
Across many casthouses, 15 to 20 hours of production can be lost every week because operators don’t have an accurate picture of how much molten aluminium remains in the furnace. Those lost hours mean delayed casts, wasted energy and reduced output.
The good news? They don’t have to.
Estimating furnace heel weight has long been part of the casting process. But estimates lead to corrections, delays and short casts, all of which eat into valuable production time.
When those delays are repeated across multiple casts, they add up fast.
Recovering these lost hours could unlock the equivalent of two or three extra furnace charges every week, boosting production by more than 17% without investing in additional furnaces.
As aluminium producers face rising costs and increasing demand, squeezing more performance from existing equipment has become a priority.
That’s where smarter technology comes in.
Our BatchPilot furnace weighing system uses self-learning software to continuously improve weighing accuracy, giving operators a precise measurement of the molten metal remaining in the furnace. Less guesswork means fewer delays, more consistent casts and better use of every production hour.
Finding extra capacity isn’t always about building bigger plants. It’s about removing the hidden inefficiencies that slow production down.
Recovering up to 20 hours every week isn’t just a process improvement. It’s extra production, better utilisation and a stronger return from the assets already on the shop floor.
Sometimes, the biggest productivity gains come not from adding more equipment, but from making every hour work harder.
Want to find out more about our BatchPilot system? Get in touch today.