Aluminium Plant Automation & Digital Transformation Built Around the Potline, Not a Generic Factory Floor
We work across the aluminium value chain -- from alumina and bauxite handling to reduction, casting, rolling, and dispatch -- bringing IoT, machine vision, and automation to the specific problems aluminium producers actually have: potline energy intensity, anode and pot condition tracking, legacy multi-vendor control systems, and safety-critical zones around molten metal and high-voltage DC circuits. Built on the same platform already proven across steel, cement, and power operations -- these capabilities are engineered to be deployed at aluminium plants, not adapted from a generic industrial-IoT template after the fact.
The Weight of Complexity in Aluminium Operations
Potline reduction cells running at extremely high specific energy consumption, where even small efficiency losses compound into a major cost line, often reviewed monthly instead of managed cell-by-cell in real time
Anode condition, current efficiency, and cell voltage tracked manually or on isolated systems, instead of connected to the rest of plant data
Pot tending crane and material-handling operations running on decades-old control systems, often from multiple automation vendors that were never meant to share a screen
Cast house quality -- ingot, billet, and slab -- depending on manual inspection to catch a casting defect, rather than continuous monitoring
Rolling and extrusion operations tracking yield and scrap on end-of-shift paperwork instead of in real time
Fire, gas, and fluoride-emission risk around potlines and anode operations that depends on a person physically noticing it in time
Dispatch and logistics for high-tonnage finished product -- coils, billets, ingots -- coordinated manually across trucks, rail, and port
A production ERP that doesn't reflect what's actually happening across reduction, casting, and rolling as one connected operation
None of this is unique to any one plant -- it's the shape of running an aluminium operation at scale, from the potline through to dispatch.
Value Chain
Where We Work Across the Aluminium Value Chain
Aluminium production is a chain of very different operations, each with its own energy profile and failure modes. Here's where this platform applies, stage by stage:
Raw Material Handling & Conveyor Systems
- Machine-vision detection of foreign particles and material quality on conveyors carrying alumina and bauxite, before it reaches the process
- Belt wear and tear detection on high-volume material-handling conveyors, flagging degradation before it causes a failure
- Built on EpsumThings' Vision AI -- the same capability already proven on raw-material handling operations in steel
Anode & Carbon Plant Operations
- Condition monitoring for anode baking and rodding operations, tracking equipment health rather than relying on scheduled inspection alone
- Digital workflow and checklist support for anode quality checks, replacing paper-based inspection logs
- Applicable to both prebake and Soderberg anode plant configurations
Reduction & Potline Operations
- Real-time monitoring of potline parameters -- cell voltage, current efficiency, and anode effect frequency -- consolidated into one unified view instead of scattered across isolated pot-control systems
- Pot tending crane and material-handling automation integrated into the same monitoring layer as the rest of the potroom
- Condition-based monitoring for potline electrical and mechanical infrastructure, the same capability already deployed for melt-shop and reduction-adjacent equipment in steel
Cast House -- Ingot, Billet & Slab Casting
- Machine-vision-based quality inspection for cast product, catching surface and dimensional defects without relying on manual sampling alone
- Cast house equipment health monitoring tied into the same condition-based monitoring layer used elsewhere in the plant
Rolling & Extrusion (Downstream Processing)
- Real-time yield and scrap tracking for rolling and extrusion operations, instead of an end-of-shift manual tally
- The same OEE and production-reporting capability already proven on rolling mill operations in steel, applicable directly to aluminium sheet, foil, and extrusion lines
Plant-Wide Automation & SCADA Modernization
- Level-2 process automation and multi-vendor SCADA modernization, bringing potline, cast house, and rolling control systems onto a single, browser-based Web-SCADA view
- Built for plants running multiple PLC and SCADA vendors across different eras of the operation, without forcing a single-brand standard
Energy & Potline Efficiency Management
- Real-time specific energy consumption tracking at the potline and cell level -- the single largest cost lever in primary aluminium production -- instead of a monthly aggregate review
- Consumption tied directly to production output and current efficiency, so an efficiency loss is visible as it happens, not discovered at month-end
- The same energy-monitoring approach already proven on energy-intensive process operations in steel, extended to the far higher energy intensity of electrolytic reduction
Safety, Gas & Fire Detection
- Machine-vision-based detection of fire, smoke, and oil leakage around high-voltage DC infrastructure, hydraulics, and electricals
- Digital workflow support for gas and fluoride-emission compliance checks, replacing manual logging
- The same Vision AI safety capability already proven in steel plant environments, applicable directly to the high-voltage, high-heat conditions around a potline
Dispatch & Logistics
- Dispatch management for outbound ingots, billets, coils, and extruded product -- truck, rail, and port coordination, weighbridge integration, and gate sequencing
- Connects production and cast house output to what's actually leaving the gate, the same logistics-coordination capability already proven in steel dispatch operations
Enterprise & ERP Layer
- Manufacturing ERP tying reduction, cast house, and rolling/extrusion production data into inventory and planning, instead of separate spreadsheets per department
- Built by the same team delivering shop-floor intelligence, rather than an ERP stitched together from a separate vendor with no shop-floor visibility
Machine Vision Across Aluminium Operations
The same Vision AI capability already proven across steel plant deployments applies directly to aluminium operations, solving genuinely different problems with one underlying platform:
Potline & electrical hazards
Fire, smoke, and oil-leakage detection around potlines, hydraulics, and electricals.
Alumina & bauxite conveyors
Foreign-particle detection and belt wear monitoring on alumina and bauxite conveyors.
Cast house quality inspection
Cast product surface and dimensional inspection in the cast house.
Configured to what each plant actually needs watched, rather than a fixed, single-purpose vision product.
LoRa-Based Remote Connectivity in Aluminium Plants
Aluminium plants -- like steel plants -- have areas that are expensive or impractical to run new cabling to: potline extremities, remote yards, weighbridges far from the control room. LoRa-based wireless connectivity, already proven extending monitoring to hard-to-cable areas in steel operations, applies the same way here -- without a dedicated fibre run.
Built on EpsumThings
Every capability on this page runs on EpsumThings, Hailiot's industrial operations platform -- Unified Data Lake for multi-vendor data integration, Web-SCADA for unified control-room visibility, SCADAA for trend and deviation analytics, Vision AI for the machine-vision work described above, Workflow Automation for maintenance and safety workflows, and AI Agents for the next layer of autonomous decision support. This is the same platform already proven across steel, cement, and power operations -- built to extend directly into aluminium's potline, cast house, and rolling operations.
Why Aluminium Producers Work With Us
Process-Specific Technical Depth
Potline energy intensity, anode condition, cast house quality -- not a generic industrial-IoT pitch adapted for aluminium.
One Connected Platform
One platform across automation, energy, machine vision, ERP, and logistics, instead of a different vendor for each capability.
Multi-Vendor by Design
SCADA and PLC upgrades that unify what's already running rather than forcing a single-brand standard.
Proven Track Record
A platform with a genuine track record in adjacent energy-intensive process industries -- steel, cement, and power -- not a first deployment anywhere.
What This Changes for Aluminium Operations
Potline efficiency losses visible cell-by-cell in real time, instead of reviewed once a month
Anode and cast house condition tracked continuously, instead of relying on manual inspection alone
Multi-vendor control systems across reduction, cast house, and rolling unified into one view
Safety hazards around potlines and high-voltage infrastructure flagged as they develop, not discovered after the fact
Production, dispatch, and ERP data connected end to end across reduction, casting, and rolling
Frequently Asked Questions
Our deepest process-industry track record right now is in steel, cement, and power; the aluminium-specific capabilities on this page are built on that same platform and engineering team, adapted to potline, cast house, and rolling operations, rather than a first-time build for the sector.
Have a Question About Digitizing Your Aluminium Operation?
If potline efficiency, anode condition, or cast house quality depends on a monthly report or a manual inspection walk rather than a system flagging it in real time, that's exactly the gap this platform is built to close.