Background

At Nestle Purina’s King William facility, keeping cat litter supplied to retailers across North America means everything. Operating nearly 200 critical assets around the clock, the team partnered with Augury to transform their maintenance approach from reactive firefighting to proactive excellence.

What started with manual vibration routes has evolved into a world-class predictive program: 99% response rate to alerts, hundreds of thousands of dollars saved, and maintenance teams who sleep through the night instead of responding to emergency calls.

Challenge

Manual routes missed critical issues:

Technicians spent countless hours on vibration routes while critical problems slipped through undetected, leaving equipment vulnerable between checks.

Reactive mode created constant stress:

The team operated in firefighting mode, feeling stressed and constantly battling unexpected failures that disrupted production.

Limited resources stretched thin:

With four production lines serving growing demand, the facility needed to maximize output without the capital investment of adding new equipment.

The journey: How King William became the benchmark

From Skeptical to Self-Sufficient:

The team started where most facilities do—relying on manual vibration routes and outside contractors, skeptical that sensors could deliver real value. But when every single Augury alert revealed genuine issues (no false alarms, ever), trust grew rapidly. Within months, they expanded capabilities to include thermography and ultrasound, eliminating all contractor dependency and keeping expertise in-house.

From One Champion to Full Coverage:

What began with PJ Slusher checking alerts alone evolved organically. As technicians saw catches preventing major failures, adoption spread to night shift without any mandate. Now 8 active users across all shifts ensure 24/7 coverage, with investigations documented so thoroughly that other Purina sites use King William’s reports as training materials.

From Maintenance to Strategic Partner:

The transformation extended beyond maintenance. Operations teams now request Augury data before making production decisions. Equipment health insights drive changeover schedules. The maintenance team went from fighting fires to preventing them—creating capacity gains that delivered millions in value without capital investment.