Yannick Beaulé, Chief Revenue Officer at EPIQ Machinery since 2021, brings extensive expertise in sales, operations, and general management for industrial equipment and technical solutions. He has successfully led multi-site teams, launched service centres, developed new products and markets, and negotiated key client partnerships.

Marty DeGoey, Sr. Applications Specialist at EPIQ Machinery, leverages 25 years of experience in material handling for the aluminium industry, having contributed to innovative solutions at Alcoa and Advanced Dynamics. He continues to drive handling solutions that influence US aluminium operations.

In an interview for “American Aluminium Industry: The Path Forward” e-Magazine, both Yannick and Marty discussed how EPIQ Machinery is addressing operational challenges in North American aluminium plants through advanced material-handling solutions, automation, and digitalization. Yannick Beaulé and Marty DeGoey discuss overcoming industry bottlenecks, integrating recycled materials, ensuring reliability and safety, and leveraging modular software and automation to boost productivity while balancing cost, workforce changes, and customer needs.

AL Circle: EPIQ designs and manufactures complex material-handling systems for primary and secondary aluminium operations. What operational bottlenecks in North American casthouses persist despite automation advances?

Yannick and Marty: A big trend currently in the industry is the use of more recycled material in remelting processes. 

The integration of these foreign components into the producers’ recipes creates special challenges with management of the incoming raw material, composition and handling of what is referred to as the aluminium scrap. 

Automation initiatives now need to address these issues with safe and reliable materials handling equipment, considering the bulky nature of this material as well as the fact that it involves indoor and outdoor activities. As well, producers will need a software solution capable of managing the process from sourcing to furnaces of this scrap, integrating their production imperatives. 

AL Circle: With EPIQ recently acquiring Alizent’s mining and metals digital assets to form EPIQ Digital, how realistic is digitalization (like Industry 4.0 and AI) in improving smelter productivity rather than remaining pilot projects? 

Yannick and Marty: Very realistic. Digitalisation is no longer optional; it is essential for all industrial processes, including aluminium production. 

At EPIQ, our goal is to make this transformation accessible by offering InNexus™ as a standardised MES software product rather than a fully custom project for each producer. By integrating core capabilities into common modules, InNexus™ addresses up to 80 per cent of typical operational requirements. 

Its modular design empowers producers to select only the components that deliver the greatest value, ensuring that chosen modules bring the most advantages while maintaining cost efficiency. This approach positions EPIQ to provide aluminium-focused digital solutions that are both competitively priced and performance driven. 

AL Circle: Modern extrusion billet systems often use gantry cranes in a batch-type homogenising system to avoid product damage. From a commercial standpoint in North America, how important is this “nocontact” approach to customers buying homogenising systems?

Yannick and Marty: The ‘no-contact’ approach is not unique to North America. It is essential for billet quality and operational safety to all producers. Non-contact handling safeguards surface integrity, maintains precise dimensions, and helps ensure good surface quality for the end user. 

EPIQ sets itself apart with a gantry system that builds and breaks down homogenising loads without ever touching the aluminium billets. Products are moved using robust spacers, and all billet transfers are executed through precise linear motions, enhancing reliability and positioning accuracy at transfer points. Our solution also means we reduce noise (no bang of logs together) and the potential of pinch points if an operator is in the area.

EPIQ’s highly automated extrusion billet batch homogenising systems: Ensure consistent load formation during homogenising cycles. Prevent log rolling through controlled linear transfer motions. Keep loads stable with rugged spacers that prevent shifting. 

By combining safety, precision, and efficiency, EPIQ’s billet handling solutions protect product specifications and streamline both upstream handling and downstream processing.

To know more about machineries and innovation in the global aluminium production process, read the complete interview here.