How do you turn high-stakes maintenance into a routine practice? At Methanex’s Geismar facility, proactive monitoring and precision diagnostics from Azima have kept operations steady for over ten years. With advanced tools, AI-powered insights, and expert guidance from Azima’s vibration analysts, the facility team has made maintenance and reliability synonymous, setting a gold standard for the industry.

Background 

Methanol is everywhere, though you might not realize it. It’s in your phone screen, the paint on your walls, and the foam in your mattress. It also plays a key role in the future as a low-emission fuel alternative, offering solutions for shipping, transportation, and sustainable energy. Methanex Corporation, the world’s largest producer and supplier of methanol, plays a vital role in meeting this growing demand.

 Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Methanex operates production sites across six countries, supplying major markets in North America, Asia, Europe, and South America. From everyday essentials to innovative energy applications, Methanex is at the forefront of this indispensable resource.

 With so much at stake, the company’s ability to meet global demand depends on careful oversight of the critical systems and equipment that keep production moving in all their facilities.

Challenges

Each Methanex production site relies on hundreds of rotating assets — pumps, motors, compressors, and turbines — that work around the clock to produce methanol. The company’s main challenge is maintaining the reliability of these assets under continuous operation. Any disruption in these systems can lead to delays, unplanned downtime, and costly repairs, impacting not only production but also causing supply chain disruptions for customers across the world.

Over time, even minor shifts in equipment performance can affect overall efficiency. The ability to monitor these trends and make informed adjustments is critical to maintaining the steady, uninterrupted production that Methanex depends on.

Implementation

In 2015, the Methanex facility in Geismar, LA integrated Azima DLI’s interconnected condition monitoring solution into its operations to answer the critical question: how do you move from understanding risks to preventing failures? By analysing live data and comparing it to machine-specific benchmarks, Azima doesn’t just tell you something is wrong; it pinpoints exactly what’s wrong, why it’s happening, and when it requires attention.

For the past decade, TRIO vibration data analysers, cloud-based diagnostics, and expert vibration analysts have all played a role in developing a maintenance strategy for Methanex that is built on precision and foresight.  

  • TRIO Vibration Data Collectors and Analysers: This best-in-class TRIO hardware measures vibration across three planes (X, Y, and Z) from a single location, simplifying and speeding up data collection for critical equipment like motors, pumps, and compressors. Machines in the Geismar facility are monitored constantly by these devices to detect any changes before failures happen.
  • Cloud-Based Diagnostics: Azima’s diagnostic engine uses artificial intelligence (AI) to process vibration data. By applying more than 6,000 diagnostic rules, it can detect over 1,200 specific fault conditions across 50 types of machinery. It identifies and highlights subtle changes in performance that might otherwise go unnoticed. For organizations like Methanex, this means making informed decisions that optimize maintenance schedules, reduce costs, and keep operations running smoothly.
  • Expert Vibration Analysts: While Azima’s software automates 93% of machine test analyses (with over 98% accuracy), it provides the foundation for deeper analysis by Azima’s certified analysts. Trained to ISO Level II – IV standards, Azima’s analysts build on the software’s diagnostics to provide an additional layer of expertise and reassurance. When the automated diagnostic identifies a potential fault in a machine for instance, the analyst evaluates it by considering historical trends, repair history, and a range of other critical factors. For Methanex, this expert guidance helps facility leaders make informed decision and direct maintenance efforts where they matter most – which can mean the difference between scheduling a shaft alignment or facing the costly replacement of an entire asset.

Over time, this approach has proven its worth.

Results 

At Methanex’s Geismar facility, maintenance is refreshingly uneventful.

“If you’re only catching issues when something is about to break, you’re doing it wrong,” points out William “Skip” Handlin, a senior reliability specialist at Methanex. “The point of vibration monitoring is that you take it consistently every month. You see trends — if something starts changing, you know ahead of time, so you can plan it and schedule the work order, have spare parts ready, and fix it at your convenience. With Azima’s solutions, we’re doing it very right.”

A key part of this success is the ongoing collaboration with Azima’s certified vibration analysts. Handlin receives a detailed report every month and talks to their dedicated specialist, Clint, at least twice a month. “I trust Clint to tell me which pieces of equipment need attention, and we make the call together,” he explains. These regular check-ins provide the clarity needed to act early.

This process goes beyond just spotting trends — it’s about verifying equipment conditions and using that information to guide maintenance actions. “You can see something changing and say, ‘OK, it looks like a bearing, but let me go check the coupling or the basket on the suction side,’” Handlin says. “Sometimes you increase monitoring frequency; other times, you check lubrication, belts, or alignment. We don’t just replace a pump or motor for no reason — we confirm it first.”

As a result, there is no scrambling to fix unexpected breakdowns or dealing with costly and hurried emergency repairs. “Hundreds and hundreds of things we’ve found over the years needed to be repaired with vibrational oil analysis — any one of them could’ve been a critical issue if we were not doing what we were supposed to do in monitoring it closely,” he says.

From adjusting maintenance schedules to writing work orders based on vibration trends, the collaboration between Methanex and Azima is a masterclass in proactive maintenance. Instead of waiting for equipment to fail, Azima sounds the alarm well before the breaking point so that teams can avoid disaster and keep operations running smoothly.

Conclusion

At the Geismar facility, maintenance is not a story of last-minute saves or reactive fixes — it’s the quiet, steady work of staying ahead. With Azima’s condition monitoring solutions, Handlin and his team have turned what could be a high-stakes challenge into a routine practice. No surprises. No drama. Just steady, seamless operations day after day, year after year, for a decade. This is maintenance done right: calm, controlled, and a tad bit boring — exactly as it should be.

“The equipment is easy to use and incredibly reliable. The service? Outstanding. I couldn’t be happier with the people I work with and the support I receive.” -William “Skip” Handlin, senior reliability specialist at Methanex Corporation