If you are facing three problems at once — extrusion dies don’t last, ingot yard work is exhausting and unsafe, and downstream customers complain about porosity and inclusions — the issue is no longer one machine. It’s the entire process chain showing its age. A full replacement is unrealistic, so where do you start without losing control?

A pragmatic path, validated by many plants, is:

1. Stabilise ingot quality first
   Use an integrated ingot casting solution that combines a 9 m ingot casting machine, in-line degassing and a filtration box to reduce hydrogen and inclusion variation. This gives every downstream process a cleaner starting point.

2. Then relieve the heaviest and riskiest manual work
   For example, apply a gantry ingot stacking system to replace high-temperature manual stacking, moving people away from the hardest and most dangerous jobs.

3. Finally, refine dies and extrusion processes
   Consider adding a nitriding furnace to build a standard die-nitriding system, bringing die life and dimensional stability under data-based control.

Along this route, you can invest in stages while always moving toward more stable quality, lighter manpower load and better process control. Suppliers such as Wuxi Wondery Industry Equipment, who cover both ingot lines and automation equipment, can help outline a high-level roadmap of “where to start”. You can then fit that into a realistic 2–3 year plan, rather than trying to do everything at once.

The benefit is that every step has visible payoff: first fewer complaints from customers, then easier staffing and safer yards, and finally longer die life and better dimensional control. Overall, your plant gets steadily healthier instead of experiencing a brief “new equipment hype” followed by the same old problems.