The assignment
A fire in a fabrication plant damaged the structure, the machinery on the floor and both raw and finished stock. The initial view on site was that the equipment was a total loss and that whatever value remained sat in raw material. US Claims Solutions was assigned to inventory the contents, research replacement cost and assess what could be recovered.
What made it difficult
Heat and smoke damage on machinery is easy to overstate from a distance. Sheet metal and paint take the visible damage first, while drives, ways, spindles and controls may be untouched — or may be quietly ruined by acidic smoke residue that will not show for months. Telling those apart requires getting close to each unit, and several machines had lost their data plates to the fire.
What was recorded
Each machine was recorded by manufacturer, model, serial number, capacity and year, with the nameplate photographed where it survived. Where the plate had burned off, the unit was described by physical characteristics — bed size, tonnage, spindle count, voltage — which is enough for a dealer to identify a model. Damage was photographed per unit rather than per line. Tooling, fixtures, raw stock and finished goods were counted separately, because their markets have nothing to do with each other.
Outcome
The assumption was inverted. The raw and finished stock had absorbed smoke and water and had no market; several machines had damage confined to cosmetics and were saleable to rebuilders who buy, refurbish and resell exactly that equipment. Solicitation went to machine-tool dealers and rebuilders rather than to general liquidators, the award went to a bidder who inspected first, and removal was scheduled around the demolition contractor with transfer documents filed against the claim.