For decades, deathcare has relied on a deceptively simple metric to make some crucial cremator equipment decisions: cases. How many cases a year do you run? How many cases before a major repair? How many cases before replacement?
It’s a metric that’s familiar, easy, and universally understood. And, according to American Crematory Equipment (ACE) Chief Operating Officer Drew Osberg, it’s quietly costing operators real money.
“The industry has always talked in annual cases,” Osberg says. “That mindset just carried over into equipment.”
Challenging the logic
On the surface, measuring by case seems logical. But when it comes to understanding wear and tear on a cremator—particularly the refractory material inside the chamber—cases are a deeply flawed stand-in for reality.
In reality, one case does not equal one case.
A 200-pound decedent and a 150-pound decedent are both logged as a single case, yet they place very different demands on the machine. The real culprit behind refractory degradation isn’t the number of cycles run, but alkali content and body mass—and that correlates directly to pounds processed and time at temperature.
Osberg likens counting cases to comparing a five-mile grocery run with a hundred-mile drive to the beach and calling them both “one trip.” It’s technically true, but operationally, the data is useless.
It’s a different conversation
This disconnect shows up most clearly in cremator service and repair. Facilities often replace floors, walls, or entire units based on an assumed case count, only to be surprised by premature cracking or downtime. The instinctive response is to blame workmanship or equipment quality.
“What nobody really talks about is material quality,” Osberg says. “Or how different levels of throughput should dictate different materials.” At ACE, that realization has driven years of research and development investment into refractory formulas designed for specific workload thresholds. The goal is to extend the lifecycle of the equipment by matching material quality to actual use.
The shift from cases to pounds processed changes more than maintenance schedules. It can truly reframe a funeral home’s strategy.
When operators fixate on upfront price alone, they risk what Osberg calls “tripping over pennies to pick up dollars.” Downtime, rushed repairs, and accelerated wear all eat into margins far faster than a thoughtfully planned service approach.
Thinking differently
This way of thinking also opens new operational questions. Should a low-volume facility really process the few oversized cases it sees each year, knowing the disproportionate wear they cause? Or does it make more business sense to outsource those cases and preserve equipment longevity? Those aren’t emotional decisions—they’re performance decisions—and they only become visible when the right data is used.
The encouraging news is that most of the data already exists in front-end funeral home software and cremation logs. When operators see pounds processed alongside case counts, Osberg says the reaction is nearly universal: “A light switch goes off.”
“We want people to think differently,” Osberg adds “Just because we do things a certain way doesn’t always mean that it’s the only way. That’s the kind of mentality that we’ve instilled in our team, and I think it applies to the folks in the industry when they’re thinking about crematory equipment, which is a very large investment. It’s also another very large investment to keep them going.”
That change of mindset, Osberg says, can lead to a much more thoughtful approach — and a lot of great questions.
“I think the informative approach makes a lot of sense,” he says. “When you start thinking differently about your pieces of equipment through this pattern, it opens up more questions. ‘Am I being served by the right company?’ or ‘Is there a difference in materials and the quality of the materials?’ and ‘How is that affected by the throughput on the machine?’ I welcome those conversations.”
To talk with Drew or another member of the American Crematory Equipment team, reach out via email at drew@americancrematory.com or visit https://www.americancrematory.com/contact.
