This paper describes the process of a successful motor replacement activity for a big steel wire company. In order to achieve its sustainability goals, the company decided to analyze the impact of changing to high efficiency motors (IE4 or IE5) for the installed base of wire drawing machinery. The installed base of over 1000 machines originally contained frequency controlled IE2 and IE3 induction motors. Due to the nature of the driven process, the electric machines are mainly operated in the field weakening region. The paper discusses the different phases in the process, starting from gathering energy efficiency data in the operating region from manufacturers. The validation testing of this data based on motor testing is also reported together with an analysis of the compatibility of the selected high efficiency motors with the original power electronic converter. The motor analysis takes into account induction motors, synchronous reluctance motors and permanent magnet motors. After the technical assessment in terms of the possible energy savings, the economics in terms of pay back are analyzed. The paper also deals with the complexity of the different energy costs in different regions worldwide and the impact on the pay back. In the final part of the paper, the actual roll out of the motor replacement is discussed together with the first field results of the energy measurements.