Improving Production Equipment Output with Better Data

OVERVIEW

A Fortune 500 manufacturing company was grappling with reactive repairs to production equipment increasingly taking more of their technician’s time to complete. As technicians would be called into resolving production equipment breakdown issues, such as a jammed robotic arm, or a broken or stuck conveyor belt, they would leave their scheduled work and move focus to the breakdown event. Reliability of production equipment to operate and function at optimum levels was suspect – mostly due to undocumented breakdown repairs or deferral of scheduled equipment maintenance routines. The process to capture and input data was time consuming, incomplete and inaccurate due to a paper/manual entry process, and the technicians were wasting valuable time picking up work schedules, looking for parts, and verifying work. Repair tasks were not being documented.

SOLUTION

Using the FieldFLEX Work Management app allowed the process to change from reactive to scheduled maintenance. As accurate repair data came in from the field it was used to build equipment maintenance plans and mature the equipment maintenance process.

1. Create and update work orders in the field
2. Receive assigned work orders from dispatch and update in the field
3. Record time (start/stop) and root cause values on a work order
4. Search inventory, locate and add spare parts to a work order while they are in the field
5. Show location of assets in facilities on floorplan
6. Assign multiple equipment techs to breakdown events on-the-fly

RESULTS

1. 12% increase in technician’s productivity per year
2. Timely and accurate data can now be used for maintenance planning
3. Repair verification with before and after pictures
4. Reduced production equipment downtime
5. Reactive maintenance moved to Scheduled Maintenance providing oversight on maintenance spending and planning.

KEY OUTCOMES

1. Unplanned downtime was significantly reduced improving safety and reducing costs.
2. Productivity improved with efficiencies by reducing technician’s travel time (going to parts room, going to dispatch, finding parts etc).
3. Timely and accurate data for maintenance spending and planning.
4. Better visibility and communications relating to breakdown events – e.g. more techs know, more techs can reslove issue, issue is resolved quicker.

FieldFLEX Enterprise Mobile Platform tightly integrates with IBM Maximo and TRIRIGA platforms and has all the field service capabilities available to help you maintain and inspect your assets and facilities.