Instandhaltungssoftware für Industrie, Versorger und Windkraft
Reference Customer | Case Study
The challenges are as large as the plants themselves: Armacell uses the GS-Service operations management system for preventive maintenance and optimized spare parts inventory management
Client testimonial | Armacell GmbH
Cutting the dead weight – boosting value creation
If time really is money, plant availability at the Armacell site in Münster becomes the number one priority.
As the linchpin of a global value chain comprising 25 production sites across 17 countries, a breakdown in Münster would result in significant costs arising from downtime. This is because the European headquarters of the leading manufacturer of flexible insulation materials supplies at least all European plants with masterbatches, amongst other things. Reason enough to leave no stone unturned in production as part of the ‘World Class Armacell Mindset’ initiative. And lo and behold: since the GS-Service operational management system has been managing maintenance and spare parts stock, things that were already going well are now running even more smoothly.
In this case study:
Key facts from the case study: GS-Service in action at Armacell
The challenges are as great as the plants themselves: that is why Armacell, the world’s leading manufacturer of flexible insulation materials for plant insulation, relies on GS-Service. At its production site in Münster, the company uses the GreenGate software as the digital engine and manager for maintenance, fault management and stock control.
Sector: Industry
Software used:
GS-Service – GS-Manager, GS-Mobile
Processes supported:
- Planning, management and documentation of machinery and plant, equipment, spare parts, personnel and processes
- Maintenance (scheduled/unscheduled), including monitoring, controlling and analysis
- Fault management
- Stock management: significant stock optimisation, feedback of maintenance data on plant performance, identification of critical components in stock
Challenge:
- Digital management and legally compliant documentation of plant infrastructure, equipment, stock management, maintenance processes and personnel
- Digital replacement of Excel spreadsheets, in-house programmes, freeware and paper-based filing systems
- Intelligent integration of up-to-date information from maintenance and operations management, historical plant data, stock data and empirical values
- Introduction of preventive maintenance to minimise plant downtime
- Integration of remote maintenance monitoring in the workshop with analysis in GS-Service
- Increased productivity and environmental requirements – including analyses of key cost areas, disruptions to operational processes and plant performance
- Immediate retrieval of the work queue during changeovers or production breaks
- Definition of stock levels and specification of corresponding reorder times
Procedure:
Digital recording of plant infrastructure, equipment, spare parts and staff in GS-Service; stock-taking, analysis, optimisation and documentation of all processes; pilot implementation, training, go-live
Result:
- Comprehensive digital management of technical operations at the Münster site
- Centralised control of maintenance, fault management and stock management within a single system
- Transparent documentation of plant, equipment, spare parts and processes
- Improved planning and implementation of preventive maintenance measures
- Faster response times to faults and production stoppages
- Optimised spare parts and stock levels through systematic analysis and control
- Better analysis of plant performance, faults and cost structures
- Greater efficiency and productivity through an integrated database and digital processes
Production sites
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Staff
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Active patents
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The in-house supply chain, with its distinctive technical and organisational interlinking of systems, is one thing. Increased demands for productivity and environmental protection are another. At Armacell, the two are inextricably linked and identify the production lines, in particular, as the critical point: “Prolonged downtime is unacceptable,” says Lennert Wiels, Maintenance Manager at the Münster plant. “If, for example, there are problems or faults with the exhaust gas after-treatment system, the relevant production lines in the manufacturing area immediately come to a standstill.” What can be done? “Preventive maintenance is certainly the right and important approach here.”
Processes as Digital Twin methods
GS-Service has been in use at Armacell Münster since the end of 2015. The two production lines critical to the system are monitored remotely from the workshop area, and the checks are in turn documented in GS-Service. This applies to virtually everything relating to day-to-day operations in plant engineering, infrastructure, utilities supply, the central warehouse, R&D and facilities in Münster. And when you document things, you’re also basing your planning on a consistent set of data: “We make full use of this capability in GS-Service,” explains Lennert Wiels, “it’s a necessity of the moment, not least because we’ve now reached a critical size as a company – as evidenced by our order book.”
“Prolonged stoppages are unacceptable”
Lennard Wiels, Maintenance Manager
System implementation: an agile approach to achieving your goals
Essentially, GreenGate’s GS-Service – as a system subordinate to the ERP – integrates planning, documentation and monitoring functions, as well as business management applications, into a single information and management system. The object-oriented software – designed as a scalable client/server solution – is based on standard technology and runs on the latest Microsoft operating systems. One advantage is that, thanks to its open system architecture, GS-Service can be integrated with other systems such as Armacell’s SAP ERP. GS-Service was introduced in 2015 to replace the industry-wide patchwork of solutions comprising Excel, in-house programmes, freeware and paper-based filing systems. However, this was not a ‘big bang’ implementation. Lennert Wiels recalls the agile approach, moving from the broad strokes to the finer details: “When we introduced GS-Service, the maintenance staff weren’t exactly thrilled. But that’s exactly what we’d expected! That’s why we first presented the system in detail, gathered feedback and got the system up and running in a rudimentary form – without going into too much detail. The processes were described step by step in training materials and presented in PowerPoint. That worked very well for us. As a result, GS-Service became second nature to our colleagues.”
Specific information for every shift
The 35 colleagues in the maintenance department have come to really appreciate the IT-supported maintenance routines. Take shift handover, for example, which takes place 17 times a week. “The handover is brief,” says Wiels, “but everything is clearly documented in the shift report from GS-Service.” In GS-Service, maintenance orders are not only pre-scheduled; maintenance staff also receive specific operating and maintenance instructions complete with checklists. “The pool of tasks is therefore clear, and the team can organise their own shift. This high degree of personal responsibility has proved its worth.” GS-Service also stores photographic documentation of inspections and measurement data for the systems; from 2020/21 onwards, this will be done via the GS-Mobile module.
GS-Mobile prior to its introduction
Where maintenance technicians today still have to go back to the workshop to access information in GS-Service (equipment master data, etc.) or to enter data such as work order feedback, including working time or photos, into the system, with GS-Mobile via Windows-based tablet PCs everything now happens directly on site. “That would save huge amounts of travel time,” says Wiels, who — together with two other key users — administers GS-Service himself and is also driving the intelligent networking of digital and physical workflows in other areas. “We link all the data on the machines within the system — on the one hand to professionalize maintenance itself, and on the other hand to identify: Where are the cost hotspots? Where do faults occur in the operating processes? What do the equipment performance metrics look like? Because we’ve mapped and documented the equipment and processes in GS-Service, we can now run comprehensive analyses for the first time. We have a pre-planned backlog of work that can be called up directly during changeovers or production breaks. This lets us respond quickly and flexibly, and also carry out maintenance or inspections at short notice, since they’re already pre-planned.”
‘We now estimate the savings in tied-up capital at around 80,000 euros – approximately 15 per cent of the portfolio value’
Lennard Wiels
80,000 euros is just the start
Keyword: Controlling. Armacell recorded a verifiable boost in efficiency through the use of GS-Service for spare parts management. “We now estimate the savings in tied-up capital at around 80,000 euros – roughly 15 per cent of the stock volume,” says Wiels, “and expect much more once all consumption figures are available.” The principle behind this new efficiency is easily explained. Previously, stock-managed items in SAP were purchased, stored and recorded in Excel based on empirical data. “However, we didn’t really know where the critical components were,” says Wiels. Thanks to feedback from maintenance data and information on plant performance, it is becoming increasingly clear when which spare part – in other words, what stock volume – is actually required. “Accordingly, we have defined stock levels and entered order times in GS-Service based on minimum-maximum stock management. The system reports the stock levels. In future, stock reconciliation and orders are to be carried out automatically via an interface to SAP ERP, possibly as early as 2020.”
“Colleagues are certainly enthusiastic”
The intelligent workflow with GS-Service has also sparked interest at other Armacell sites: “Of course, we exchange ideas with maintenance staff from other countries. Our colleagues from Poland and England were really impressed by GS-Service, particularly because it improves communication and identifies critical issues,” confirms Lennert Wiels, who gives the provider and the software high marks: “Apart from the balanced package of price and performance, preliminary discussions and references, it naturally suits us that we were given a free hand with the system’s structure. GS-Service is flexibly customisable and user-friendly. The contacts at GreenGate are also quick to assist with timelines, budgets or proposed solutions via TeamViewer. It simply works.”
The Customer Case Study as a PDF
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