Reference Customer | Case Study

Core Competency: The BILSTEIN GROUP is relying on the GS-Service maintenance system for its restructured maintenance operations

Reference Customer | Bilstein Group

“Effective, Rapid Organization”

Many manufacturing companies are quick to claim they are undergoing a “paradigm shift.” However, anyone who takes a look at the structurally reorganized maintenance department at the BILSTEIN GROUP will indeed see a significant transformation. By consolidating maintenance operations for all three production facilities in Hohenlimburg, the company has created a systematically restructured workflow that promises success in terms of both efficiency and quality. The unifying element of this new structure is the GS-Service operations management and maintenance system from GreenGate AG.

Key Facts from the Case Study: GS-Service in Action at the BILSTEIN GROUP

The BILSTEIN GROUP has centrally restructured maintenance operations at its three production facilities in Hohenlimburg. By consolidating maintenance activities and implementing the GS-Service maintenance system, the company has created a standardized, efficient workflow for planning, documenting, and managing technical processes. The goal is to achieve higher plant availability, greater cost transparency, and better utilization of synergies within the corporate group.

Industry: Manufacturing / Metalworking

Software used:

GS-Service

Processes supported:

Planning, organizing, and documenting maintenance processes
Centralized management of machine and plant documentation
Systematic analysis of malfunctions, damage, and vulnerabilities
Planning repair shifts and maintenance activities
Management and transparency of spare parts inventory
Work order management and work planning in maintenance
Provision of key metrics on work orders, malfunctions, costs, and working hours
Use as an information platform for technical plant and operational data

Challenge:

Centralization of maintenance for three manufacturing companies under a single organization
Replacement of existing siloed solutions and heterogeneous IT structures
Establishment of transparent and standardized information and process structures
Improved cost transparency in the maintenance area
Standardized management and use of spare parts inventories across the three plants
Systematic documentation of plant downtime and maintenance processes
Optimized scheduling of repair and maintenance shifts

Procedure

Consolidation of the maintenance organization across the three plants and implementation of a centralized planning system using GS-Service. Establishment of a plant object structure to provide a detailed representation of machinery and equipment, as well as the integration of cost-related data such as maintenance labor costs; pilot implementation on one plant in 2010, followed by full-scale launch in 2011 and gradual expansion of use to other areas such as plant and process engineering, production, technical purchasing, and warehousing

Result:

Efficient and transparent organization of centralized maintenance across three production companies
Uniform planning and management of maintenance and repair activities
Systematic documentation and analysis of malfunctions, damage, and equipment downtime
Improved transparency and management of cross-site spare parts inventories
Increased equipment availability through structured maintenance processes
Improved quality and traceability of maintenance activities
Better utilization of synergies among the three production sites

“Centralization ensures transparent and consistent information structures and processes. The maintenance department serves as a service provider for our entire corporate group’s production operations.”

Rolf Jansen, B.S. in Engineering

Managing Director

Since the beginning of 2011, the Plant and Process Engineering (AT) division of BILSTEIN SERVICE GmbH has been responsible for maintenance (AT-I) in addition to its existing core departments of project management, design, building services engineering, and occupational safety. “With this consolidation, we are pooling maintenance expertise for all our facilities,” says Managing Director Dr.-Ing. Rolf Jansen, explaining the restructuring. BILSTEIN, HUGO VOGELSANG, and C. VOGELSANG are thus not only increasing the technical availability of their equipment but also benefiting from numerous additional synergies that improve the quality of maintenance activities while simultaneously reducing costs.

A key component of the concept is the standardized management of spare parts and inventory. To this end, the three existing warehouses have been organizationally consolidated. This allows inventory to be efficiently utilized and managed on an ongoing basis. Furthermore, the expertise from the three locations is pooled through cross-functional teams. This has resulted in teams of specialists with specific qualifications in areas such as hydraulics, pneumatics, and programming, which the companies of the BILSTEIN GROUP can now draw upon as needed. “Centralization ensures transparent and standardized information structures and processes. Maintenance serves as a service provider for the entire production of our corporate group,” explains Dr. Jansen.

Employees organize work planning, including order management, through a centralized planning system. All companies jointly use GreenGate AG’s GS-Service maintenance system for this purpose. “The new software allows for the efficient and rapid organization of operational and maintenance processes. Malfunctions, damage, and weak points are systematically analyzed and help to significantly increase equipment availability,” according to the BILSTEIN GROUP. GS-Service also serves as an information platform for the technical documentation of machines and equipment.

It provides a continuous overview of all inventory and spare parts stocks, as well as key metrics such as orders, damage, malfunctions, costs, and working hours.

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Optimal Planning and Implementation

Interview with Dipl.-Ing. Helmut Mühlnickel

Dipl.-Ing. Helmut Mühlnickel is an authorized signatory of the Bilstein Group, where he is responsible for centralized maintenance (AT-I) at the three BILSTEIN manufacturing facilities.

In this interview, Helmut Mühlnickel discusses the background of the implementation, as well as the features and benefits of the GS-Service maintenance system.

What was the stated goal when GS-Service was introduced?

Helmut Mühlnickel: With the centralization of maintenance across three plants and their organization under a single management structure, we needed a software tool that would effectively support the elimination of siloed systems. Moreover, since maintenance was effectively integrated into operations, it was also important to increase cost transparency.

Mission accomplished?

Helmut Mühlnickel: Yes, absolutely. Especially since GS-Service also makes it possible to optimally plan repair shifts, document the reasons for equipment downtime, and centrally document maintenance-related information.

Does that mean you’ve already been able to increase equipment availability?

Helmut Mühlnickel: Among other things. Because by introducing a standardized IPS across the three plants, we were also able to make our spare parts inventory transparent. GS-Service improves the overall quality of maintenance.

But GS-Service isn’t used only in maintenance.

Helmut Mühlnickel: After its initial implementation in maintenance in January 2011, GS-Service was gradually rolled out in the areas of plant and process engineering, production, technical purchasing, and warehouses.

How is GS-Service being received?

Helmut Mühlnickel: Our employees consider GS-Service to be a flexible program. One particularly positive aspect is that GreenGate is always approachable and genuinely committed to meeting individual needs. This was already evident during the test setup on a relevant system in 2010 and during the full-scale launch in 2011, which included creating a system object structure down to the level of cost relevance, recording maintenance labor costs, and continuing to build out the object tree structure.

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