Easy factory start-up with Q-CMMS

Plastic sheeting giant Ampaglas experienced their easiest factory start-up in 25 years thanks to a custom-developed computerised plant maintenance management system (CMMS).

The company approached business solution provider QBCon early in 2009 for a software solution that could automate most of its business processes. They required a solution that could handle everything from issuing job cards to drawing up maintenance schedules. QBCon custom-developed a CMMS solution to include a root cause analysis module, which enables Ampaglas to identify the cause of a breakdown in heavy machinery.

The company noticed an improvement in business processes almost immediately after the installation, but over the festive season they got a chance to push Q-CMMS to its full potential.

Based on a maintenance schedule compiled using Q-CMMS, heavy machinery used daily in production could be serviced over the shutdown period without causing any disruption to Ampaglas' planned output.

According to operations director Peter Lemmer and strategic service manager Tommy Burger, Ampaglas experienced one of the easiest production start-ups in 25 years. The implemented maintenance plan was diligently followed since the installation of Q-CMMS. Thanks to a maintenance schedule, all maintenance was completed in time for start-up.

QBCon presented a comparative report in December 2009. In the report the amount of time and administration put towards rectifying a breakdown was compared to the amount of effort required during preventative maintenance. The report proved that preventative maintenance could reduce the amount of time spent doing repairs on breakdowns by 90%.

Since the implementation of Q-CMMS in July 2009, the amount of time spent on repairs has reduced from 80% to 35%. The remaining 65% maintenance time can now be spent on preventative maintenance that doesn't interfere with production. Over the next six months, the amount of repairs is set to reduce even further, resulting in a more productive Ampaglas plant.

A total of 3200 job cards have been generated from the Q-CMMS application since July 2009. Tommy Burger and his maintenance team have been able to maintain a 4.07% outstanding job card rate with the help of Q-CMMS.

In only seven months of operating on Q-CMMS, Ampaglas have increased productivity and output by following a preventative maintenance schedule and automating labour intensive tasks.