Third Party Logistics Supplier Needs Robust Plant Maintenance System

Challenges

A major pet food producer had contracted Wincanton Logistics in Wisbech to package and forward multi-packs to its distribution centres and on to the supermarkets. The picking and packing operations in this process are highly automated making it very vulnerable to faults, breakdowns and spare parts shortage. The logistic operator faced two challenges: ensuring continuity of operations and quality of packaging plus the need to report accurately on these to its customers.

Recognising that their plant maintenance application no longer met their requirement, the company engaged in a vendor selection process and chose Lighthouse Systems.

Shopfloor-Online^TM MOM Software

Lighthouse Systems implemented modules of Shopfloor-Online MES to create the perfect maintenance mangement solution for Wincanton, using a factory model that replicates the plant lines and assets.

Repairs Management and Planned Maintenance

The Repairs module enables operators to report faults on the line, and alerts maintenance engineers to react much quicker than previously. With new visibility on faults and breakdowns, maintenance engineers can schedule repairs and planned maintenance work better, and prioritise, assign and track jobs as they see fit. 

Spare Parts Inventory

All spare parts are labelled and known in the MES. As engineers scan the spare parts used on maintenance jobs, the MES keeps the inventory up-to-date. Maintenance runs a weekly report showing which parts have been used, and what needs to be reordered to prevent shortage.

Reporting

Shopfloor-Online MES MES provides various reports, some of which have been closely developed with Wincanton to meet their customer audit’s exact requirements.

Key Benefits

• One of their main priorities was to be able to provide its customer’s auditors with accurate reports in a specific format; the solution has delivered this
• The maintenance application in the MES enables better resource prioritisation
• Management of spare parts through bar code scanning provides maintenance with an accurate picture of the total cost of maintenance of each asset. The department is in a better position to build a business case for CAPEX
• The system gives visibility on trends and enables determination of root causes, which can be fed in the continuous improvement plan

About

Wincanton is a leading third party logistics (3PL) and supply chain solutions provider in the UK and Ireland.