OCCG, a manufacturer of paperboard and paper-based packaging has multiple sites in the United States and northern Mexico. Since implementing eMaint X3 CMMS software a year ago, they have been tracking the savings that have been realized from improved multi-location inventory management, decreases in equipment downtime and reductions in material waste.
OCCG originally purchased eMaint X3 CMMS to track their inventory across multiple locations. Having inventory visible across multiple plants in southern California and Mexico has allowed them to initiate a parts sharing system, eliminating the need to keep multiple units on hand of costly parts without impacting downtime.
While any improvement is welcome, a 1% reduction in downtime does not sound impressive at first blush. But, when downtime costs thousands of dollars per hour on equipment that runs 24 hours a day for 5 days a week, the result of a 1% reduction in downtime represents an annual savings of over half a million dollars.
Material waste is another metric that OCCG tracks. In the printing process, every time a press is restarted, cardboard is consumed as part of the start-up process. The reduction in downtime has helped reduce wasted material by 4% which translates to an annualized savings of over half a million dollars.
By integrating eMaint’s inventory management system with OCCG’s corporate ordering system, an automated inventory replenishment process was developed. This eliminated a half hour of overtime per technician per day that was previously spent completing work order paperwork for reordering parts. When you apply a half hour savings across 32 technicians, it represents an annual savings of over $200,000.
Because eMaint’s CMMS system is a comprehensive maintenance management solution, utilizing additional aspects of the system adds to the bottom line savings. Bill Chant, Director of Maintenance and Engineering notes, “We originally purchased X3 CMMS strictly for tracking inventory across multiple locations and for its bilingual support. We quickly realized there were additional gains to be made by utilizing other aspects of the system.”
OCCG, an ISO compliant company, understands that standardized procedures across the entire operation positively influence the resulting savings. Rolling out a cost-savings procedure across multiple locations, and ensuring standardized operations generates greater results from seemingly small, incremental improvements.
As Chant, a 30-year Maintenance and Reliability veteran notes, “Having standardized procedures across all of our plants allows us to realize gains much more quickly. We are able to achieve a greater payback once we identify an opportunity by mining the data.”
When computing the time and money saved at the end of the year, a half an hour per day and a one percent reduction really can amount to meaningful savings.
About eMaint Enterprises, LLC
Established in 1986, eMaint is a recognized market leader in enterprise asset management software(EAM), computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS), and fleet maintenance software. eMaint delivers on-demand CMMS solutions that enable organizations worldwide to manage and control maintenance and repair operations. For more information on eMaint CMMS products and services, please visit the eMaint website at http://www.emaint.com.
