FASTER FOOD SERVED UP BY ADVOCO

Making high-quality food that tastes good is not easy, especially on a global scale. Adding to the challenge is the constant demand for greater efficiency. But Advoco had the experience and the skills to satisfy this Fortune 500 food maker's appetite for better food, faster across its U.S. manufacturing facilities.

The challenges the customer faced were numerous:

• Accelerating equipment maintenance requests
• Reducing total cost of ownership for line equipment
• Ensuring availability of spare parts through supply chain and inventory management
• Scheduling preventive maintenance to maximize line uptime
• Creating detailed and actionable operational reports

In other words, the total scope of the project was complex and detailed, and consisted of numerous interdependent parts. Just what our team thrives on.

The ingredient for success: Advoco and EAM

To increase efficiency for the customer, we helped deploy an Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system to drive down costs across seven U.S. plants.

Our work began with a thorough business process evaluation to ensure an operational fit. Armed with knowledge of the customer's specific needs, we then enhanced the design of the EAM solution to enable support of the customer's process enforcement requirements. We completed our engagement with on-site training and go-live support at each location to ensure a smooth transition on to the application and to ensure minimal disruption to manufacturing operations.

An appetizing result

With the new EAM solution operational, the customer is realizing significant benefits.

• Real-time operating costs of each manufacturing line to enable:
  •  Accurate reporting of uptime efficiency for spotting potential line issues and managing proactive repair solutions
  • Ability to perform a total cost of ownership analysis for better decision making, e.g., efficient repair vs. replace analysis
• Full supply and inventory management to drive cost out of the business by:
  • Aligning inventory levels with actual needs to reduce on-hand spare parts inventory
  • Minimizing inventory of spare parts that can be delivered rapidly by tracking supplier performance to determining ordering profile
  • Tracking warranty agreements for parts to ensure replacement or refunds
• Accurate accounting of employee performance to increase labor efficiency by:
  • Tracking what percentage of each employee's time is spent doing the job correctly
  • Tracking total labor by equipment (total utilization by machine)
  • Tracking work by labor type, e.g., electrical vs. mechanical, to determineoptimal percentages
• Real-time system reporting and key performance indicators, allowing:
  • Rapid yet informed decision making
  • Comparative line and equipment performance assessment within and between plants

Have an appetite for greater efficiency in your business?

To find out how we could maximize IT value and efficiency in your business, please send us an email.