Standardise maintenance process and scout a digital solution

SCG’s on-demand workforce provided MaterialsCo. with maintenance process optimization opportunities. This was achieved by mapping current repair processes and identifying recurring challenges. In addition, MaterialsCo. was provided with recommendations on a digital maintenance management solution, that is now in pilot at MaterialsCo.

The outcomes of the project were:

1. The repairs process map with activities, challenges and best practices for each activity.
2. A revised and standardized process map addressing all the issues identified within the existing repairs process.
3. A list of maintenance management softwares in-use across different factories, their key features and new solution capabilities.
4. A ranking of recommended new maintenance management softwares on the basis of benchmarked process requirements, user insights and cost comparisons.

MaterialsCo. owned and operated 16 factories, most of which had been acquired. These factories lacked cohesive and standardized maintenance processes. Most of the maintenance activities carried out across factories were reactive or corrective in nature. MaterialsCo. sought to change this reactive way of maintenance work to a more proactive and predictive way in order to reduce production disruptions, save costs and increase productivity.

SCG conducted a three-phase project to help MaterialsCo. streamline its maintenance process:

Phase 1 – Mapping current maintenance process to identify optimization opportunities

SCG’s on-demand workforce began by mapping out the overall repair process of the 4 factories. There was identified issue areas within the process, categorized them as process or organizational issues and listed the reasons for their presence. Next, the impact of key issues was identified on each individual factory site. By performing all these activities, SCG's agile workforce was able to create a revised repair process for all factories, develop a detailed list of steps to ensure routine maintenance and identify best practices for each stakeholder.

Phase 2 – Scouting new maintenance management software

In this phase, SCG’s on-demand workforce analyzed different sources to develop a list of 41 maintenance management software providers. Out of these 41 providers, 12 were then shortlisted based on relevant company criteria. Demo sessions were conducted with these 12 solution providers to understand the key features offered & UI. Finally, 5 of these solutions were selected for a further deep dive.

Phase 3 – Analysis of CMMS requirements and ranking of new CMMS solutions

In this phase, SCG's agile workforce identified all the different CMMS in-use across the different factories of MaterialsCo. and developed a list of all their key features. Next, the demonstrated capabilities of the 5 shortlisted solutions were evaluated against prioritized requirements and these solutions were ranked according to the support they offered across different steps of the maintenance process, their cost and their user friendliness.