DOWNLOAD THE PDF VERSION OF THIS CASE STUDY

---

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Fourmark Inc., is a contract manufacturer of custom injection molding and related services to a variety of industries including food packaging and consumer goods; cosmetics; and construction. The company operates a 25,000 square-ft. facility in Oakville, Ontario, from which it serves markets in Canada and the U.S., including Original Equipment Manufacturers, Automotive Aftermarket, and Architectural and Automotive Glass.

BUSINESS GOAL

Fourmark needed to gain tighter control of its injection molding equipment to better manage the growing number of its machines, and to improve the capacity of each machine.

THE CHALLENGE

The main issue for Fourmark, was the lack of accurate information about the performance of each piece of equipment. The company needed to add some type of monitoring and data-gathering device to capture accurate information; but it required a product that would also provide other key functionality, such as remote access.

Fourmark also needed to find a way to proactively prevent machine downtime, in order to increase its operational hours.

THE SOLUTION

By implementing the Plantnode solution, Fourmark now gathers accurate, real-time data about the operation of every machine. This helps the Fourmark management team understand areas to improve efficiency, and helps them identify their true machine capacity. Alarms quickly notify employees when problems arise with the equipment, helping them to reduce machine idle-time and increasing productivity.

RESULTS

Growing pains

Fourmark was in an enviable position: Due to demands of existing and new customers, the company needed to increase the number of injection molding machines in its plant to improve overall production capacity. Its rapid growth meant that Fourmark had to to gain tighter control over its production output as well. Fourmark managers needed a way to monitor machines on the plant floor to capture critical production data; to understand its machine capacity; and to quickly assess shift performance.

Adam Cruikshank, President of Fourmark, explained the company’s unique needs for monitoring plant performance: “One of my primary considerations over and above acquiring real-time quality data was remote access. While I’m away, I can stay on top of everything happening in the plant and maintain complete control over operations from just about anywhere.”

Impressive output results

Since the implementation of Plantnode, Fourmark is now able to track the custom injection equipment, to compare its cycle times and expectations. By capturing downtime information related to items such as color changes, mold setups, and scrap rates, the company has been able to identify areas for improvement. This has resulted in a reduction in mold setup times by 30%, and has increased overall plant output by 10% to-date.

Fourmark is also benefiting from the proactive alarming functionality of Plantnode, which can signal to individuals in the plant and office if something happens to any of its equipment. “I know this product has a huge potential for us: we’re only using a fraction of Plantnode’s capabilities,” said Cruikshank. “We look forward to expanding our use of Plantnode to our support equipment as well. The proactive alarming will help us ensure smooth, consistent operation and top quality.”

CONCLUSION: PLANTNODE PROVIDES INTELLIGENT MANAGEMENT OF SHOP FLOOR DATA

Shoplogix Plantnode is an intelligent performance management system designed to increase operational efficiency, improve quality, and drive higher levels of performance in discrete manufacturing environments. Plantnode has proven effective in improving Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE); predictive and preventive maintenance; and quality initiatives, across all industries. Plantnode leverages existing investments in equipment and business systems, to enable operational visibility and real-time information flows, fast enough to be actionable, with the accuracy and reliability to facilitate strategic planning and tactical execution.