Benlan
Benlan Inc., is a medical device manufacturer specializing in disposable plastic products for healthcare markets in Canada and the United States. The company operates a 100,000 square-ft. manufacturing facility in Oakville, Ontario, which manufactures molded and extruded medical components; while also offering custom manufacturing, private-label packaging, and Benlan’s own MED-RX line of products.
BUSINESS GOAL
Benlan required an understanding of the capacity of its packaging machines, and needed a tool that would acquire usage data. According to Tom Enns, President of Benlan: "While we could have obtained a proprietary solution from the equipment manufacturer, we liked the fact that Plantnode is cost-effective, and can be used with our other plant equipment as well. We also liked the fact that it had a rich set of functionality that promised to provide a lot of value."
THE CHALLENGE
Benlan's packaging equipment was experiencing frequent and lengthy periods of downtime, and this was primarily due to material replenishment which could occur as often as every hour. Benlan’s management team needed to find a way to reduce machine downtime, to improve productivity of the equipment. They also wanted to be able to proactively prepare to replenish before the machine started to idle.
THE SOLUTION
In addition to providing comprehensive usage data for capacity-planning and productivity-trending, Plantnode can provide email, voicemail or PDA alerts to one or more individuals, identifying when the machine reaches a replenishment threshold. This allows personnel to be proactive and immediately replenish supplies which significantly reduces downtime, and ensures maximum productivity of both machines and people.
RESULTS
Unknown machine capacity hindered planning
Benlan originally implemented the Plantnode solution to assist in gathering information on the efficiency of one of its form-fill-seal packaging machines. Enns described Benlan’s initial experience: "We needed a way to understand the capacity of our packaging equipment, particularly since new equipment has a lead time of six to eight months. Plantnode is already giving us good intelligence about how many of each type of product we can put through this machine in a given time frame.”
Significant improvements in productivity and downtime
Plantnode helped Benlan improve its operations in two key areas: the company has reduced machine downtime, and this in turn has lead to increased production throughout. Packaging equipment uses materials which must be regularly replenished such as film, and this results in recurring machine downtime. Prior to implementing Plantnode, Benlan’s equipment could idle for 10-15 minutes each replenishment period, waiting for a mechanic to be located to perform the replenishment. Now, with the automated alerting function of Plantnode, Benlan mechanics are notified by email or on their PDA when the machine is reaching near depletion of packaging materials. This has reduced replenishment downtime significantly helping to increase production of its machines by 25%.
Plantnode proves easy to justify
"Plantnode pays for itself within a few months, purely on the labor savings associated with the machine replenishment. When you factor in the increase in production, and our ability for improved capacity planning, it's easy to see the value of this product," said Enns.
Dave Cobbold, Process Development Manager, echoed Enns assessment of the Plantnode solution: "We still haven't finished exploring Plantnode's complete functionality, but it has already significantly improved our process. Operators respond faster to events, and change over time was drastically reduced. We plan to implement on other packaging machines in the short term, and we're already discussing standardizing on Plantnode for all equipment on the plant floor."
CONCLUSION: PLANTNODE DELIVERS INTELLIGENT REAL-TIME PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT ON THE PLANT FLOOR
Shoplogix Plantnode solution 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 flow that is fast enough to be actionable, with the accuracy and reliability to facilitate strategic planning and tactical execution.
