TRACK YOUR MAINTENANCE WITH A SIMPLE INTRANET SITE!

INTRODUCTION – My former employer is known as a quality provider of leading edge graphic corrugated packaging. Their specialty is high-end graphics, process printing, display packaging and specialty folding & gluing. To achieve this high level of quality machines must be maintained at or close to OEM specifications. High-end graphics are now a standard for the corrugated industry, as the technology continues to advance at a rapid pace. As my company was leading the way in the application of this technology, it became apparent the timely maintenance was a critical factor in the quality equation.

In this article I explain how we used the power of an Intranet to improve maintenance communication. I developed a number of intranet applications but this article is focused directly on maintenance. This application has been in place for ten years.

BACKGROUND – Our company began using an intranet site to improve company internal communications in the late 1990’s. It began as an attempt to improve actions and follow-up on maintenance work orders. We had a consultant provide us with a maintenance schedule to post at the machines but they kept getting lost. We needed an electronic maintenance program to provide the level of documentation that we needed.

Commercial maintenance programs are full of add-ons and cute little routines that we would never use. As the Internet began to grow we decided to use that technology to develop our own maintenance program.

BENEFITS

• Management can see documentation on what is behind the costs.

• It gives instant access to details of maintenance TODO.

• It is a powerful tool for maintenance supervisors. They plan their activities, especially during planned downtime for cleaning. HOW IT WORKS Just click on a button and enter you information. (see figure 1 below).

• Anyone enters a work order

• Supervisors approve or reject the request • Maintenance, reviews the request, estimates time required and does the work at some future date.

Figure 1 – Main screen for eWorkOrders! (looks something like this)

__________________________________________________________________

e-Work Orders!

Click here to read the procedure

Enter information by clicking on the appropriate blue button below

SHOP FLOOR________ SUPERVISOR_______ MAINTENANCE

Start Work Order_______ Request Approval_____ Review Requests

_____________________Verify Work__________Work To Do

___________________________________________________________

HOW IT HELPED US

• Very few operators complain that; “I told them about that 6 months ago”

• Improved communication

• People feel empowered and work as a team

• Supervisors have the control they need.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

It’s easy, just do it.