IFS Ultimo has revealed how BRÜCK GmbH improved its maintenance strategy and has seen significant benefits after implementing IFS Ultimo EAM in 2022. BRÜCK is a leading specialist in the production of sophisticated custom-forged parts.
The firm has a wide range of physical assets across its 15-hectare production campus in Saarbrücken-Ensheim. These include over 70 CNC-controlled saws, presses, lathes and forging machines. It also has a fleet of cranes, vehicles and other machinery.
The company invests in increasing the efficiency of its machinery while maintaining high quality to ensure the products it manufactures meet stringent requirements. The firm manufactures, tests and certifies seamless hot-rolled rings and special forged parts, including assemblies weighing up to 250 tons, which are installed in equipment and machinery worldwide.
The Challenge
In total, the firm has over 1,650 pieces of equipment. This doesn’t include the 2,532 solar modules that were installed on an 11,000 m² roof area in 2023. These were installed to generate 1,012.80 kWp when operating at peak output, delivering annual savings of approximately 1 million kWh.
The firm realised that it needed a better way of managing its assets. It was using Excel and manual processes based on observation and verbal requests for maintenance.
BRÜCK selected IFS Ultimo to modernise its asset management capability. It chose the solution because of the range of functions it offered and its track record with existing customers. The solution hosted in Azure Cloud BRÜCK also removed any risk of an on-premise deployment.
Daniel Backes, Head of Machine Maintenance at BRÜCK, explained, “Our goal was to map all machines and equipment in one system and digitize our maintenance management.
“This includes the complex production machines as well as ladders, tools, air conditioning systems and building facilities. IFS Ultimo consolidates all data of these assets in one place, visualizes them, and generates overviews and reports. This has given us a much better overview.”
What happened next
Only six months later, IFS Ultimo was fully deployed with all equipment now held within the system. Every month 300 maintenance jobs are created, carried out and documented across the equipment base. The firm has raced through stage 1 (reactive maintenance) of the EAM Maturity model to stage 2, where it is “In control” of its assets.
It is now able to schedule preventative maintenance. Its maintenance is now proactive, which increases operational efficiency and reduces downtime.
BRÜCK chose to deploy the Premium version of IFS Ultimo. It has taken advantage of the different configuration options that have allowed it to personalise the installation, specific to its needs. The implementation went smoothly, and this helped to ensure acceptance by the internal team.
It means that compliance with DGUV V3, the German accident prevention regulation, has improved. It can better manage and track the mandated regular testing of electrical equipment and systems. Thus, ensuring their safe operation and protection against electrical hazards as required by the regulation.
Backes added, “Today, reports from production are directly forwarded to the responsible persons within the 25-member maintenance team. This has made maintenance more organized, faster and more efficient, especially in terms of documentation and providing feedback to the operating personnel. This added value quickly convinced us and the entire team, clearly demonstrating the benefits of IFS Ultimo.”
What is happening now at BRÜCK?
BRÜCK has continued to invest in IFS Ultimo. It added the Ultimo AI Module last month. It is also rolling out Ultimo Go, the mobile app will enable workers to update the EAM, even if there is no signal. Ultimo Go reconnects and uploads data when the connection is restored. It enables workers to update information and submit requests when working in remote areas or areas with limited or no signal.
The company is also planning to integrate Ultimo Go into its ERP solution, linking it to its spare parts inventory management system to further improve operations. IFS Ultimo is supporting BRÜCK as it looks to advance through the four levels of EAM maturity.
The inventory management element is one component that takes the company from “in control” to “proactive”. This stage introduces predictive maintenance to the process, leveraging the data on its assets that the company is now collecting.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
BRÜCK is yet another customer who has seen the benefits the IFS Ultimo EAM solution delivered. It has experienced a smooth implementation, helped by the design of IFS Ultimo for industrial manufacturers. It has achieved its outcomes, though quantitative metrics are currently lacking.
What is impressive about BRÜCK is that it continues to invest in the solution as it seeks to advance up the EAM Maturity levels to achieve better results. This model enables all customers to continue improving their implementation, reaping additional benefits and also solidifying their relationship with IFS Ultimo.
It would be interesting to see some quantitative metrics from these further investments. What is the ROI on the integration with the ERP solution? How quickly was the integration achieved, and is this something that IFS Ultimo can offer as an additional service in the future to help other customers?
