Digitalisation of maintenance processes in the production facilities of Tecnokar, European leader in the manufacture of semi-trailers for land transport

Introduction

Tecnokar, Italian and European leader in the manufacture of semi-trailers, has strategically decided to produce every single piece that makes up a trailer directly in-house. To do this it has invested in a modern fleet of very sophisticated plants that require regular maintenance to function properly.

Prior to the introduction of Opera Industry, maintenance processes were managed manually through paper records and handwritten reports, making it challenging to keep track of any problems and solutions.

Problem

The lack of a centralized digital system for managing plant maintenance processes created complications for the maintenance team due to:

  • Difficulties in tracking problems and monitoring the execution times of maintenance activities
  • Inefficiencies in communication between the company’s various departments and the need to rewrite data several times for both technical and administrative reports (e.g. consumption of spare parts)
  • Long problem-solving times and failure to optimise maintenance operations.

To solve these and other problems, the company decided to implement Opera Industry as a collector of all the information needed to manage the plant maintenance processes. Opera deals not only with defining all maintenance procedures, managing tickets for the various departments, digitising all the processes that were previously paper-based, but also extends to connecting the machines and plants in the field on one side and the Enterprise management systems (SAP) on the other, becoming the core of Industry 4.0 paradigm.

Achievements

The implementation of Opera has defined a new way of working that has made it possible to: Track problems and monitor in real time maintenance times, spare parts used, and plant operating dynamics Resolve typical maintenance and inspection tasks more quickly, promptly and accurately. Improve efficiency at company level both in terms of reduced time spent in the field and for back office work that is now automatic, and due to increased plant availability that has reached a completely unexpected up time.

Benefits of Opera System

The use of the Opera system to handle the maintenance processes of the automated equipment necessary for the production of Tecnokar’s trailers has rewritten the company’s field work methods. Mobility, the connection with the machines and with other business software have enabled a more effective management of maintenance processes, improving plant availability and customer satisfaction.