Rimex

Limble helps Rimex standardize operations, improve safety, and increase efficiency across manufacturing plants.

Introduction

Rimex is a leading manufacturer of wheels and rims used in challenging industrial applications such as mining. It has been in business for nearly five decades and produces over 8,000 tons of wheels, rims, and components every year.

Rimex began as a mobile repair business and has since grown to operate 21 locations around the globe with nearly 500 employees. Focusing on innovation in its products, Rimex recently embarked on a project to test the limits of its production operations, use resources more efficiently, and minimize waste.

The Challenge

Rimex has experienced consistent growth and success since its founding due to a commitment to high-quality products. With new facilities and growing demand, the management team needed greater visibility into safety, asset health, and maintenance operations. Brad Moore, Rimex’s Plant Manager responsible for overseeing facility production, safety, and maintenance knew that production had increased over the years as demand increased. Was that higher level of production sustainable? Could they scale up while getting more efficient? And how could they ensure safety remained a priority through continued growth?

As they began evaluating their capacity for higher demand, it became clear that maintenance was going to be a central driver of efficiency. Brad focused his maintenance goals around a few critical strategies:

Data on equipment performance and maintenance metrics
Standardization of protocols across production facilities
Downtime reduction achieved through improved preventive maintenance
Safety program compliance and a better way to track and respond to incidents

The Solution

The team had been using Limble narrowly as a work order ticketing system for just under a year. They knew it could play an integral role in their larger maintenance program, particularly for planned maintenance, safety procedures, and data-driven decision-making.

“One of the strongest points Limble has to offer is customer support. Whether through the chat box on the Limble platform or meetings, we've had one-on-one support in building dashboards or figuring out the steps we need to take to solve our challenges.”

Brad Moore, Plant Manager

Their contacts at Limble helped them identify ways to leverage key features they hadn’t used before. They worked on ways to improve the system’s data for reportability, standardization, and accessibility across locations. Most of all, they worked to instill Limble within their culture and work processes.

Brad further explains that “Limble has become the norm for the team and they really enjoy using it. It has helped them get more involved and take more detailed notes on a PM or project, include pictures, and create a standardized method for documenting work. We can share those documentation standards across locations and it then becomes the norm for everyone.”

The Results:

Rimex began to see improvements in team productivity shortly after being fully implemented with Limble.

0%

Increase in Planned Work Percentage

0%

Reduction in Unplanned Work

0%

Decrease in Downtime

Reduced downtime

Their planned maintenance percentage has increased by 25%, which has also impacted the amount of downtime they are experiencing. “Having our PMs in Limble has allowed us to be more proactive, and that has definitely resulted in less downtime,” says Steve Bekessy, Maintenance Supervisor for Rimex.

A platform for standardization

Standardization, another key pillar of their efficiency efforts, has improved as well. “Standardization is key for Rimex and Limble has helped us get there. We want to speed up the learning curve which helps keep everybody safe. Limble provides the platform we use to share knowledge,” shares Brad.

Safety culture

That standardization and information sharing have helped Rimex instill a culture of safety throughout the entire team. When there is an incident report in one location, Limble helps streamline response implementation across all locations, saving time and resources. “If we have a safety incident, we can discuss it and adapt our PMs, adapt our training programs, adapt everything across facilities through Limble,” says Brad.

User-friendly data

The more the team uses Limble the more helpful the reporting becomes. Through the implementation of digital PMs, standardized processes, asset management principles, and clear documentation of safety protocols, Brad now has the data he needs to make important decisions. They are now regularly reporting on downtime and use of resources which has helped them track production and ultimately get approvals for new equipment and other investments.

“Limble has made my life easier. It has given me the data on my maintenance department that I was seeking in order to make better decisions for the shop. That is what Limble is to me.”