Bentek
Bentek achieves organization and earns time back for their maintenance team by upgrading their work request process with Limble.
Introduction
Bentek is an ISO 9001-certified manufacturing facility in San Jose, California. As a contract manufacturer of power distribution products, the success of Bentek’s business model depends on its ability to reliably deliver high-quality products for its customers.
After nearly four decades of growth, their corporate manufacturing facility now spans 110,000 square feet with a second manufacturing facility of 45,000 square feet specifically serving the semiconductor equipment segment.
The Challenge
When Matt Olson interviewed for the job of Facility and Reliability Manager at Bentek, the company did not have a CMMS. Broken machines and work requests were reported through inconsistent email threads, if they were reported at all.
With no easy way for machine operators to report machine failures or submit work requests, Matt and his team had a hard time getting the information they needed to be effective. As a result, breakdowns would interrupt production and operators would try to troubleshoot issues themselves, leading to the potential for various safety and machine performance issues.
“My day would involve a lot of walking around talking to equipment operators, asking them if things were working or not. A lot of times there would be a language barrier. I would walk out on the shop floor and I would see broken equipment and operators trying to fix it themselves.”
Matt Olson, Facility and Reliability Manager at Bentek
In addition, they were creating an entirely new production line using air tools that required regular torque testing. This testing – among many other maintenance activities – needed to be clearly documented for certification audits.
Matt knew a CMMS could have a big impact on their operation as long as it came with a few key features that could address their pain points:
- A work request system that made submitting the right information easy for machine operators
- Communication functions that attached discussion threads to work orders and asset histories
- Preventive maintenance templates and checklists for quality control and auditing
- Tools for managing and reporting maintenance activities
The Solution
Matt had a solution in mind. He had used Limble before and knew it could meet many of his team’s needs. His previous experience also made the process of gaining buy-in from his leadership team much easier, knowing first-hand the ROI that adding a CMMS could provide.
When it came to implementation, they started with the basics; entering their most critical assets along with relevant details on each. Knowing they could add more assets later, they created PMs for their essential equipment on the very first day.
“All the important work was done in one day. Implementing Limble was super easy. Entering assets was really easy. Using voice-to-text and entering work order and pictures was really easy.”
Matt Olson, Facility and Reliability Manager at Bentek
In addition, the customer support with Limble made the transition even easier. Matt viewed this as an incredibly critical feature and states that there was never a time when he didn’t get an immediate response from Limble’s team.
There has been minimal pushback on the transition. Limble makes the lives of the maintenance team easier, and it gives visibility to the hard work they do. When Matt observed that one of his team members had completed 100% of his work orders on time, he was able to recognize that employee for his efforts.
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The Result
From the beginning, the goal was to make sure everyone at Bentek experienced the benefits of using Limble. “The more they trusted it, the more they would use it” states Matt Olson, Facilities and Reliabiltiy Manager at Bentek. Now, when machine operators submit work requests using the QR codes on every asset, the maintenance team responds quickly, instilling trust in the system.
“Limble makes me look good. I love showing it off to people. It is the easiest way to stay organized and it has made a huge impact on my career.”
Limble's Data to the Rescue
Bentek was experiencing issues with some newer machinery. It never worked quite right from the very beginning, experiencing breakdowns and performance issues. Once Limble was implemented, the team was able to track data on downtime events. They took that data back to the machine manufacturer who helped troubleshoot the issue and provided a software upgrade that ultimately resolved it. Now they are able to use this equipment to its full potential.
Reporting is another favorite feature. With on-time time work order completion and downtime tracking at his fingertips, biweekly KPI meetings have gotten a lot easier and more informative. Asset-level data and the ability to drill down into various details enables more informative discussions around equipment failures and their root causes.
Now, all maintenance-related communication and documentation is centralized within Limble. During a recent ISO audit, Matt showed all the work orders and calibrations for their equipment. Everything that the auditor needed was in one, easily accessible location.