Tara Manufacturing
This family-owned manufacturing company turns the tide on downtime with a maintenance program powered by Limble.
Introduction
Tara Manufacturing is an industry-leading manufacturer of vinyl pool liners, safety covers, and shades. Specializing in industrial cutting and sewing, radio-frequency welding, and plastic fabrication, they have committed themselves to modern equipment, process efficiency, and technical innovation.
The company was founded in 1984 and has remained a small, family-owned operation ever since. With a heavy reliance on critical equipment — such as sewing machines and welders — to keep production moving, they hired Carlos Menendez to create a maintenance program that would be every bit as state-of-the-art as their products.
The Challenge
When Carlos took on the role of Maintenance Supervisor at Tara Manufacturing, there was no maintenance program to speak of. Equipment would run until it broke down, inflating their downtime rate to 90%. This led to a high degree of stress, overtime costs, and lost production. “Before we had Limble, downed machines were a much bigger issue because we didn’t have a maintenance program. The machines were really not taken care of.”
When a machine unexpectedly broke down, repairs would frequently stretch over weeks or months while correct parts were identified, ordered, and shipped. These breakdowns became either an all-hands-on-deck situation or led to machines being replaced altogether.
The cost of more-frequent-than-necessary equipment replacements, overtime for repair staff, and paying workers while losing production time was adding up. And it was taking a personal toll on Carlos and his team as well, never knowing what challenges they would be walking into when they arrived at work.
“Looking at competitors, they don’t offer what Limble offers… It took a lot of stress out of everything. Probably the second week we were almost in full swing.”
Carlos Melendez, Maintenance Supervisor
The Solution
After researching solutions and discussing them with colleagues, Carlos implemented Limble. Top on his list of solutions to put in place was asset tracking with PMs, scannable QR codes, and spare parts inventory.
Limble’s Customer Success Manager worked with Carlos and his team every step of the way. They added all their assets along with preventive maintenance (PM) tasks and other information based on manuals they had previously had to reference by hand. And with Limble’s best-in-class customer support, he knew his team would have a partner in their work. “Knowing that takes a lot of stress off of me so I can keep things running.”
“We got it and we haven’t looked back. It is the best decision we have ever made.”
Carlos Melendez, Maintenance Supervisor
The Result
Within just a few weeks, Carlos and his team began seeing results. By setting up all their assets and their maintenance needs into PM schedules in Limble, PMs began happening regularly. The work was automatically logged, making each task a little quicker and easier than the last. And when breakdowns did happen, they were able to quickly scan a QR code to instantly access maintenance histories and correct parts.
Even better, the stress started to fall away as well. When Carlos and his team leave work for the day, they know Limble is still working for them. They walk into work each day knowing which assets are running, which aren’t, and what tasks they have to complete. Even the machine operators are experiencing the benefits. “They don’t want to stand around, they want to stay busy… Now, people can come in to work knowing their machines are going to run a lot better. They are going to be able to get in a full day’s work.”
Now, operating at a 15% downtime rate — down from 90% — they have experienced significant financial benefits as well. In one month, they saved $10,000 in downtime, adding up to over $100,000 in the first year after implementation. Carlos and his team wake up excited to come to work in the morning, knowing that the work they are doing is making a difference at Tara. And whatever new challenges come their way, they know Limble will be part of the solution.