Bravo Inox is a metalworking company based in Montecchio Maggiore, (VI) in the heart of Venetian industry. The company specialises in the moulding of stainless steel sheets, with an activity aimed at the Italian and foreign markets. The plant covers over 15,000 square metres and the production mainly serves two sectors:
• professional catering, for which moulds and tanks such as kneaders, cookers, sinks, fryers are made.
• electromedical, for which containers and tanks are made for the sterilisation of
medical instruments
• specialised production for other industrial sectors.
The evolution of production management in Bravo Inox
The introduction of new tools and methods in a company can sometimes be a destabilizing factor for the historical management of work. Especially for those companies that have achieved constant growth and stability over time. In a growth vision, if the innovations are introduced correctly, they can represent improvements and great new possibilities for the entire system and lead to further business growth. Bravo Inox had precisely this mission: to renovate its production department.
OperaMES, the winning tool chosen by Bravo Inox
To offer the customer a complete service, Bravo Inox carries out the various processes almost exclusively internally and is therefore equipped with different departments:
- moulding;
- light carpentry;
- galvanic;
- mechanical and electrolytic cleaning.
It is therefore a variety of processes that require greater control and, consequently, optimized execution. The transition phase of Bravo Inox towards a more organized and digitized production takes place between 2014 and 2015: during this period the management decides to start a Lean Production project, combined with the introduction of a MES (Manufacturing Execution System). Here the winning choice is to implement OperaMES and digitize production operations and aim to recover efficiency. For the realization of this project, Bravo inox relies on our partner VAR Link Management.
The objectives to be pursued with the MES project were:
• to have greater control over times and methods to establish more precise rates for budgeting to support the entire business;
• to detect the equipment times of the machinery to plan the work more precisely and efficiently;
• to have precise and real-time data to make more precise decisions. Then move on to proactive factory management.
In addition, in line with the company philosophy of constant technological updating, these needs are added to that of connecting machines to information systems with an Industry 4.0 perspective.
How was Opera MES implemented?
Several declaration terminals have been installed between the moulding department and the joinery, about one terminal for every two presses. The terminals have been supplied by the company FEC, whose products are tablets specially designed to be placed in industrial environments, where dust and other corrosive substances can compromise the operation of a normal computer.
With Opera MES the operator from his terminal can declare: tooling time; working time; indirect activities such as cleaning, material handling, etc…
The advantages of the project
Controllers and production managers now have the possibility to check the efficiency of the machines and personnel. New employees can now identify any critical issues or difficulties and take prompt action. In addition, thanks to long-term data collection, it is now possible to accurately identify the time required for each work phase. Determining the maximum and minimum times of each individual production phase is important to understand whether trend production is efficient or not.
Continuous improvement is another of Bravo Inox’s strengths. Thanks to this approach, the company has been able to better solve waste management. Previously, statements were made on paper in an inaccurate and inconsistent manner. Today with Opera MES the whole process has become fast, easy and efficient.
“Since Opera MES is up and running, I am able to carry out random checks (usually twice a week) on the production efficiency, comparing the actual times with the standard times for each work phase. I use both real-time dashboards and business intelligence analytics to go into detail about the most interesting data at the time.”
Anna DI Benedetto
Controller
Bravo Inox Srl
Future prospects
With the implementation of Opera MES, Bravo Inox has made an important leap forward, renewing production management procedures, increasing efficiency and quality. The company continues its growth and is evaluating the extension of the OperaMES project to other vital functions for the
improvement of the organization and the constant investment in technology are the principles that guide Bravo Inox in its future growth. OperaMES is the perfect tool to achieve operational excellence.
“With the adoption of the OperaMES system we have significantly improved production in our organization, but we do not stop there: the company is constantly evolving and, we will also extend the use of Opera to other activities and business developments.”
Giorgia Bravo
CEO
Bravo Inox Srl