Advisor optimises maintenance for European food manufacturer

Customer : Major Food and Beverages producer

Region : Europe

Executive summary

A leading European food manufacturer, known for producing ready-made meals and sauces, faced increasing challenges in maintaining operational efficiency. Frequent equipment breakdowns, production delays, and compliance issues were impacting its ability to meet market demands and maintain high-quality standards. The company’s existing reactive maintenance strategy, coupled with a shortage of skilled technicians, exacerbated the situation. To address these challenges, the company turned to Acoem’s Advisor remote diagnostic service.

 

The company was looking for a solution that would not only streamline operations and reduce maintenance costs but, above all, safeguard food safety compliance. That’s when Advisor , Acoem’s remote diagnostic platform, stepped in to provide the support they desperately needed.

The company struggled with several operational challenges that hindered both productivity and profitability. Unscheduled equipment failures, including breakdowns of critical assets such as conveyor systems, homogenisers, and refrigeration units, disrupted production schedules, delayed orders, and drove up maintenance costs.

  • As homogenisers began to show signs of wear, quality control became a concern, with inconsistent batches threatening product integrity and customer satisfaction.
  • In addition, malfunctioning refrigeration units pose a risk to food safety compliance, jeopardising adherence to strict regulations.

The shortage of skilled technicians further compounded the issue, delaying necessary diagnoses and repairs, and increasing downtime. With no clear maintenance strategy in place, the company’s reliance on reactive repairs led to high repair costs, surplus spare parts, and ongoing inefficiencies, all of which hindered operational performance and growth.

Explore how a leading European food manufacturer benefited from Acoem’s advanced remote diagnostic solution.

 

 

| Challenge: Unscheduled equipment failures

Critical production equipment, including conveyor systems, homogenisers, and refrigeration units, frequently broke down. These unscheduled failures disrupted the production schedule, delayed orders, and caused unanticipated maintenance costs.

| Solution:

To mitigate frequent unscheduled failures, the company used Acoem’s Advisor diagnostic service to implement condition monitoring across critical assets. By analysing vibration data and identifying early fault indicators in conveyor systems, homogenisers, and refrigeration units, the team addressed potential issues proactively, reducing downtime and minimising unanticipated maintenance costs.

 

 

| Challenge: Quality control issues

The homogenisers, essential for ensuring product consistency, were showing signs of wear. The increasing mechanical failure rate caused batch inconsistencies, jeopardising the quality and consistency of the sauces, which threatened customer satisfaction.

| Solution:

Advisor monitored the homogenisers’ performance through sensors that tracked vibration, temperature, and pressure levels. By detecting early signs of mechanical stress, Advisor  enabled the company to schedule timely maintenance, including parts replacement before any serious issues occurred. This maintained product quality and consistency, ensuring customer satisfaction.

| Challenge: Shortage of skilled technicians

A shortage of skilled technicians made it difficult to address complex machinery issues in a timely manner. Without the proper in-house expertise, the company was forced to delay repairs, which resulted in increased downtime and inefficiencies.

| Solution:

With Advisor , leveraging historical data, Acoem’s reliability experts went beyond addressing immediate machinery issues. They identified potential Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) factors and worked closely with the company to eliminate repetitive and disruptive failures, reducing downtime and improving operational efficiency despite the shortage of skilled technicians.

 

 

| Challenge: Reactive maintenance costs

The absence of a structured maintenance strategy led the company to rely heavily on emergency repairs. This reactive approach led to high repair costs, surplus spare parts, and operational inefficiencies, further straining the company’s resources.

| Solution:

Advisor shifted the company’s maintenance strategy from reactive to proactive. By predicting equipment failures before they happened, Advisor helped the company plan maintenance activities in advance, reducing the need for emergency repairs. This not only saved on repair costs but also helped optimise spare parts inventory and reduced labor costs, improving overall operational efficiency.

Conclusion

By adopting Advisor , the European food manufacturer successfully optimised its maintenance strategy from a reactive, cost-ineffective approach to a predictive, data-driven system. This not only improved operational efficiency but also helped the company meet the stringent demands of food safety compliance, all while addressing the challenge of skilled manpower shortages.

In a competitive food manufacturing environment, Advisor provided the manufacturer with the ability to anticipate problems before they arose, ensuring higher-quality products, lower costs, and more reliable production schedules. The results spoke for themselves—fewer breakdowns, extended equipment life, cost savings, and improved compliance, all of which contributed to a stronger position in the market.

Advisor-Your indispensable reliability partner
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