Boddingtons chooses Intouch MES for efficiency gains

Based in Tonbridge, UK, Boddingtons have two facilities, housing a total of 39 machines. One of the facilities is designed for its technical injection moulding and assembly department, while the newer, second facility is for medical and clean products. The facility houses a class 7 cleanroom with 17 moulding machines ranging from 50t to 180t and a white room with machines ranging from 50t to 160t. Boddingtons Plastics previously monitored rejects, downtime and output using a manual process and a spreadsheet system, which meant that the data collected was always historic. 

This provided limitations in their ability to react, often providing an inaccurate picture and took hours to process. This lack of real- time visibility justified the business case for an MES system. They investigated other systems in the market that could deliver against their primary objectives. Due to the nature of traditional hardwired systems, the capital outlay costs were too high, which meant that the cloud based Intouch production monitoring system was a perfect fit for them.

Wayne Allen, operations manager at Boddingtons said: “Having worked with Intouch at a previous company, I could see the benefits of an MES system and what improvements and opportunities it could bring to Boddingtons”.

Since implementation back in 2019, the group has managed to make incredible improvements to their site’s OEE and utilisation, as well as saving time, improving data accuracy and increasing visibility.

The challenge: a lack of accurate data to help pinpoint inefficiencies

Boddingtons Plastics were seeking to collect fast and accurate production data so they could understand what processes were not performing to the levels they wanted to achieve. This would enable them to assign the right resources to understand the route cause to machine performance and put a corrective measure in place.

At the time of evaluating their options, they had just completed building a purpose-built factory housing a class 7 cleanroom for manufacturing its medical products. this meant that they needed a system to help them overcome the issues of manufacturing over multiple sites, bringing all production data to one central system, which could be accessed remotely.

Wayne added “We knew Intouch was the right partner for us due to previous relationships, excellent UK support and their intuitive software”. Wayne Allen, Operations Manager at Boddingtons Plastics commended intouch for the straightforward implementation process and praised Lucy Hardwick for her support during the onboarding process. As a result, they managed to get the system up and running in one factory within a week.

Wayne also highlights how the intouch system is intuitive and easy to use, thanks to the online training videos which are easily accessible and can be used by new staff. The access to learning and training, along with a knowledgeable onboarding and support team at intouch facilitated a very speedy process to be up and running and benefiting from the system in one week.

The approach

When Boddingtons Plastics approached Intouch in 2019, they were spending many hours manually

sorting through production data, which quickly became out of date. They initially installed the system onto a few machines but did not install interfaces at the machines, so staff were unaware that there was an MES system in place. On one manual job alone, the OEE was at 68%, once the interface was installed and the staff were aware of the system, they instantly improved by 5% OEE.

 This was more than enough to justify the monthly subscription straight away. The team would spend many hours calculating their OEE from various spreadsheets of production data, but the senior team could never be 100% sure that the figures were accurate.

The solution

Since implementing intouch, Boddingtons have reported positive feedback from several departments

within the business. Wayne explains “The biggest improvement is the quick, real-time data. We use intouch to calculate our KPIs but more importantly to better understand which processes have poor OEE and why. With this, we can make improvements to the process”. Shop-floor level operators and setters use the system daily to enter downtime, scrap and manage tool changes, which saves them a lot of time. “Our customer service team and production planners also have access so they can instantly see if a machine is running and if the order is due to complete on time”.

The maintenance and production support teams also have access to run downtime reports on machines or processes. The logistics team leader also uses this data to know which machines are running and the orders that are ending, so he can prepare and issue materials to the machines ahead of time in the correct order. “Being able to access the system anywhere on a mobile device and running reports gives me instant data so I can make informative decisions based on the data.

The results

Boddingtons Plastics faced challenges with manual data collection, lack of accurate data, and resistance

from staff when implementing an MES system. However, after implementing the cloud based Intouch production monitoring system, they were able to make incredible improvements to their site’s OEE and utilisation, save time, improve data accuracy, and increase visibility. They were able to integrate their ERP system, deliver orders on time, and achieve a 39% improvement in OEE over 2 years. The approach of starting with a few machines and gradually expanding, as well as addressing initial concerns from staff, proved successful in achieving a positive ROI and payback.

Boddingtons Plastics has benefited from the intuitive and easy-to-use Intouch system, gaining instant visual management and real-time production data, which has helped them streamline their operations and improve overall efficiency.

The future

Moving forward, Wayne has plans to further invest in the Intouch system by implementing the new energy monitoring module across all machines so that the business can collect further data which can help them make additional cost savings and better-informed decisions. This project is scheduled for Q2, 2023, with the hope of being operational by the end of summer, as we move into another winter where energy costs are naturally a greater concern.