In the metallurgy industry, even more than in other sectors, the implementation of an efficient CMMS represents a major asset for companies. Due to the particular working conditions faced by many plants, any innovative tool that facilitates the interventions of maintenance teams is an instrument for improving productivity and safety.
Born in the heart of the metal industry, the CMMS software Mobility Work is particularly adapted to this sector. Mobile and operating in SaaS mode, designed to promote communication within maintenance teams and with production teams, this solution has already been adopted by several companies in the metal industry.
The particularities of metallurgy
Metallurgy is a vast industrial sector that includes three major specialties and plays a major role in the manufacturing industry. Maintenance activities have a fundamental place and must be adapted to specific production conditions.
The central role of the metallurgical industry
As an essential link in the industrial fabric, the metallurgy industry supplies equipment, technologies and services to other industrial sectors: agri-food, aeronautics, automotive, etc. From simple everyday objects to products resulting from advanced technologies, the metallurgy industry is present almost everywhere. It is composed of three main specialties:
- the production of steel and ferrous alloys, i.e. the iron and steel industry, which refers to the production of cast iron, iron and steel, which is widely used in the shipbuilding and automotive industries;
- the production of non-ferrous metals: copper, lead, brass, zinc, aluminum and tin;
- the production of precious metals: gold, platinum, rhodium and palladium, which are widely used in electronics.
A sector dominated by SMEs
The industrial metalworking services sector, another name for metallurgy, is generally considered to include 6 activities:
- forging, stamping and pressing ;
- cutting and stamping ;
- screw-cutting;
- metal treatment and coating;
- powder metallurgy;
- industrial mechanics.
Although the metallurgical industry includes large companies, the sector is dominated by SMEs that operate as subcontractors for other industrial sectors such as the automotive, construction, food, aeronautics, electronics and railway industries.
80% of these companies have less than 20 employees, and the majority of them are family businesses.
A sector marked by innovation and diversity
Metallurgy often uses highly sophisticated technologies, such as laser or plasma cutting or robotic welding. The manufacturing processes therefore often use the latest technologies.
Moreover, the metallurgy industry covers a very broad field, due to the diversity of materials, processes and technologies of elaboration and implementation, but also to the variety of application fields.
The specificities of maintenance in the metallurgy industry
In the sector’s factories, forges, foundries or others, field teams work in often complicated or even hostile environments. They may be subjected to very high heat or noise levels, and sometimes handle molten metals or transport high-temperature alloys. The risk of accidents is therefore higher than in other industrial sectors due to the proximity of machines and metals and the risk of splashing.
The interventions of maintenance teams are also subject to this particular environment. If they are often carried out in an emergency, they must in any case implement and respect strict intervention procedures in order to guarantee maximum safety.
These procedures are all the more important because the behavior of a machine during a breakdown is unpredictable. While the risk of occupational accidents is relatively low during normal operation, it is much higher when a machine malfunctions or breaks down.
The use of a mobile, high-performance CMMS adapted to the sector’s challenges makes it possible to considerably reduce the risk of accidents while facilitating the work of the maintenance teams and promoting the plant’s productivity.
Why adopt a CMMS in the metal industry?
Implementing a maintenance management software has many advantages for companies in the metal industry.
Improve the traceability of interventions
The use of a mobile CMMS makes it possible to better track maintenance operations. Thanks to functionalities such as the creation of tasks and activities, calendars and checklists, maintenance plans or real-time notifications, maintenance technicians gain autonomy. In particular, they can enter all the details of the interventions on the machines, which allows a better knowledge of the breakdowns.
Create preventive maintenance plans with Mobility Work CMMS
Implementing preventive maintenance
The improvement of the follow-up of maintenance interventions and the better knowledge of the behavior of the machines thanks to a next-gen CMMS allows to plan preventive maintenance operations, in order to anticipate the breakdowns rather than to solve them in the emergency.
The implementation of preventive maintenance plans has two major advantages for the metallurgical industries. On the one hand, it improves the safety of maintenance teams, because their interventions are more often prepared and planned and safety procedures are better applied than in the emergency. On the other hand, a preventive maintenance strategy allows to significantly increase the availability rate of the machines, by limiting the frequency and the duration of the downtimes due to their repair and by planning their maintenance so as to impact the production as little as possible.
The era of traditional CMMS software, as expensive as it is complicated to use, is over. Today, computer-aided maintenance management is accessible to all companies, including SMEs. Thanks to a solution like Mobility Work, mobile, intuitive and easy to use, the factories of the metallurgy can considerably improve their maintenance and initiate their digitalization, to ensure the best possible safety to their teams while increasing their productivity and their autonomy.
