The benefits of CMMS for the metallurgical industry

In metallurgy even more than in other sectors, the implementation of an efficient CMMS represents a major asset for companies. Because of the particular working conditions faced by many factories, any innovative tool that facilitates the interventions of maintenance teams is an instrument for improving productivity and safety.

Born in the heart of the metallurgical industry, Mobility Work CMMS software is particularly suited 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 metal companies.

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 place of the metallurgical industry

An essential link in the industrial fabric, the metallurgical industry provides equipment, technologies and services to other industrial sectors: agri-food, aeronautics, automotive... From simple everyday objects to products resulting from advanced technologies, the metallurgical industry is present almost everywhere. It is composed of three major specialties :

• The production of steel and ferrous alloys, that is to say the steel industry, which refers to the production of cast iron, iron and steel, which is widely used in shipbuilding and motor vehicles in particular;
• The Non-ferrous metal production : copper, lead, brass, zinc, aluminum and tin;
• The Precious metal production : gold, platinum, rhodium and palladium, widely used in electronics.

A sector dominated by SMEs

It is generally considered that the industrial metalworking services sector, another name for metallurgy, includes 6 activities :

• forging, stamping and die forging;
• cutting and stamping;
• decolleting;
• metal treatment and coating;
• powder metallurgy;
• industrial mechanics.

While the metallurgical industry includes large enterprises, The sector is dominated by SMEs who operate as subcontractors for other industrial sectors such as automotive, construction, food, aeronautics, electronics or even railways.

80% of these businesses therefore employ less than 20 employees, and the majority of them are family businesses.

A sector marked by innovation and diversity

Metallurgy often uses techniques using very sophisticated technologies, such as laser or plasma cutting or robotic welding. Manufacturing processes therefore often use the latest technology.

In addition, the metallurgical industry covers a very vast field, due to the diversity of materials, processes and technologies for development and implementation, but also to the variety of fields of application.

Follow your maintenance indicators with Mobility Work CMMS

The specificities of maintenance in metallurgy

In the factories in the sector, forges, smelters or others, field teams work in environments that are often complicated even hostile. They can thus be subjected to very high heat or to significant noise emissions, and sometimes handle molten metals or transport alloys at high temperature. The risks of accidents are therefore higher than in other industrial sectors. due to the proximity of machines and metals and the risk of projections.

The interventions of maintenance teams are also subject to this particular environment.. Although they are often carried out urgently, they must in all cases set up and respect strict intervention procedures in order to guarantee a maximum of safety.

These procedures are all the more important as the behavior of a broken machine is unpredictable. While the risks of workplace accidents are relatively low during normal operation, they are much higher when it malfunctions or breaks down.

The use of a mobile, efficient CMMS adapted to the challenges of the sector makes it possible to considerably reduce the risks of accidents while facilitating the work of maintenance teams and promoting plant productivity. That's why organizations like UIMM encourage companies in the sector to switch to maintenance 4.0.

Why adopt a CMMS in the metallurgical industry?

Setting up maintenance management software has many advantages for metallurgical companies.

Improving the traceability of interventions

The use of a mobile CMMS makes it possible to better monitoring of maintenance operations. Thanks to functionalities such as the creation of tasks and activities, calendars and checklists, maintenance plans or real-time notifications, maintenance technicians thus gain autonomy. In particular, they can provide all the details of interventions on the machines, which allows better knowledge of breakdowns.

Create preventive maintenance plans with Mobility Work CMMS

Implement preventive maintenance

The improvement of the monitoring of maintenance interventions and the better knowledge of the behavior of machines thanks to a new generation CMMS makes it possible to: plan preventive maintenance operations, in order to anticipate breakdowns rather than solve them urgently.

The establishment of preventive maintenance plans has two major advantages for the metallurgical industries. On the one hand, it makes it possible to improve the safety of maintenance teams, because their interventions are more often prepared and planned and security procedures better applied than in an emergency. On the other hand, a preventive maintenance strategy makes it possible tosignificantly increase the availability rate of machines, by limiting the frequency and duration of downtime due to their repair and by planning their maintenance in such a way as to have the least possible impact on production.

The era of classic CMMS software, which is as expensive as it is complicated to use, is over. Today, computer-aided maintenance management is accessible to all businesses, including SMEs. Thanks to a solution like Mobility Work, which is mobile, intuitive and easy to use, metallurgical factories can considerably improve their maintenance and begin their digitization, to ensure the best possible safety for their teams while increasing their productivity and autonomy.