The site, whose products are used in the printing, automotive and electronics industries, had carried out a review of its overall maintenance strategy which resulted in three identified objectives: 

 

•  To optimise day to day management of plant assets 

•  Measure and deliver continuous improvement in departmental performance

•  Promote safer working through risk reduction.

 

Having decided to look in the market for software solutions to support those objectives, the evaluation of competing CMMS products was led by site maintenance engineer, Graham Brindley. He explains: “We looked at a number of alternative systems, but Spidex’s solution won for a combination of factors. Mainsaver is a well-established and proven CMMS, and its web maintenance front end (SpidexWM) is easy to use and should maximise workforce interaction.”

“A very important factor was Spidex’s Dynamic Risk Assessment (dRA) module, which we believe will be a vital tool for engineers and supervisors to identify and control hazards when undertaking non-standard tasks.”

The implementation will also include the EPRAIS Permit-to-Work module, which impressed the evaluation team for its flexibility in allowing the creation of permit templates configured to reflect the specific requirements of MacDermid’s operating environment.

Brindley continues: “We are continually looking for ways to engender and prioritise safer working through risk reduction, and EPRAIS provides us with an additional measure to do that.

“We will ultimately have all our departmental data consolidated into a single system, providing consistent and accurate auditability. This is fundamental in our drive to attain quality standard TS16949 accreditation.”

Spidex’s combination of maintenance management and health and safety software offerings has enabled the company to achieve some significant new business wins in the last couple of years in sectors as diverse as air transport, food manufacture, chemicals, automotive supply chain and green energy.

Jonathan Starling, Spidex’s managing director, comments: “We have been working with engineering maintenance teams for many years as one of the principal EMEA resellers and support providers for Mainsaver CMMS. We know first-hand that maintenance engineers occupy the frontline of risk-based activity in their day-to-day working lives.

“It was clear, however, that there was no straightforward means of electronically linking CMMS data – for example a preventative maintenance work order – with the associated health and safety information, such as a risk assessment or permit-to-work. Much of the latter data was often held in a variety of different locations, in formats incompatible with each other, and being managed by different site personnel.”

“There appeared to be a clear opportunity to render the health and safety audit trail more transparent – and thereby improve workplace safety – by enabling the integration of maintenance and health and safety recording systems. That realisation led to the development of EPRAIS, a health and safety management software suite that operates alongside Mainsaver or indeed any other standard CMMS package.

“What this means for our customers is a framework with which to support any strategic programme to improve engineer safety. In the unfortunate event that an accident does occur, all the information relating to the original maintenance task – risk assessment, method statement, work permit, safety checklist – is quickly and easily retrievable for audit and analysis to prevent a re-occurrence.”

“Spidex is absolutely delighted to welcome a leading global manufacturer of MacDermid’s calibre to the Mainsaver and EPRAIS user communities and we look forward to a long and happy association.”