| Case Studies
Brush Wellman, Inc.
Reading, Pennsylvania
“The
Gannett Fleming team has delivered and supported our needs
with an innovative and dynamic approach by providing solutions
from the core perspective.”
~Frank DeCesare,
Brush Wellman, Inc. |
Situation
Brush Wellman, Inc. is the leading global supplier of high performance
copper, nickel and beryllium alloys, and the only fully integrated
producer of beryllium and beryllium oxide in the world.
Brush Wellman was looking for a computerized maintenance management
system (CMMS) that maximized uptime to levels above 99 percent,
executed maintenance procedures to optimize equipment operational
quality, reduced and managed operating costs, and foremost developed
critical standards to ensure employee safety and health.
Challenges
At the forefront of the CMMS safety effort was the creation of
a comprehensive Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) inspection strategy for defining procedures, scheduling,
and tracking historical data for equipment maintenance.
The manufacturing facility relies heavily on overhead cranes to
transfer materials to and from various processes within the facility.
The duty cycle of this equipment can be very high with exposure
to corrosive chemicals and temperature. The goal was to develop
a completely comprehensive program to fulfill OSHA requirements
and improve reliability and safety.
The rigid requirements of the automotive and aeronautical industry
were also key focal points for Brush Wellman. Brush Wellman’s
maintenance facility developed certifiable testing procedures in
compliance with OS9000, ISO9002, and ISO14001. The issue was how
would the different audit requirements be managed and scheduled
with a documentation trail for traceability for each machine, testing
procedure, and product.
Solution
Brush Wellman teamed with Gannett Fleming, Inc. to implement Saber™,
a PC-based CMMS. PC-based systems now make it possible for any
facility to take advantage of this new and innovative management,
because the systems are significantly less costly than mainframe
applications. Saber implements the latest cutting-edge technology
to support industry and facilities.
Since 1982, Gannett Fleming personnel have maintained a continuous
relationship with Brush Wellman. The strength of our relationship
with Brush Wellman enabled us to support the software and to customize
and provide solutions related to the operation of its facilities
and the challenges of the manufacturing environment.
The environmental and health compliance model provided documentation
for critical procedures and scheduling for hazardous material housekeeping
and response throughout the facility. In this model, processes
were developed to minimize unplanned outages by eliminating process
non-conformance, correcting sources of unplanned equipment downtime
with preventive and planned maintenance, and executing a proactive
program with predictive maintenance implementation.
 Saber’s implementation was able to schedule OSHA procedures
with minimal equipment interruption and establish documentation
and historical data for OSHA certifications and compliance. The
procedures can be fined tuned for each specific environment based
on trend analysis to again optimize equipment reliability.
The benchmark for these goals has been to successfully manage
certification requirements for QS9000 and ISO14001 by preparing
computer-generated reports and documentation for calibrations,
inspections, and trend analysis for process equipment and facilities,
which will be managed by our Saber application.
Saber’s database manages the enormous task of developing
and scheduling the standards that must be adhered too for temperature
certification, speed control, and process trend information to
ensure traceability for the entire facility. The ability to coordinate
these requirements has enabled the Brush Wellman facility to maintain
compliance as well as implement and document corrective action
as determined by the audit process.
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