Colas Danmark A/S in Nørresundby goes digital with the cloud-based maintenance system INEXTIA
Colas’ asphalt factory in Nørresundby produces and sells asphalt products that are primarily used internally at Colas. You will find the North Jutland factory at Sundsholmen 2 in Nørresundby. The factory can produce 4 tons of asphalt per minute, and the products are made to order because the asphalt must be laid relatively quickly after it has been picked up from the factory.
Torkild Frandsen, Plant Manager at Colas, explains: “Asphalt is a mixed product consisting primarily of stone, fly ash and bitumen. We used to add granulated wood, but today we recycle newspapers – and actually also scrap asphalt.”
Mikkel Haldrup, Energy Advisor at Colas, adds: “Asphalt production requires expensive equipment, which places high demands on maintenance. And since production takes place under high temperatures, we often have to replace our equipment.”
Nørresundby Asfaltfabrik has been involved in the development of INEXTIA and will also act as a sparring partner in the future. This means that the factory, as the first users of INEXTIA, has had the opportunity to test and make suggestions for improvements to the maintenance program before the product launch.
At Colas, maintenance is today executed with high flexibility and without documentation
At the factory in Nørresundby, there is a permanent blacksmith at the factory who works full-time all year round. During the three winter months when production stops, all employees are involved in maintenance work.
Factory Manager Torkild Frandsen tells: “We’ve hired some skilled people, so we have a good handle on our maintenance and don’t experience major problems with things breaking down. We typically do a service round at the factory every day, where we check conveyor belts, bearings for oil leaks and noises. We mainly perform maintenance in the tower, on the belt and in the dryer. ”
Maintenance at the factory in Nørresundby is typically done by feel and based on many years of experience. This is precisely why valuable knowledge can be lost. Maintenance is carried out when something breaks and a checklist system is used. This is why the factory often finds that an 8-hour workday turns into 12 hours due to unexpected tasks or deliveries.
Torkild Frandsen sees both advantages and disadvantages with the implementation of a maintenance system: “We don’t want to lock ourselves into a system, but we need flexibility. On the other hand, I think INEXTIA can help us get better at documentation, history and also help us remember to cut corners. I must also admit that it would be smart if we could go back in history and see when a spare part was last replaced. In addition, INEXTIA will ensure that tasks are solved faster. ”
Today, both mobile and email systems are already used for maintenance. For example, pictures are taken with the mobile to report faults.
Big expectations to optimized maintenance with INEXTIA
INEXTIA will initially be implemented at Colas’ asphalt plants and rolling stock. But in the longer term, Colas expects to use INEXTIA at all plants and activities, including workshops, gravel pits, buildings, machines and laboratories. Data entry has started and Colas expects to create 60 users of INEXTIA.
Colas has great expectations to the system and Henrik Kusk, Equipment Manager at Colas, says:”We want to work more structured and proactive with maintenance across the organization. The experience we possess must be spread to all our employees so that the efficiency and quality of maintenance does not suffer due to illness, replacements or new employees. INEXTIA will be a useful software for building the knowledge and documentation necessary for our work to optimize maintenance both at the factory here in Nørresundby and in the rest of the Colas organization. ”
Factory Manager, Torkild Frandsen, agrees and adds, “We’re actually good at using each other across the organization, and I often call a colleague for advice. But if you don’t have the same personal network as I do, it would be nice to be able to get information from within the system. My colleague Kim often coordinates knowledge across the organization, so he will also play an important role in building INEXTIA. ”
Colas will be able to collect data via digital signals from their machines, resulting in optimized maintenance with precise maintenance intervals. Ultimately, this will mean operational savings, reduced fuel consumption and downtime.
Colas has a clear attitude to preventive maintenance. Mikkel Haldrup Jensen explains: ” We want to actively make use of our hour meters in connection with maintenance. We see great value in automatically importing data into INEXTIA via a counter reader as it allows us to perform counter-based and planned maintenance. Today we carry out maintenance as needed, but I believe that a more structured maintenance is the way forward.”
Colas has been focusing on digitalization for a long time, and INEXTIA is just one of the latest initiatives. Mikkel Haldrup Jensen says: ” The key is that it has to be easy and accessible, otherwise our people just say they don’t have time for it. That’s why you need to be able to quickly report errors and get a quick overview of the day’s tasks. We need to make it easy for ourselves and for our people in the field. A cloud-based maintenance system is a great help because we always have access to the system no matter where we are. INEXTIA will replace our post-it system, which causes tasks to be delayed instead of being solved here and now. That’s why the INEXTIA Job App will also play an important role. ”
Henrik Kusk, Mechanical Manager at Colas concludes, “INEXTIA is the first system we are using for planning our maintenance. We have realized that we need better planning and documentation – partly because we mainly carry out maintenance during the three winter months when most of the asphalt work is put on standby. We want to gather all data in one system. Not only machine maintenance, but also invoices, spare parts and supplier information. With INEXTIA, we can even link suppliers to the different components and machines. ”
There is no doubt that expectations for INEXTIA are high. The system will be part of Colas’ work with digitalization and will result in structured, planned and documented maintenance. Ultimately, this means that internal processes are optimized, maintenance is streamlined, and Colas can look forward to reduced operating costs.
