MachineMetrics Unveils Revolutionary Automated Schedule Intelligence Solution Read the Press Release
X
CASE STUDY

FASTENAL PAVES THE FUTURE IN REAL-TIME.

 

Fastenal Manufacturing is a diverse and constantly expanding business. Now with 8 manufacturing facilities across multiple continents, the company has experienced dramatic growth in their machining capabilities, transitioning from a simple job shop environment with low production quantities to a large-scale global operation with thousands of different jobs and high-volumes of production.

This growth has made it increasingly necessary to embrace data-driven strategy and digital technology to enhance understanding of machine utilization, primary downtime reasons, quality issues, to optimize manufacturing efficiency and implement process improvements.

THE CHALLENGE

Fastenal needed real-time visibility into how well a high variety of jobs were coming along to ensure efficiency, quality, and on-time delivery. Managers required the ability to collect and understand increasingly impactful downtime/setup procedures and make proactive vs. reactive improvements.

It was also difficult to aggregate, structure, and analyze data from numerous machine types, shop-floor systems, and multiple manufacturing locations. The data was siloed and lacked visibility and actionability.

THE SOLUTION

Fastenal partnered with MachineMetrics to gain greater understanding of its own production and embark on their digital manufacturing transformation.

Empowered by the AWS virtual private multi-tenant cloud, MachineMetrics was installed at Fastenal Manufacturing facilities to collect data from all shop floor assets. Real-time dashboards mounted on the shop floor displayed how jobs were coming along, including automatically recommending ways to optimize performance.

Tablets mounted at the machine tool allowed for operators to track jobs, setups, and add human context to machine downtime. Automated text and email notifications alerted shop floor workers of pending problems including maintenance events that were able to reduce the number of unplanned and costly outages.

MachineMetrics allowed for data aggregation across all of Fastenal's shop-wide systems, the ability to build custom applications, dashboards, and analytics that provided the right data to the right person at the right time.

digital-manufacturing-dashboard-shop-floor2-min

THE RESULT

MachineMetrics has enabled Fastenal to make better, faster decisions across the shop floor. Instead of waiting hours to compile and analyze data to find out when and what issues happened, managers can work to solve them in a more proactive way.

The accurate production data available at all levels of production has also created a new sense of accountability, enabling both operators and managers to work through challenges and implement solutions together.

Also, since operators have greater visibility into their processes and measures of performance, they have become more success-driven with a focus on "keeping the monitors green."

One of the largest impacts for Fastenal has been the ability to drill into cycle times and accurately measure utilization. This has lead to more accurate job quoting, reduced cycle times, and justification for greater headcount.

CLIENT:

Fastenal

Interviewees:

Tim Borkowski, VP of Manufacturing

Joe Garteski, Operations Manager of Precision Machining

Matthew Nelson, Manufacturing Engineer

INDUSTRIES:

Aerospace, Oil and Gas, Automotive, Construction, Safety Equipment, Cold-Heading

EQUIPMENT:

Swiss CNC, Twin Turret Lathes, Cold Headers

LOCATIONS:

Winona, MN (two facilities)

Loves Park, IL

Indianapolis, IN

Wallingford, CT

Houston, TX Modesto, CA

Brno, Czech Republic

Johor, Malaysia

The Metrics

Our impact on customers
11% INCREASE IN MACHINE UTILIZATION
305 PRODUCTION HOURS SAVED
150K MORE PARTS PRODUCED
0 HOURS OF ADDED LABOR
<30 DAYS TO ACHIEVE ROI
50 MORE JOBS TAKEN ON

Download The Full Case Study

For Fastenal, their investment in MachineMetrics paid for itself in less than 30 days and allowed them to run faster, gain production hours, take on more jobs, and produce more parts than ever before. Read their full story:

case_study_cover_fastenal-80_500 × 647

Fastenal Case Study

Building the future in real-time
READY TO CONNECT YOUR SHOP FLOOR?
Want to see MachineMetrics in action first? Book A Demo

Book A Demo

Empower every team in your organization with real-time data and insights.

Join hundreds of Manufacturing organizations across the globe that use MachineMetrics software to collect, monitor, analyze, and take action on their manufacturing equipment data.