Fastenal Builds the Future of Manufacturing with MachineMetrics

Fastenal's objective was to better understand their machine downtime, utilization, quality issues, and to embrace cutting-edge manufacturing technology/process improvement capabilities to bring their team to the next level. However, there was a lack of real-time data, visualization, and actionable insights made this transition impossible.

MachineMetrics was the solution. The fully automated machine monitoring and manufacturing analytics solution provided visualizations of real-time manufacturing production data, instant notifications, as well as historical analytics, allowing factory workers to make faster, smarter, more confident decisions based on real-time data. Data was collected from machine controls and machine operators for the entire production floor and then used to monitor machine conditions (faults, status, tool utilization), production (OEE & Machine Utilization), work-order status, quality tracking and downtime reasons that were auto classified or indicated by the operator via the touch screens. Real-Time Dashboards were also mounted on the production floor to provide an at-a-glance indication if jobs are performing at or below expectations (against Parts Goal or OEE metrics). The real-time and historical data collected allowed managers to not only track efficiency and quickly identify production bottlenecks that are related to specific machining operations but also helped them measure the effect of process improvements.

• [Efficiency Improvement - Asset Utilization]
  Increase in machine utilization.
• [Efficiency Improvement - Productivity]
  Improved workforce productivity.
• [Data Management - Data Transparency]
  Data transparency and reliability.

• Achieved ROI in 25 days.

• Experienced a 20% increase in machine utilization.

• Produced 150,000 more parts than the previous year.