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Get to Know Yazaki
Yazaki Corporation is a manufacturer of automotive components that has been operating since 1941. In addition to automotive wiring harnesses, Yazaki manufactures gauges, electronic components, and a range of other products for automotive use.
Yazaki has a global presence and maintains a solid relationship of trust with automakers around the world. It is an ecologically committed company in all aspects of its business, producing an extensive line of eco-friendly and energy-saving products.
Why Did They Decide to Try Engeman®?
Anyone familiar with Engeman® knows that it is a comprehensive tool, capable of understanding the day-to-day reality of maintenance, and flexible enough to adjust to the real needs of the company. At the beginning of our conversation with Alessandro, we asked him how they first came across Engeman® and why they decided to try our solution. He answered as follows:
“Our former manager already knew Engeman®, so at the time, he suggested it to Yazaki. Besides Engeman®, other systems were also evaluated, but we ended up opting to use Engeman® itself.”
Difficulties Faced by Yazaki Before Getting to Know Engeman®
Companies that do not have a computerized system for maintenance management can find themselves facing problems that directly impact decision-making. Keeping records and data on the entire life cycle of equipment, as well as on the spare parts used, helps the maintenance manager define the best times for interventions.
When Yazaki started looking for a maintenance management system, they were facing some issues that could cause serious damage to management. Alessandro told us about some of these problems:
“All control activities, especially preventive maintenance, were done manually using Excel spreadsheets. The maintenance checklist was performed using a printed sheet, and then it was necessary to manage all the physical files. Another issue was inventory control. In fact, that was our main problem. Requisitions were made manually.”
The problem mentioned by Yazaki is one that many companies still face today. Keeping all controls only in spreadsheets is not enough and cannot provide good control over the maintenance function, no matter how full and well-structured they may be.
Use of the Engeman® Cloud Environment
After identifying the problems and finding the solution, Yazaki deployed Engeman® at its sites. Engeman® is available on Desktop, Web, Cloud, and Mobile versions. Yazaki uses Cloud, We,b, and Mobile versions.
In our conversation with Alessandro, we asked more specifically about the Cloud version. He told us the following:
“I believe that the main advantage of using Engeman® Cloud is version updating. We schedule updates with Engeman and avoid having to carry them out ourselves. And of course, we can access it from anywhere.”
With the Cloud version of Engeman®, there is no need to configure a complex server. Your company simply acquires the solution, and we provide all the necessary infrastructure. This ensures security, reliability, reduced infrastructure expenses, and accessibility from anywhere.
Results Achieved by Yazaki After Implementing Engeman®
After Engeman® was implemented, Yazaki was quickly able to start seeing results and obtain an excellent return on investment. Yazaki’s main issue was inventory control. We know that if inventory is not properly managed, the company can suffer major losses and also deal with obsolete spare parts in stock.
We asked Alessandro about the results, and he pointed out some very interesting ones that, I am sure, your company urgently needs as well. See what he told us:
“Requisitions for inventory were made manually, and then with Engeman®, we were able to develop a customization for automatic requisition creation. This was one of the benefits after the software was implemented.
We managed to reduce obsolete parts and lots of parts in the inventories of our branches, avoiding scrap due to lot expiration, because we were in a better position to measure and analyze.” With this, Yazaki was able to reduce downtime caused by idle machines and, consequently, increase productive availability.
“Due to these movements, we were able to reduce costs and avoid machines and equipment standing still because of this ease in buying and selling materials between branches,” said Alessandro.
Benefits Highlighted by Yazaki Regarding Engeman®
Alessandro highlighted three benefits that Engeman® brought to Yazaki, which are also closely related to the results they achieved:
- “The use of the Mobile app for labor time tracking and work order reporting. This made things much easier for us.”
- “Automatic requisition creation. Every time material reaches the minimum stock level, we can view all branches. In my case, since I am here at the central unit, I can simply monitor all branches through the software.”
- “And the customization we have for excess inventory. When an item reaches a minimum balance, before requesting a material requisition, the system performs a sweep across the other branches to check whether this same item is in an excess condition, meaning it has a balance higher than its maximum. This enables internal buying and selling between Yazaki companies, so that it is not necessary to source the material from an external supplier, while also preventing obsolete materials.”
Yazaki was able to optimize all its inventory control across branches, thereby achieving cost reductions. Alessandro told us that, in two years of using the software, the movement between branches reached almost 6 million reais, made possible by effective control supported by Engeman®.
ERP Integration
Engeman® is a CMMS software that has its own tool for creating integration with any other software, regardless of architecture or vendor. Yazaki has integration with an ERP system, which further simplifies the management of the company’s departments.
“We have integration with the materials inventory, and it is going well. Any questions or issues we had at the beginning of the implementation, we contacted support, and everything was resolved,” said Alessandro.
Conclusion
Many companies are not effectively managing their machinery and inventories, which leads to losses and constraints on their business due to a lack of digitalization and maintenance management systems. As we have seen, Yazaki has already been achieving excellent results.
Optimizing inventory control is a factor that directly impacts maintenance, since the maintenance manager knows that whenever a replacement part is needed, nothing will be missing. Production will not have to stop due to a lack of materials.
In fact, what Yazaki likes most about the software is this ease in inventory control. “We really like the excess inventory feature; we have been able to significantly reduce purchasing and selling costs because we perform many transactions between our branches. So, we have reduced costs significantly,” said Alessandro.
For Yazaki’s next steps, Alessandro told us that they plan to implement life cycle control for tooling.
So, how do you manage your inventory? One of the best ways to ensure efficient inventory control is by using management software that understands the reality of your maintenance. To achieve this, get to know Engeman®. Discover all the possibilities that our solution can bring to your company!
Is this not your issue? What do you need?
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