A world leader in the manufacture and provision of soil reinforcement and ground
stabilisation solutions for the construction industry chose local engineering
ingenuity from InfoServe365 to radically improve processes at its Blackburn
plant.
InfoServe365 is renowned for supplying leading edge technologies for analysing
performance data both here in the UK and overseas, but the company’s highlyqualified
engineers only had a short journey to make when Tensar International
Ltd needed to improve its geogrid manufacturing processes.
The company’s main facility in the UK at Shadsworth Industrial Estate is just
three miles from InfoServe365’s headquarters at Capricorn Park, but the major
factor for dealing with its Blackburn neighbour was their reputation for delivering
projects by deadline, on budget and of high quality.
An accurate data collection system was crucial for Tensar so that it could
improve the performance of a single axis stretching production process on an
MD machine with a retro-fitted fibre-optic networked drive system and steam
heated rolls for conditioning materials.
This was a potentially tricky installation because of the different levels of
technologies involved in the operation, combined with the requirement for
downtime to be kept to a minimum. However, InfoServe365 was easily integrated
with the equipment by its engineers with very little on-site IT input, giving Tensar
all the intelligence and toolsets they needed through a web browser.
The success of this installation meant Tensar had no hesitation in returning to
InfoServe365, this time as part of a full line control system upgrade on its Biaxialstretching
machine for making biaxial and triAx geogrids, products which were
used to shore up Workington’s Northside Bridge after it collapsed during the
floods in Cumbria in November 2009.
InfoServe365’s management tools have now given Tensar complete visibility of
its manufacturing processes and easy access to data for analysing and
improving processes, resulting in tighter control of product quality and
consistency, as well as significant improvement in overall equipment
effectiveness.
Tensar’s Process Engineering Manager, Andrew Curson, said: “InfoServe365
offered a very affordable solution which met our budget. They have helped us
get a better view of the complex variables that affect our product and given us a
clearer understanding of the processes and how they can work better. Optima’s
engineers have very good core skills and offered excellent support integrating
Infoserve365 with our equipment.”
InfoServe365 is a UK leader in managed data collection and analysis and is the
sister company of Optima Control Solutions Ltd (OCS), which has developed an
unrivalled reputation for designing, building and commissioning high-quality drive
control systems.
Established in 1995 by OCS, the brainchild of Michael Hill and fellow managing
director Dr Adrian West, the company has grown steadily and now provides a
blue chip service to an impressive client base both here in the UK and overseas,
including customers in Europe, China and South Africa.
BACKGROUND
Optima Control Solutions Ltd is an independent company and industry leading
specialist in variable speed drive, PLC and SCADA applications, serving multisector
manufacturing industries since 1995.
The company’s expertise has helped to upgrade unreliable machinery for its
clients to achieve faster operating speeds, higher quality, improved availability
and considerably extended their plant operating lifetimes at a fraction of the cost
that new machinery carries.
Infoserve365 is part of the Optima Group, whose wealth of skills and experience
covers the application, design and support of variable speed drive equipment
across a wide range of industries, including paper, packaging, plastic film
extrusion, printing, cable and wire, rubber, metal processing and textiles.
Optima’s knowledge of leading edge technologies coupled with recognised
application expertise provides a powerful and cost effective resource to machine
builders across many industrial sectors.
As at February 8 2010