A Lancashire engineering company is gaining a global reputation for improving
plant performance after developing high-tech solutions designed to help a wide
range of industries maximise productivity and efficiency.
Over the past 15 years Optima Control Solutions Ltd (OCS) has developed an
unrivalled reputation for designing, building and commissioning high-quality drive
control systems and through its sister company, Infoserve365, is also now a UK
leader in managed data collection and analysis
Established in 1995 by two local engineers, Blackburn-based Optima, the
brainchild of Michael Hill and fellow managing director Dr Adrian West, 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.
Despite the recession, the company has more than doubled turnover in the last
two years and Michael Hill can see a wider market for their particular skills: “We
already have unrivalled expertise in process and plant control systems and many
print, paper and converting companies are still running outdated or unreliable
equipment. OCS not only develops new control systems but can integrate our
cutting edge technology with existing plant to increase manufacturing efficiency
and reduce energy usage to a fraction of the cost that new machinery carries.”
A move to larger premises at Capricorn Park, in 2005, saw the formation of
Infoserve365 to launch AssetManager – a sophisticated performance
management system developed to capitalise on the growing need for an
integrated IT system capable of delivering the right information in a user friendly
format.
AssetManager is the perfect management tool to improve productivity and drive
up Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE). Straightforward, yet extremely powerful,
this intuitive production reporting system is the best cost-effective solution
available for analysing and reporting on a plant’s performance across a wide
range of industries, including paper, packaging, plastic film extrusion, printing,
cable and wire, rubber, metal processing and textiles.
The out-of-the-box kit comprises data entry touch screen and machine interface
equipment, which is easily wired up to operating machinery and run through an
internet connection to avoid the need to install expensive on-site servers. Vital
technical data is securely stored by Infoserve365 for easy 24/7 access by the
customer’s registered users to invaluable business intelligence such as
automatic reporting, real time status and aggregated trend analysis.
By designing innovative bespoke products and off the shelf solutions to improve
productivity, this British success story is able to punch above its weight and win
business across the board from well-known companies, such as Kodak,
Camvac, Alcan Packaging and API Foils, to smaller independents.
Michael Hill said: “AssetManager from Infoserve365 is unrivalled for providing
business management information from the manufacturing ‘coal face’. When
your main focus is to improve productivity and drive up OEE performance,
AssetManager is the perfect and most cost-effective management tool available.”
Speaking about the company’s success, he added: “We have evolved with the
times by knowing the market and developing the products and skills to offer a
service unique in the UK. To minimise downtime, our clients rely on detailed
project management and the swift installation of these complex systems and we
have built a cohort of highly skilled and experienced engineers to make sure that
is exactly what they can rely on.”
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