GAME CHANGER

“When we introduced factory data collection, we just weren’t satisfied with the dashboard the supplier was offering. It wasn’t long before I decided to program a dashboard for capturing plant performance and peripheral conditions myself,” René says. After all, as Assistant Operations Manager at Becker Stahl-Service, his core tasks include monitoring production performance. He also produces important statistics on plant availability. KPIs, or actual data about the conditions and processes within the company, are vital to managing the business. “Thanks to the transparency we have achieved with the dashboard, we can now identify and manage trends and deviations from our target KPIs much faster than ever before,” he says. In addition, the old process gave only a few users access to the information, and that data was scant and inflexible. “Now everyone has the option of making individual KPIs visible,” René says of the product he developed.

But the journey wasn’t easy, as he explains: “I first had to learn the programming language for the dashboard.” Later, he cleared other hurdles with his colleagues’ help and the company’s support. He is delighted with the end result. “This is a contribution I was able to make to the digitalization of our company. And my colleagues benefit from the project.”

René describes digitalization as nonnegotiable: “The debates about Industry 4.0 and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic really drove it home for me just how vulnerable outdated systems are.” That’s why he also recommends creating a modern basis for new solutions that will make our company competitive going forward and even enable us to leap ahead. And the hurdles along the way? René’s motto is: “Ideas arise from obstacles. Just keep at it!”