Asset management solution transforms calibration management

Scott Richmond, Senior Metrologist – Calibration, at Darchem Engineering, explains how asset management software from IndySoft Europe has transformed the work of his calibration department and brought company-wide benefits.

Darchem Engineering is a fabrication engineering company with 40,000 products in its diverse portfolio, covering applications in the oil & gas, marine, automotive and nuclear sectors. The nature of many of its products means that the company’s calibration department has a critical role.

Around a year ago, it became clear that, while the calibration software the company was using did a good job, at thirty years old, it was struggling to deliver what was needed for some of the company’s more complex projects. The old system had a lot of data on calibration results but not on trends such as how the company was performing against KPIs or what equipment was coming in and going out of the department, plus some of the processes were very time intensive. The company needed something that showed more detail relating to its 8,000 calibrated items, 3,500 of which are typically in use at any given time.

 “I searched online for alternative solutions and came across IndySoft’s Asset Management software. On initial inspection, it looked like it did what was needed,” explained Scott Richmond, Senior Metrologist – Calibration, at Darchem Engineering.

Scott contacted IndySoft and arranged an online demonstration by the Managing Director of IndySoft Europe, Jake Bishop. “It blew me away; the solution had everything I wanted. All the ideas I had for what I needed in a next-generation solution were there. Somebody had already thought of them,” Scott continued.

After the software was installed, three of the team had a week’s worth of training. “IndySoft is a big piece of software to transition to, but Jake took us through every aspect and all the processes. He knows IndySoft inside out and has made a real difference to the project,” added Scott.

Darchem Engineering has been using the solution for around a year, and the advantages are readily apparent. “The visibility of where all our calibrated assets are is a real benefit,” explained Scott. “A very simple to navigate flowchart shows us where everything is. The templates are also a huge timesaver. For example, before IndySoft, if I changed the tolerance on a vernier, I might have to do it 300 times on our system. Now I only need to do it once.”

One major advantage Scott and his team have seen is in their workload planning. With the information from IndySoft, Scott and his team can see how many items need to be calibrated each week and ensure they can cover the demand. The team can be proactive rather than reactive, which has transformed the way the calibration department is able to support the rest of the business.

There are other advantages too. The nuclear process is particularly focused on certification for every item that Darchem Engineering makes. In its old system, someone would have to print the certificates, scan them and then email them to the client. With IndySoft, it is a single click email. It’s all done in seconds and saves a significant amount of time.

Currently, there are three people in the calibration department using the software. However, Scott plans to roll it out to the company’s 80 manufacturing cells. Each cell will then be able to look after its calibration equipment – it will give them ownership and visibility of the calibration of their equipment.

Scott didn’t focus on a return on investment when commissioning the software upgrade. But the amount of time saved has covered the cost of the solution many times over. The planned extension to the wider team will see even more time saved across the business.

For the past 20 years, IndySoft has been changing how manufacturing businesses and commercial calibration labs manage their assets. With a focus on calibration, tooling, automation, maintenance and repair, IndySoft can take customers’ quality systems to the next level. Users can utilise the standard, out-of-the-box, best practice configuration or optimise it to suit their business’s specific calibration, maintenance and asset tracking needs. Complete traceability is guaranteed as a comprehensive history of all user interactions is maintained to preserve a complete audit trail.

www.indysoft.com