Issues
SEW USOCOME, a leader in drive systems and automation, has made innovation and digitalization a priority, particularly at its Brumath site, a showcase for Industry 4.0. This site, which specializes in the assembly of gearmotors to order, processes around 7,000 production orders per day, offering millions of possible combinations.
The special feature of this process is that assembly is made to order, with customers able to customize their requirements from a wide range of products and options (several million possible combinations).
This high level of variability revealed limitations in the management of skills, versatility and schedules. Processes were still managed by about 50 Excel and Word filesThis made it difficult to plan and secure assignments. The management of authorizations and training follow-up also lacked fluidity, putting quality and production deadlines at risk.
This context involves a wide range of professions and skills, and calls for highly adaptive personnel planning and management.
Why SEW Usocome uses Mercateam to map skills, planning and training
To further improve customer satisfaction (quality and delivery times) in this highly variable environment, SEW USOCOME wanted to optimize skills managementthe versatility as well as schedules.
Prior to site-wide deployment, the test phase began on a perimeter comprising 2 mini-factories, i.e. 94 employees with 1045 skills identified in a Training Book (paper format).
Faced with these challenges, SEW USOCOME's objective was to modernize its processes in order to :
- Digitizing skills mapping to better identify and monitor the skills of its teams.
- Ensure rigorous monitoring of authorizationswhich is essential for securing assignments.
- Simplify training planning to encourage employees to develop their skills and versatility.
- Optimize assignment schedules and encourage mutual support between the various mini-factories.
Mercateam was chosen to meet these challenges thanks to its advanced digitization features and its ability to centralize information in an intuitive interface, while adapting to the complexity and scale of SEW USOCOME.
How Mercateam optimizes assignment processes and skills tracking
The main ambition of the project was to digitalize several processes in a single tool:
- Digitization of skills mapping and follow-up
- Digitization of authorizations to secure assignments in schedules
- Digitization of planning from training as well as the management of versatility
- Digitization of schedule to simplify organization and mutual support
Mercateam has enabled SEW Usocome to :
Digitize core processes :
Mercateam has replaced 450 paper books and 20 computer files by a digital platform that centralizes and updates all data in real time.
Secure training and authorizations :
The tool makes it easy to identify expired or overdue training and authorizations, with alerts integrated directly into the schedule. This ensures safety and compliance in the field.
Optimize versatility and facilitate mutual assistance:
Thanks to a clear, centralized view, managers can identify multi-skilled employees and organize mutual support between mini-factories, thus optimizing organizational flexibility.
Simplify schedule management :
Schedules are now digitalized, integrating skills and authorizations at the click of a button, reducing errors and improving efficiency. Applications demonstrating numerous benefits at review time:
- Making induction and training processes more reliable through digitalization (elimination of 450 paper training books and 20 computer files).
- The gain in serenity, particularly in the monitoring of training and authorizations (arriving expires, overdue and expired with information directly on the schedule).
- The gain in safety for all revalidations of authorizations and skills.
- Facilitate mutual assistance between mini-factories by displaying the versatility available on the site.
About SEW Usocome
Present in France since 1959, SEW USOCOME is the French subsidiary of the German family-owned group SEW-EURODRIVE, the world leader in drive systems (geared motors, gearboxes, engineered drive solutions, etc.) and automation solutions.
The company (headquartered in Haguenau) has three production sites (Haguenau, Brumath and Forbach) and five assembly and service centers, known as Drive Technology Centers. The manufacturing units serve the French market, as well as the Group's assembly centers around the world. The company employs 2,000 people and generated sales of €550 million in the last financial year. In 2015, SEW USOCOME inaugurated its Brumath site, a modern facility dedicated to the assembly of geared motors, organized into mini-factories and employing around 600 people.
