Shin-Etsu Transforms Operator Rounds with SAP FSM and Increases Efficiency by Over 300%
About Shin-Etsu
Shin-Etsu is a leading Japanese PVC manufacturer operating multiple production sites, including two facilities in the Port of Rotterdam. Within Shin-Etsu’s production team, there was a need for a more efficient way to automate and digitize operator rounds, with the goals of improving regulatory compliance, increasing operational efficiency, and reducing the administrative burden on operators.
An interview with Remco Petit Van Der Walle, Technical Administrator at Shin-Etsu:
The Challenge: Outdated and Inefficient Operator Rounds
Remco explains: “The old system we used for operator rounds was no longer supported. We needed to find a new solution that would allow us to digitally record measurement values per piece of equipment and enable trending. That simply wasn’t possible in the old system.”
SAP FSM as a Standalone Mobile App, Without SAP Integration
Remco continues: “A few years ago, we implemented SAP Field Service Management (FSM) through an external party. However, we weren’t getting the most out of the tool due to limited expertise and a lack of integration with SAP. At the time, we were using FSM purely as a standalone mobile application. We engaged Ideo to develop digital operator rounds fully integrated with our existing SAP ECC system.”
The solution consisted of three key improvements:
Smartforms and Real-Time Measurement Data
Remco: “Ideo developed Smartforms in FSM that make it easy for operators to digitally enter inspection values and immediately flag deviations. The smartforms are populated based on questions and measuring points from task lists in SAP ECC. Operators now perform their inspection rounds using a predefined set of digital questions per unit. The operator rounds are divided into four units and are conducted three times per day. On average, each round includes approximately 200 questions. Each answer generates a measurement document in SAP ECC. These measurement documents are linked to measurement points and subsequently to the relevant equipment in SAP ECC, enabling equipment-level trending. As a result, we can now analyze trends per piece of equipment.”
Automation of Rounds, Scheduling, and Breakdown Notifications
Remco explains: “Scheduling operator rounds used to take me about an hour per week. SAP now automatically generates operator rounds and schedules them at the correct time and day in FSM. Work orders are also automatically assigned to the appropriate operators, and their tasks immediately appear in the mobile FSM app. In addition, a separate smartform was created that allows operators to automatically generate a breakdown notification in SAP, ensuring that the plant can follow up on the issue without delay.”
By feeding values from digital measurement points via FSM smartforms back into SAP, we can create Power BI reports.
Advanced Reporting and Power BI Integration
The FSM implementation also provides strategic advantages. “In the past, measurement data was only available as PDF outputs, which made analysis difficult. Ideo developed an integration that converts measurement data from the smartform directly into measurement documents in SAP. We can now use these documents to perform analyses in Power BI. This provides real-time insight into the status of our equipment and maintenance processes.”
Results: More Efficient Processes and Higher Operator Adoption
Remco concludes: “The greatest achievement is the increase in the completion rate of operator rounds. Previously, due to cumbersome steps in the app, rounds were often not completed or not completed correctly. We’ve improved from 20% to 80-90% completion, a more than 300% increase.” In addition to this improvement, Remco has noticed greater engagement among operators. “Operators are now actively contributing ideas for improving the questions and are quicker to identify deviations. We can also present more comprehensive data during audits and analyze measurement data directly in Power BI. This leads to better insight into asset performance and potential improvements such as preventive maintenance, which ultimately results in cost savings.”
Facts
Client: Shin-Etsu
Industry: Process industry
Service: Process optimization
Products: SAP Field Service Management (SAP FSM)
