Gaining Visibility
For CS Beef, one of the most valuable components of Asset Essentials is its basic reporting. Dixon runs a weekly maintenance report from the platform that includes work orders completed and time spent, as well as the top five parts used from each department. The report goes to all departments to help leaders see how much they’re spending on parts to help plan for future inventory orders and to keep track of the parts required by individual assets. “If an asset is constantly needing more parts, it may be time for a replacement,” Dixon says.
For example, after a plant engineer noticed that a certain part was replaced on the same piece of equipment every week for 12 weeks, his team investigated and determined that the equipment was wearing out the part. Because the new part cost $20,000, it was more cost effective to purchase a new piece of equipment for $100,000 than to keep replacing the part on a weekly basis. “In five weeks, that new piece of equipment paid for itself,” Dixon says. “And we caught it just through this simple method of tracking the top five most-used parts through Asset Essentials.”
Boosting Efficiencies
In addition to better keeping track of parts, Asset Essentials also allows CS Beef to more effectively track individual assets and labor. By tracking the work performed on each asset and the asset’s productivity, Dixon can stay informed about the cost effectiveness of each piece of equipment.
He also tracks labor effectiveness “not only using our time clock, but also by tracking work order times,” Dixon says. “We weren’t able to track that quantitative data with our prior software.”
The ability to effectively track labor efficiency is especially important as CS Beef faces a cost crunch in the beef and cattle industry. “The price of cattle has increased significantly, while the price of selling beef has gone down significantly, and it’s becoming difficult to wade through that,” Dixon says.
“We expect these conditions to continue for another three years, so we have to keep a close eye on our costs.”
Scott Dixson
Leadership Trainer and Technology Supervisor, CS Beef Packers
Partnering with Brightly
After a disappointing experience with a previous software platform, Dixon was looking for a product and a sales team that would be trustworthy and reliable. “Our Brightly sales reps didn’t have to sell much, they just had to be honest about what the program could do and could not do,” he says. “We didn’t have any false expectations. They are some of the most trustworthy people I’ve been around. Anytime I have a question, I can call my sales rep and he’s quick to answer a call or an email.”
After CS Beef committed to Asset Essentials, Dixon worked to input the company’s data and a Brightly consultant came on site and trained his staff for a little over a week. The company transitioned completely from one software to another within three months.
Although Dixon says the process was simple and his team was able to quickly gain expertise in using the product, Brightly remains involved and available when CS Beef needs help. “What really sold us on Asset Essentials was the customer service behind the sale,” Dixon says. “Not only does the customer success team help you out on the spot, but if it takes more than five or 10 minutes, they’ll follow up with an email.”
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