Change is ever-present in the fast-paced world of a manufacturing environment. At any given time, your facility may be facing the implementation of new and updated equipment, rearrangement of your manufacturing lines, or even employee turnover. In most cases, these types of changes indicate advancement, but they also pose a risk for things in your facility to be forgotten or overlooked. There is a solution that will alleviate this challenge – the Installed Base Evaluation (IBE).
What is an Installed Base Evaluation?
An Installed Base Evaluation (IBE) can play a vital role in ensuring that your plant is prioritizing, planning and removing redundancy, and creating a replacement timeline and budget based on anticipated obsolescence. An IBE enables a strong base to plan, prioritize and build upon. This is a process that is valuable and accessible for manufacturing plants large and small.
You may initially assume that an IBE is merely a count to inventory and account for all the parts and pieces in your facility. Yet, it is so much more, and creates a great deal of value. An IBE is a comprehensive analysis of your facility’s critical assets and their condition. An Installed Base Evaluation helps you:
- Understand your automation lifecycle risk by site, area, line, machine and panel
- Assess your overall panel condition in a report that shows environmental, wiring, grounding and ventilation data for each location
- Make informed decisions regarding the support and obsolescence management of your installed base assets
At Agilix Solutions we view an IBE as one of the most important tools a manufacturer can use to allow for long term savings and increasing the bottom line. Once the IBE is initiated, the steps involved in getting a true understanding of inventory, assets, redundancies, and cost savings could not be easier. The results are often shocking once implemented.
The Installed Base Evaluation Process
You may be wondering what you can expect when you invest in an Installed Base Evaluation. Our team will:
- Obtain a door count from you and your team to create the proposal
- Present a proposal and consult with you on the scope of service
- Conduct an on-site data collection performed by a trained technician
- Process data using customized software to determine plant lifecycle risks and overall maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) inventory status
- Deliver the analysis report and discuss solutions to help you improve plant performance
- Run an optional “reliability service” in which an asset reliability professional will tour your facility, analyze production processes, document potential reliability/lifecycle issues associated with the equipment and present the findings that will include ranking and prioritization of tasks based on the evaluations
How to Get Started
An IBE puts an end to the battle between inventory and obsolescence. It can assist you in planning for years to come, helping you avoid downtime and redundancy, enhance efficiency, and ultimately increase your bottom line.
For more information about Installed Base Evaluations, or to get started with the process, please contact us or your Agilix Solutions Account Manager.