Leading Central European Beer Producer Selects PRODAC’s MES (Manufacturing Execution System) to Reduce Stoppage Time, Improve Efficiency, and Cut Costs
Overview
Plzensky Prazdroj a. s., a member of SABMiller, is the leading beer producer in Central Europe, the largest exporter of Czech beer, and by volume, the second largest global brewing company worldwide -producing and bottling over 10 million hectoliters of beer annually and exporting to 55 countries on five continents. Plzensky Prazdroj is best known for its flagship Pilsner Urquell beer, the world’s first golden beer, which gave its name to pilsner type beers.
Challenge
As part of a process to improve production efficiency, the company sought a comprehensive solution that would fully automate its production lines. They wanted to utilize industry standard, state-of-the-art technologies that would enable reduced stoppage time, increased intervals between stoppages, and reduced costs in its three production plants in the Czech Republic. In addition, the automation of manual tasks and the availability of real-time information and visibility were critical to the enhancement of a performance-driven culture.
Solution
Following a thorough market survey, Plzensky Prazdroj a. s. implemented PRODAC’s MES at all SABMiller plants in the Czech Republic. Critical factors in PRODAC’s selection included its 20 years of experience in the beverage industry, and its unique, easily customized solution – designed especially for the industry and installed at major manufacturers such as Coca Cola, Diageo, and Carlsberg. Fully integrated with the company’s SAP system, the sophisticated, rapidly implemented solution required only configuration, no code. Providing a powerful data collection engine with real-time dashboard, advanced report generator, and scheduling and quality tools, it offers real-time management decision support.
Benefits
Following implementation of the PRODAC system, Plzensky Prazdroj a. s. now monitors and optimizes operations in all three plants, in real time, from a central point. ROI has been maximized: The company reports a 15% annual reduction in stoppages as well as significantly improved OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) and throughput. Costs have been cut due to decreased losses and reduced set-up time, manual data entry has been eliminated, and the availability of results has advanced the performance-driven culture.
According to Tomáš Dytrych, Operations Systems Manager at Plzensky Prazdroj, " Real-time visibility of results has helped to foster a performance-driven management culture, and has provided ongoing support for management decisions. The PRODAC implementation team was exceptionally skilled and responded to our requests quickly and professionally, completing the installation with minimum down-time and very little disruption of our routines."
For more information please contact us: info@prodacsystems.com