SOMFY: When CMMS reinvents industrial maintenance and fosters innovation

How did SOMFY optimize its multi-site maintenance thanks to CARL Source solution?

Founded in 1969, SOMFY is a family-run business whose products are now distributed in 70 countries. It is the world leader in the automation of openings and closures for homes and buildings (blinds, shutters, gates). Drawing on its range of motorizations, control points and the intelligent systems that drive them, the Group has become a major player in the connected home.

A long-standing user of CMMS solutions from CARL Berger-Levrault, SOMFY uses CARL Source software to manage maintenance at 10 sites, the main plant being in Cluses (74).

CMMS, a tool integrated into the industrial system, a vehicle for continuous improvement

It was at Gray (70), where the Group manufactures SIMU brand products, that CMMS software was first installed. The construction of the Niepolomice plant (Poland) provides the opportunity to adopt a common configuration for all sites equipped with CMMS (Tunisia, Poland). Migration to the new solution at Cluses (2018) and Bonneville (logistics) has benefited from this generalization experience.

SOMFY is implementing a new ERP (SAP) as well as MES software (management of production activities). The CMMS integrated into this software environment is used by all 350 employees, with a transformation objective to:

Ensure a continuous transfer of skills, both remotely and internationally.

Support the application of best practices and process innovation.

Define a common basis for consistent KPIs throughout the Group.

SOMFY in figures

SOMFY, specializing and sharing practices

To deplay CARL Source on a multi-site basis, “we had to demonstrate the need for change, underline the benefits of harmonizing technical reference systems, demonstrate the benefits of sharing data (i.e., knowing the inventories of other sites), and establish a dynamic for exchanging skills… Two years later, even the most reluctant have become promoters of the approach,” smiles Pascal WAYERE, Maintenance Excellence sustainable manager.

SOMFY’s industrial activity represents 54,000 maintenance operations per year. By 2020, deployment of the CARL Touch mobile CMMS will save an average of 4 to 6 minutes per maintenance work, “which is quite a payback!” stresses Pascal WAYERE, adding “maintenance is both a crucial issue for our plants, and a cost factor for the company. Means and resources must be made more efficient, and CARL Source provides a framework to assist, evaluate and guide management choices”.

Inventory management has been harmonized between the various sites. The articles database contains over 24,000 stocked references.

Pascal WAYERE, who sums up: “We have just-in-time constraints, and are used to reacting quickly to our production equipment. With CARL Source, we can meet these objectives”.

« Duplicating good ideas and practices is part of our corporate culture, CARL Source encourages it, and it became easy. »

Pascal WAYERE, Sustainable Maintenance Manager – SOMFY

CMMS as a tool of the future

At SOMFY, we value new ideas, which are transformed into PoCs (Proof of Concept), enabling us to validate efficiency and potential gains, both technical and human.

For COVID and the confinements, equipment had to be transferred from one country to another, although the required skills might be lacking locally, as operators were unable to travel. “With the assistance of CARL Berger- Levrault’s marketing and innovation team, we were given the opportunity to explore augmented reality. The business objective was to find a solution that could fully guide the technician, by animating the stages of his Maintenance work, via virtual media and objects added to his field of vision”. A project to adapt this PoC to preventive activities is currently under consideration… it will be launched when other projects (ERP, MES) free up resources.

his use case applied to augmented maintenance has been widely emulated. Experimentation with this Augmented Reality technology has led to the emergence of another PoC applicable to spare parts inventory management.
In fact, the availability of certain critical parts requires regular inventories to ensure that stocks are kept in good order, thus protecting against stock-outs during breakdowns. Some stores do not have warehouse staff, so reliability is not sufficient. Inventory-taking is often very time-consuming, which discourages its implementation. The aim of this innovative new test was to improve the reliability of critical parts stocks, while drastically reducing inventory time.

“Collaboration with CARL teams enabled us to experiment for 1 month with a new hands-free, augmented-reality stock-taking technology based on Microsoft’s Hololens headset,” recalls Pascal WAYERE. The practical application, by the storekeepers themselves, directly in the field, was very enriching and demonstrated real performance gains. This collaboration enabled us to identify areas for improvement, before considering the possibility of deploying the prototype in Production. Discussions are continuing between CARL Berger-Levrault and SOMFY on a new iteration.

Other collaborative projects involving the maintenance of the future are also being studied by the 2 companies.

Our maintenance management solution for the industrial sector: CARL Source Factory

CARL Source Factory is our solution of CMMS dedicated to the industry sector. It has been designed to guarantee you the best operating conditions for industrial equipment, associated structures and the safety of your personnel. It allows you to manage your maintenance activities in real time, new works and regulatory diagnostics, monitor your service providers and manage your contracts while reconciling quality and budgetary control. Designed in partnership with major industry players, this solution allows you to addressing the challenges of Industry 5.0.

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