As Canada’s leading pork and poultry processor, Olymel exports its products to more than 50 countries and employs over 12,000 people across 22 locations. Facing increasing international competition, regulatory requirements, and cost pressures, the group has made maintenance a strategic priority to ensure operational reliability, and support sustainable growth. To address these challenges, Olymel selected he CARL Source CMMS software.
The CMMS Project: Standardizing Practices and Streamlining Processes
Olymel’s growth through acquisitions had resulted in a fragmented maintenance system: with differing methods, tools, and practices that limited the company’s ability to manage, compare, and anticipate maintenance needs. To standardize and modernize maintenance management across all its plants, Olymel selected CARL Source, a proven solution in the food industry that offers comprehensive functionality, an intuitive user interface, and a scalable architecture.
The project’s rationale
- Centralize the management of industrial, facility, and transportation assets.
- Move from reactive maintenance to a structured, measurable preventive maintenance model shared across all sites.
- Ensure the security and reliability of operational data.
- Harmonize the indicators.
- Pool inventory.
- Empower field teams with mobile tools
Olymel by the Numbers
Deployment: The Pilot Team
To ensure consistency across sites, Olymel has created a dedicated central Asset Management team that maps equipment and rigorously tracks the asset lifecycle.
Thus, the project team:
- Defines a single equipment reference system.
- Standardize maintenance schedules and preventive maintenance plans.
- Appoint pilot staff at each site to validate processes.
- Adapt change management process to the maturity level of each team.
- Establish a maintenance governance framework.
Result: Rapid adoption by teams, improved data reliability, and continuous skill development.
Mobile Application: A Catalyst for Modernization
Mobility was introduced right from the start of the project and is now a key driver of efficiency:
- CARL Touch Mobility: More than 250 licenses are used for asset inventories, stock movement traceability, work order reporting directly in the field, and service request creation during inspections and routine rounds.
- CARL Flash Service Request Application:Used by operators and quality controllers (350 licenses), it enables users to submit service requests, track their progress, and improve team responsiveness.
By eliminating paper-based processes, improving data reliability, and increasing operational efficiency, mobility continues to drive the evolution of Olymel’s maintenance culture.
Key Project Outcomes
Enhanced Preventive Maintenance
- Transition from curative maintenance to a structured preventive approach.
- Target goal: 80% preventive maintenance.
- Reduced unplanned downtime, improved route planning.
Optimized HACCP Compliance and Traceability
- Instant access to history, faster audits, and full compliance with quality requirements.
Advanced Vehicle Fleet Management
- 1,500 trucks and trailers,
- Kilometer-based preventive maintenance scheduling.
- Quarterly regulatory inspection, digitized through CARL Touch.
Group-wide inventory management
- Accurate and standardized inventories,
- Reduction of duplicates,
- Gradual sharing of resources across sites,
- –A 5% reduction in inventory costs each year.
Centralized and Shared Management
- A comprehensive overview of maintenance activities
- Cross-site benchmarking,
- Shared inventory management,
- Standardized KPIs and reporting through Power BI.
Outlook for the CMMS Project
Olymel plans to continue its digital transformation by focusing on new areas:
- Further expand the use of field mobility.
- Leverage data through advanced dashboards.
- Integrate smart planning.
- Lay the foundations for Predictive Maintenance.
CMMSis no longer just a tool;it has become a strategic pillar of the group’s industrial performance.
Our equipment maintenance solution for industry: CARL Source Factory
CARL Source Factory is our dedicated CMMS solution dedicated to the industrial sector.. It has been designed to guarantee the best operating conditions for industrial equipment and buildings, and to ensure the safety of your personnel. It enables you to manage your maintenance operations, new works and regulatory diagnostics in real time, and to steer your contracts while reconciling quality and budgetary control. Designed in partnership with major industry players, this solution will enable you to meet the challenges of Industry 5.0.
5-Step CARL Source Deployment Method by Site (10–12 Weeks)
- On-site inventory: equipment, parts, minimum/maximum thresholds.
- Data integration and structuring in CARL Source.
- Implementation of preventive measures, procurement, inventory management, and traceability.
- Rollout of CARL Touch mobility in stores and among technicians.
- Training: up to 140 users for the largest sites.
Pace: 4 plants per year, with the goal of fully deploying the network by 2027.
