Service contract ensures process accuracy
Outsourcing calibration helps Solvay meet customer expectations
Opening up a second site meant an increased automation and calibration demand for the chemical company Solvay Composite Materials. Sending flowmeters off site for calibration in a lab, wasn't an option. Relying on a mobile calibration service with Endress+Hauser, Solvay can now rest assured that processes run accurately and audits will be passed.
The Solvay Composite Material site in Wrexham, UK
The results
outsourcing calibration to Endress+Hauser frees up the on-site engineers to deal with breakdowns and planned maintenance
-
calibration management software helps ensure all SOPs are followed and calibration records are easily accessed
-
a dedicated Endress+Hauser calibration engineer knows the customer's processes and ensures audit readiness
Having the same person who comes to site every month is a real benefit because he knows the site, he knows our people, he follows our processes and he doesn’t need his hand held.
Solvay Composite Materials
The challenge
Being able to rely on the accuracy and repeatability of their process instrumentation is vital for Solvay in Wrexham. As well as the company having to comply with regulations governing the chemicals industry, their customers regularly carry out their own audits. Reliable calibration is thus essential. In 2018, Solvay opened a second site in Wrexham, transferring adhesive production from one of their sites in the US, which led to an increase in process instrumentation and calibration demand.
Our solution
The service contract with Endress+ Hauser was extended in 2019 to incorporate the new facility, and an Endress+Hauser calibration engineer spends two weeks every month on site. The company doesn’t schedule routine shutdowns for maintenance, a mobile calibration service is thus a big advantage. “We’d never consider sending flowmeters off for calibration in a lab,” confirms Ben Pine, “because we’d have to have a spare here to keep the line running. Our inventory costs would go through the roof.”
The on-site support is complemented by the calibration management software CompuCal and the W@M Portal. “CompuCal flags up when an item is due for calibration”, explains Ben Pine. “It’s easy to use, and we’ve got all of our instruments and our certificates in there. It links through to the W@M Portal which tells us which Endress+Hauser products are now obsolete, so from a maintenance perspective we know which products need replacing and what to replace them with.”