Apollo speeds up and improves the production of spiral conveyors with the SPS shop floor application

Machine builder and supplier Apollo Group has started using the shop floor application of Smart Production Solutions (SPS). The company, headquartered in Coevorden in the Netherlands, supplies spiral conveyors to businesses in more than 175 countries. Apollo currently uses the SPS application for time registration and for clocking operations during production. Ruben Bosman, Managing Director Europe: “It makes us faster, more effective and more sustainable.”

The machine builder is the silent force behind the spiral conveyor systems used by many large companies – for example in large breweries and in e-commerce warehouses. Implementing the shop floor application is the next step in a standardisation and automation project the company started a few years ago. The main goal of the programme, in which several optimisation steps come together, is to shorten lead times and produce more efficiently.

Automating manual tasks

Automating a number of manual tasks was necessary to achieve a substantial reduction in lead time. Besides automating tasks, engineering work has been reduced through standardisation. Purchasing largely happens automatically. Apollo also uses a product configurator. “It lets us serve customers faster, while both they and we experience fewer quality problems. At the same time, we can guarantee the same flexibility for our customers.”

A deliberate choice for a shop floor application

Although it already had ERP software, Apollo made a very deliberate choice for a shop floor application from Smart Production Solutions to complement its existing systems. “We were looking for an application that could help us digitalise a wide range of tasks. We were also looking for a supplier that could think along with us about the set-up. That is why we started talking to SPS.”

Much better time registration

According to Bosman, time registration has improved considerably. “Buyers save a few hours a week, but above all they no longer have to do simple, repetitive tasks. Foremen on the shop floor have more insight and can see whether everyone is clocked in and working on the right task.” He finds it hard to name an exact saving. “It is a few percent, but more importantly this shop floor application helps us digitalise our work as a whole. And this investment was necessary to take the next steps in our transformation.”

Next steps

A next step is digitalising the workshop drawings. “We also want to show them on the screens in the workshop and possibly on tablets. Then there is no need to print drawings any more – it saves time and everyone has access. We can do the same with the pick lists, which we want to book digitally with a handheld scanner.”

‘The application is logically organised’

Bosman is very satisfied with SPS. “SPS really thought along with us, and once the application fitted our processes, we were able to go live very quickly. Because the application is so easy to use, one explanation was enough for our employees. An employee immediately sees what to do, so clocking simply cannot go wrong.”

‘We felt heard’

The managing director describes the shop floor application as ‘the desired step towards full digitalisation’. He is also very satisfied with the collaboration with SPS. “SPS was flexible and cooperative, which was very pleasant. We felt heard.”