Award-Winning Pioneer Raises the Bar for Asset Optimization and Sustainability with Epicor Advanced MES
Patent-holding, quality-focused and sustainability-minded, Rutland Plastics has gained a reputation as a leader in the plastic injection moulding industry. From a humble start nearly 70 years ago producing artificial flowers and toys, the company has adapted to meet evolving demands, offering comprehensive design, prototyping, mould-making, machining and assembly services to an incredibly diverse customer base. Steve Ayre, Managing Director at Rutland Plastics and grandson of co-founder Don Ansell, elaborated, “If it’s made of plastic, whether it’s medical devices, electrofusion fittings for the gas, oil, and petrochemical industries, or audio equipment, or consumer products, we can bring our expertise to contribute.”
Throughout the company’s development, a constant has been a steadfast dedication to building solid partnerships with customers and suppliers while consciously investing in areas that add tangible value to those relationships.
One critical area for investment has been in technology. Ayre noted, “As problem-solving engineers, we have always embraced new technology, and we want to be on the cutting edge of deploying solutions to drive improvements in efficiency in everything we do.”
Rutland Plastics first partnered with Epicor in 2012 by adopting Epicor Kinetic. “We looked at several options, and Epicor stood out for its flexibility and the fact that it is built exclusively for manufacturers. Plus, Epicor can handle the nuances of injection moulding,” Ayre recalled.
He added, “Epicor Kinetic increased efficiencies by replacing outdated, disparate systems with a single software package.” Two years later, the company deployed Epicor Advanced MES for helping to provide real-time production information and additional efficiencies.
A key challenge of being a custom injection moulder of bespoke products for various industries is the complexity. Rutland Plastics has 31 machines running around the clock across 7,000 square metres of factory floor space, producing unique products for each customer. “Injection moulding machines require a large capital outlay,” Ayre explained. “So, it's critical that they're always running, making quality parts for our customers. Epicor Advanced MES allows us to find untapped capacity within each machine to negate the need to purchase another one while making as many products as possible in the allotted timeframe.”
The intricacies of the business mean thoughtful planning and scheduling are central to success. Epicor Advanced MES helped to enable Rutland Plastics to proactively plan for changing tools to accommodate the production of different products. Ayre observed, “Epicor is able to manage the complexity of our scheduling and is adaptable to any anomalies in our process”.
It's not just the machines that require scheduling. Constrained resources such as collaborative robots and portable lathes also need to be factored in. “Epicor Advanced MES tells us when the current job will finish as well as how much time each job will take to set up. This empowers employees to prep for their next job offline in advance of the machine stopping, which reduces downtime.” Ayre emphasised, “Epicor empowers us to optimise all our assets—human and equipment—to get the best out of each.”
In addition to revolutionising Rutland Plastics’ shop floor by monitoring KPIs such as Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), run rates, scrap, yield and energy consumption, Epicor Advanced MES has given the company real-time analysis for optimal production performance.
Epicor empowers us to optimise all our assets—human and equipment—to get the best out of each.
Ayre finds massive value in the real-time dashboard, and said, “Epicor shows us what's happening now and what will happen next as well as where to prioritise technical efforts if there is a scrap or cycle time issue. We are also considering adding other metrics, such as power use during downtime or if a machine is wasting power.”
A proud member of the “Made in Britain Green Growth Programme,” Rutland Plastics has long demonstrated a commitment to embedding eco-friendly principles across operations. It believes that quality production and environmental responsibility are not mutually exclusive but can be harmoniously achieved.
From holding an ISO14001 environmental standard since 2008, to generating 25% of the company’s electricity needs via solar 900 PV panels, to offering free design manufacturing advice to help customers reduce the impact of plastic parts, Rutland Plastics was green before it was fashionable. Ayre remarked, “Customers are increasingly focused on sustainability, so we continue to work on reducing our scrap and how we use power.”
Ultimately, the carbon footprint of parts is something that we need to be able to report on. Roughly 70% of that footprint is electricity, and Epicor already allows us to report on power-per-unit. With a new feature, Epicor will empower us to report carbon footprint per part.
Epicor Advanced MES allows Rutland Plastics to plan resources for maximum efficiency and then monitor the plan to maintain the health of the overall system. For example, the system sends an alert if scrap exceeds 3%. “If scrap is higher than that threshold, we know there is an issue, and we can quickly identify and address it,” Ayre described. Similarly, Epicor helps the company identify which machines use the most energy so they can be switched off first. Automating with Epicor has also eliminated manual entry, dramatically reducing paper usage.
“Ultimately, the carbon footprint of parts is something that we need to be able to report on,” Ayre revealed. “Roughly 70% of that footprint is electricity, and Epicor already allows us to report on power-per-unit. With a new feature, Epicor will empower us to report carbon footprint per part.”
When Rutland Plastics built a new warehouse in 2015, they deployed Epicor Mobile Warehouse. Bar codes and handheld scanners optimised workflows and inventory management. In addition to moving all transactions in and out of the warehouse through the scanners, the company also processes goods out and proof-of-delivery.
“Staying competitive is about embracing technology and using it in as many ways as possible,” Ayre clarified, “and by sticking with Epicor, all the components work seamlessly together.”
More than a decade into the partnership with Epicor, Ayre reflected on the experience. “We’ve had an excellent relationship throughout, and most recently with Epicor Advanced MES, we have seen how well Epicor understands our industry, to the point where they almost don’t need to ask questions about it.”
When asked about the future, he highlighted, “It’s vital to keep investing in technology so we are still here in another 65 years. Automation with Epicor is key to making our processes efficient and extracting the highest level of utilisation as possible with the people and assets we have.”