The site selected for Simpsons’ second Mainsaver CMMS installation is situated at Tivetshall St Margaret, in the barley-growing county of Norfolk. The Tivetshall maltings, which has been producing malt continuously since 1872, now boasts an output of some 50,000 tonnes every year.

Simpsons Malt has been using Mainsaver successfully at its largest manufacturing site (and head office) at Berwick-on-Tweed for over 5 years. Such a tremendous success story is the Berwick site that it became the subject of a Mainsaver case study.

The procedural improvements and cost-savings achieved under Chief Engineer Pat Richards’ maintenance regime at Berwick were fully enabled and supported by Mainsaver. These improvements formed the economic justification for investment in the Mainsaver rollout at Tivetshall, which is hoped to deliver similarly impressive results.

An immediate key benefit from the new installation will be clearer visibility of operational performance within the group. Senior management will have the ability to accurately compare adherence to maintenance KPIs between the two sites, as each will be using exactly the same CMMS, asset data structure, inventory and finance systems.

The project at Tivetshall consists of the installation of 10 additional Mainsaver software licences together with a standard Spidex implementation and user training programme. The project is expected to go-live in late April 2013.

Risk Assessment is a standalone software module that enables comprehensive, fully auditable management of risk assessments across single or multiple locations.

Users can create, execute, record and store risk assessments against all types of task or equipment, and the module is flexible enough to work within the full spectrum of operating environments. It can also connect to CMMS systems to link risk assessments directly to maintenance work orders.

“There is a statutory requirement for employers to assess the risks to the health & safety of their employees,” says Spidex Managing Director Jonathan Starling. “Failure to do so is one of the most common causes of workplace injury and leaves those responsible open to the risk of substantial financial penalties.”

“The Risk Assessment module provides all the necessary tools to carry out your legal obligations in a package that is easy to set up, easy to use and great value for money.”

In common with other ISIS modules, Risk Assessment was developed following extensive consultation with health & safety professionals working in environments as diverse as manufacturing, transport, healthcare and power generation. Modules to follow later this year include Adverse Event Reporting and Accident Investigation.

To find out more about Risk Assessment or to arrange an onsite demonstration please contact Spidex on (0)844 324 9190 or at info@spidex.co.uk or visit http://www.isis-safety.com

Mainsaver’s rich and relevant functionality has proved successful within a diverse range of operating environments, from five-man maintenance teams right through to the world’s largest corporations. Past and present Mainsaver customers include General Motors, Boeing, Ford, Kimberly-Clark, Pfizer, Kelloggs and Weetabix, along with a host of regional airports, hospitals, dockyards and power stations.

“Mainsaver’s journey shows a small partnership servicing a user base contained entirely within a single US state, that grew into a multi-national corporation with customers on six continents” says Jonathan Starling, Managing Director of Spidex Software, Mainsaver's EMEA distributor.

“That is testimony to how reliable, adaptable and robust Mainsaver is. It has earned its position as one of the world’s leading CMMS systems because it is continually improving and is still winning new customers.”

Founded as JB Systems in Los Angeles by Pat Gehl in 1983, with the first DOS-based Mainsaver CMMS released the following year, the company has continually fine-tuned, enhanced and expanded the product for three decades now.

Notable landmarks in Mainsaver’s upward journey were the release of the first Windows-based version in 1994, the creation of its first web module in 2001, the first mobile application in 2003 and its web reports module in 2008.

Along the way, Mainsaver won numerous “Product Of The Year” awards from engineering bodies and trade publications, and became a permanent fixture in technology analyst Gartner’s annual “Magic Quadrant” report for CMMS solutions.

The next stage in Mainsaver’s development will be the much-anticipated major release, Version 12.5. Currently in Beta testing with full commercial release scheduled for Q2 this year, v.12.5 will be available to view at both US and European Mainsaver User Conferences over the next few months.

To find out more about Mainsaver, contact Spidex Software on +44 (0) 844 324 9190 or info@spidex.co.uk

Each overnight package includes: (i) two-day attendance for all sessions, presentations and workshops at UC2013 (ii) one- or two-night accommodation at the Cheltenham Park Hotel (iii) breakfast, lunch, evening meal and refreshments each day (iv) free access to hotel guest facilities including in-room wi-fi, swimming pool and health club (v) a trip to the races at Cheltenham racecourse on Thursday afternoon, followed by dinner in a private suite arranged by Spidex.

Furthermore, all customers placing an order for delegate places on or before 1st February 2013 will receive a discount on each delegate place (see booking form for details at www.spidexsoftware.co.uk/events )

We look forward to welcoming all our customers to what will be another informative and thoroughly enjoyable User Conference.

The award recognises Spidex as one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the UK and was won against a field of over 200 entrants. The prize was presented at a glittering awards ceremony held at London’s prestigious Corinthia hotel (pictured above.)

The Deloitte UK Fast 50 is one of the UK's foremost technology awards programmes. Now in its fifteenth year, the awards are an acknowledgement of the 50 fastest-growing technology companies in the UK, with the ranking based on revenue growth over the last five years.

During that period, Spidex has revitalised and expanded the Mainsaver CMMS user community in the UK & Ireland, and created a suite of innovative web-based add-on modules to further improve Mainsaver user experience. Spidex is now developing ISIS, a comprehensive health & safety management software suite, the first module of which, “Permit To Work”, was released in June.

Spidex Managing Director Jonathan Starling received the Fast 50 award on behalf of the company. He commented: “In economic terms, the UK has recently seen some of the most turbulent and testing conditions in living memory.”

“Despite the downturn, Spidex has achieved substantial organic growth in profit, turnover and headcount over the last five years. This success is testimony to a fantastic team of people creating, implementing and supporting first-class software products.”

“On behalf of our staff and our valued customers, we are very proud to be named among the 2012 Deloitte Fast 50.”

David Halstead, for Deloitte said: “The Fast 50 awards are an opportunity for businesses to gain recognition for their successes and achievements. This year’s ranking highlights the importance of being innovative and finding a niche product or service to beat the recession.”

A full list of the 2012 winners can be found at http://www.deloitte.co.uk/fast50/index.cfm

Updated on 30th November 2012: Following the success of its Fast 50 announcement, Spidex Software has now also been named as one of the Deloitte EMEA Fast 500, an award which recognises the 500 fastest-growing technology enterprises across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Spidex MD Jonathan Starling expressed his delight at Spidex's second Deloitte award of 2012: "Spidex has attained a very creditable mid-table position in the Deloitte Fast 500, inclusion into which identifies the most successful technology companies in the entire EMEA region, an enormous geographical area. It's a tremendous achievement and one with which we can rightly be very proud."

The Lettershop Group is one of the UK’s leading print marketing and mailing providers. Founded in 1886 and still independently owned, TLG operates from a state-of-the-art 140,000 sq ft purpose-built production centre, the largest of its type in Europe.

Maintenance Manager Steve Smith was in charge of the selection process. He had seen a demonstration of Mainsaver in a previous role with another company and had been impressed.

“I carried out a full evaluation of potential CMMS systems in my last job,” he recalls. “During that process I met Spidex, saw a demonstration of Mainsaver and could see plenty of benefits to using it. I made it my recommendation, but unfortunately the funding was reallocated and the project parked.”

“When I left there to join TLG as Maintenance Manager, one of my first priorities was to implement CMMS as there wasn’t one already in situ. There was no doubt in my mind which one it would be – I’d already compared them all! In my opinion, for functionality, ease of use and value for money, Mainsaver is the best CMMS on the market.”

The Lettershop Group’s operation is one in which personalised direct mail items are created, printed, enclosed and despatched in quantities that can run into millions. Such mailing pieces frequently form part of an integrated marketing campaign, so production timing is critical in order that all the campaign elements are synchronised to work together. Keeping plant-related production downtime to a minimum is critical.

Steve Smith has opted for the phased implementation approach which has proved successful for other Spidex customers. He explains the process: “It’s very straightforward. First we’re creating a database of all our maintainable assets in Mainsaver, against which we will assign PM tasks and record any breakdowns. For each maintenance job we will record spares usage and time taken.”

“Using Mainsaver’s reports, we'll have reliable insight on which machines are the most labour-intensive and are costing the most to maintain. Analysing the fault/cause data will show what adjustments we can make to our PM schedules in order to further reduce downtime incidence.”

“Once the process has been established, we can look at extending work-request functionality out into the production area to start measuring KPIs like response time and mean-time-to-repair. It’s all about improving.”

Spidex Managing Director Jonathan Starling commented: “The Lettershop Group installation is further evidence of Mainsaver’s renowned flexibility, which enables it to operate effectively within any maintenance environment. We are delighted to welcome TLG to the Mainsaver user community.”

The implementation of Mainsaver is expected to further improve site audit performance, particularly with regard to the recording of preventative maintenance tasks against critical assets. The installation of the web-based SpidexWM module alongside Mainsaver will enable work requests to be raised via a single manageable channel from all areas of the site.

The CMMS project will also replace the existing system of manually recording equipment calibration results in spreadsheets, by using the dedicated module in Mainsaver.

The early phases of the project have already been completed, including the creation of an updated plant asset register, data transfer into Mainsaver and a number of end-user training days. Full go-live for the project is scheduled to take place in October.

Spidex Managing Director Jonathan Starling commented: “Improving audit performance is an increasing priority for all manufacturers, and we are delighted to welcome Euticals, a major chemicals manufacturer, to the UK & Ireland Mainsaver user community. We are looking forward to a long and happy working relationship. "