Operational Efficiency

You invested in a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS). You expected it to automatically handle work: manage work orders, schedule preventive maintenance on time, track inventory, and automatically reorder parts. You also expected unplanned downtime to drop as a result, along with lower maintenance costs.

Unplanned downtime costs a lot, but the exact amount often remains unclear. Minimizing the impact proves difficult because asset information is fragmented and unavailable when it matters. This article shows where the problem lies and where to start when you set out to improve.

If a Bill of Materials hasn’t been reviewed for 2 years or more, it almost always has a problem. Some parts on it cost more than the paperwork says, some are harder to get, and some are close to being discontinued. This cost doesn’t show up as one big number on a budget. It builds up slowly, month by month, in what you pay to buy parts. A proper review of the BOM usually finds savings of up to 15%. Below we explain where this cost hides and how to find it before an audit or a supplier does.

Optical fiber flex circuits are essential to today’s technology. In aerospace, defence, automotive, information and communication, and medical devices, they enable fast, reliable data transfer. The technology is evolving fast, and demand for more complex products is growing with it. Production processes need to be flexible and efficient.

Your management asks for lower costs, higher quality, and more output. The people on the floor ask for a workplace that’s safe, ergonomic, and stress-free. Both fair. Both on your desk. And at first glance, they seem mutually exclusive: every decision seems to favor one side and disappoint the other. We know it doesn’t have to be that way.

The last Defence Tech Day at TU/e, a NATO DIANA event, brought together start-ups, military personnel, investors, and industry to explore the latest defence technology. Okke Pieters, Team Manager ILS at Etteplan, breaks down what it means for the industry.

Manufacturers often struggle with the same challenge: production quality and volume need to go up, and costs need to come down. Inefficiencies in production processes stand in the way of that ambition. That’s where the search for a solution begins.

Demand for fiber flex circuits is climbing. Manufacturers know this. The real challenge is creating the production flexibility needed to meet it: fast, consistent, and scalable.

Defence spending is rising. More countries are investing, more budgets are being released, and more tenders are being issued. Companies in advanced electronics, drones, aerospace, and optical systems see an opportunity: their technology is already proven. R&D has worked for years, the design is frozen, the first units are built. Then, almost in passing: “Oh right, if we want to offer this to Defence, we’ll need an ILS package available. Let’s add that if we don’t have it yet.”