Productivity on the go: How Sigga’s EAM Empower helped BRF raise its game

Maintenance and utilities operations are critical in preserving a manufacturing plant’s operational efficiency. According to the US Department of Energy, inefficient processes can account for as much as 30% of a plant’s operating costs. Various studies show that as plants hold around 80% of their assets in maintenance-related inventory, unplanned downtime can cost them millions in lost revenue.

BRF, a global food giant with over 30 brands and a presence in 150 countries, faced challenges related to data collection, productivity, and operational efficiency. To optimize its maintenance and utilities operations, it embarked on a significant digital transformation journey and turned to Sigga, and its EAM Empower mobile solution.

Operational Hurdles

According to Cicero Suzine, Global Director of CIEX Engineering at BRF, the company faced several barriers in increasing its plant’s efficiencies.

“The existing processes were cumbersome and inefficient, hindering the timely collection of critical information,” he said. “Maintenance personnel also spent excessive time on non-value-added tasks, such as printing work orders and traveling between work areas and offices.”

With nearly 3,000 employees in maintenance and utilities, accurately measuring and improving productivity was a significant challenge for BRF. Additionally, the reliance on paper-based processes led to delays, increased costs, and environmental concerns.

BRF also wanted to improve its SAP integration as delays in data entry into their SAP ERP system impacted operational efficiency. It aimed to enhance planned maintenance to reduce interruptions, improve asset reliability, and improve the daily interaction between maintenance and operations. Thus, the mandate for Sigga was clear. The new solution should enable BRF to:

• Simplify data collection
• Reduce wasted time
• Improve productivity measurement and SAP integration
• Eliminate paper usage
• Increase asset reliability and interactions

Why BRF Chose EAM Empower

After a thorough evaluation, the company chose Sigga’s EAM Empower solution because it met all BRF’s technical requirements.

Sigga, with a long history in mobile EAM solutions, serves major South American clients like AmBev, Bunzl, and Vale. The solution’s multilingual capabilities were crucial for BRF’s global operations, as was EAM Empower’s no-code platform, which allowed BRF to customize workflows and business rules without extensive developer involvement, providing greater autonomy.

Sigga’s SAP certification ensured seamless integration with BRF’s existing SAP system, and its offline capability was essential for BRF’s large facilities, which have limited Wi-Fi coverage. Most importantly, EAM Empower’s intuitive interface promoted rapid user adoption.

Boosting Efficiency with Mobility

The implementation of EAM Empower ticked all the boxes for BRF. The company expects to reduce bureaucratic red tape by 8-10%, which will significantly improve operational efficiency. Digitizing operations has also reduced costs and delays associated with paper-based processes, while real-time data entry into SAP has enhanced data accuracy and decreased data delays. Increased planned maintenance through this solution is expected to minimize interruptions and improve asset uptime.

According to Suzine, the company is experiencing improved workflow as the no-code platform allows BRF to tailor the EAM Empower app to its “system of operational excellence.” The new app is much more powerful and user-friendly than the prior one, with customization time reduced to five days from two months thanks to the no-code platform. The intuitive nature of the app also eased the cultural transition from paper to digital, ensuring a high adoption rate among workers.

BRF plans to roll out EAM Empower across all its maintenance execution teams in Brazil and expand its use to other global operations, including logistics and international divisions. The initial implementation at the Toledo unit, a major BRF facility, is expected to generate significant results, though BRF will continuously collect feedback and measure the solution’s benefits.

What This Means for SAPinsiders

Empower field operations with seamless SAP integration. Sigga’s mobile solutions, like EAM Empower, provide real-time, bidirectional integration with SAP Plant Maintenance (PM). By utilizing this solution, Technicians can receive work orders, update equipment statuses, and record maintenance activities directly on their mobile devices, with changes instantly reflected in SAP. Due to offline capabilities, this streamlines workflows and improves data integrity, especially in large facilities with limited connectivity.

Utilize no-code platforms to enhance customization and flexibility. No-code platforms empower SAP users to tailor mobile applications to their specific maintenance processes. Using this platform, plant maintenance managers can easily create customized inspection checklists, safety protocols, or equipment-specific workflows within the mobile app without lengthy development cycles.

Improve productivity and data-driven decision-making. SAP users can generate comprehensive reports and dashboards by capturing detailed data on maintenance activities, equipment performance, and technician productivity. These insights can help identify bottlenecks, optimize resource allocation, and implement preventive maintenance strategies.