Case study — 9 years of cooperation, home appliance manufacturing
From one system to three in less than a decade
How M2M Solutions' collaboration with Beko Slovakia (formerly Whirlpool) gradually grew from one project on material receipt to three interconnected systems covering logistics, machines and people in production.
2010
PIEx material receipt
Replaced Excel spreadsheets for material receipt with visual management directly in the hall — with a calculated savings of 2 million euros.
2014
OEE tm Machine Performance
Replaces paper reports with accurate, automated, real-time measurement of machine and line performance.
2019
ORS Operator Work
Brought an overview of operator training and availability at 114 work positions via RFID and a display directly on the line.
2 mil. €
quantified savings thanks to PIEx compared to 2010
13 machines
and 2 lines added to OEE in the first year after the pilot
114 positions
monitored in the ORS pilot system
3 mo.
from order to deployment of the first version of PIEx
Growing production gradually required control over logistics, machines and people
Beko Slovakia, formerly Whirlpool Slovakia, is one of the major manufacturing plants of Beko Corporate, a global leader in home appliances. The plant in Poprad produces washing machines with a capacity of approximately 2.4 million units per year (around 11,000 units per day) and plays a key role in the supply chain for the European market.
As production grew, the company gradually hit three different ceilings. First, at the end of 2010, it was the receipt of materials — the planned growth required more efficient processes throughout the supply chain, and further improvements were no longer possible without an information system. Four years later, in 2014, it was the lack of accurate data on the performance of machines and lines. And in 2019, it became clear that the quality of production directly depends on something that could not be systematically monitored until then — the training and availability of operators at individual positions.
Beko gradually deployed a separate, targeted system from M2M Solutions on each of these three ceilings — returning to the same partner at each subsequent step.
Operator Resource System
In 2019, it became clear that accurate machine data is not enough — production quality also depends on who is exactly at a given position. The ORS pilot project started on two top-loading washing machine production lines, on 114 monitored work positions equipped with an RFID reader with a display.
After logging in with a card, the operator is informed about his status — authorized or unauthorized login, ongoing training, necessary retraining, or reaching maximum working hours. Managers and line leaders can see the current status of each position in real time via a dashboard.
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114 work positions with an RFID reader and display in the pilot project.
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Three different user groups (HR, quality, team leaders) work with one data source.
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Planned expansion with connections to ESD controls, OHS, and the attendance system.
The system enabled an immediate overview of the training of 114 positions and significantly faster assembly of replacement teams in the event of illness or absence of operators.
Overall Equipment Efficiency
Following the success of PIEx, in 2014 the focus shifted to the machines themselves. Previous paper reports did not provide accurate data on why the line was not operating at optimal speed. The OEE tm pilot project started on one line and communicated with the machines directly via PLC — using an OPC server, OPC client, MOXA converters and PowerMeter.
Over the following year, M2M expanded the system to 13 more machines and 2 production lines. Once the system had collected enough data, managers could analyze the most common causes of failures and respond to changes in efficiency immediately.
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Automated collection of machine and line performance data every second of production.
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Scaled from pilot to 13 machines and 2 lines within one year. Comprehensive view of availability, performance and quality in real time.
The result was a reduction in the most frequent unplanned downtimes, the discovery of bottlenecks in production, and a database of OEE indicators for further analysis.
Three systems up close
Visual material receipt management
Based on satisfaction with M2M services, Beko commissioned the development of a system at the end of 2010 that was to replace Excel spreadsheets for material receipt, introduce visual employee management, and provide fast reporting for decision-making — while maintaining all the original data conversion functions.
Using its own M2M Platform, M2M delivered the first functional version within 3 months of the order. Using augmented reality, information panels, and traffic lights, a visual management system was created directly in the hall — each actor in the process sees the current status without the need for communication.
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Rapid deployment of the first version within 3 months of the order.
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Automatic data update after each change, historical reports, and scenario modeling.
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Visual management in the hall — information panels and traffic lights instead of verbal communication.
The clear success of PIEx is demonstrated by the calculated savings of 2 million euros compared to 2010, the saving of one work shift in material receipt, and the reduction of transport and hidden costs.
Why Beko returned to M2M Solutions three times in nine years
Each system solved exactly the problem that arose
Instead of one big project for everything, three targeted solutions came at exactly the time the operation needed them — logistics, then machines, then people.
Measurable results, not just technical improvements
PIEx brought a quantified saving of 2 million euros. This is exactly the type of evidence that will convince the finance department, not just IT.
Connection to existing infrastructure without replacing equipment at all
PIEx replaced Excel, OEE reads data from existing PLCs, ORS works via RFID on existing positions — none of the systems required replacing production equipment.
A collaboration that continues to grow
PIEx, OEE and ORS are followed by expansions to Kanban, SAP HANA integration and the upcoming deployment of M2L (Manipulate to Light) for visual navigation when handling components.