As a preeminent manufacturing company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Steeltek, Inc., designs and manufactures shell and tube heat exchangers. Since 1984, Steeltek has served the needs of the petrochemical, gas processing and refining industries.
This can be a complicated business. Managing the logistics and operations of such a business requires a modicum of savvy expertise when it comes to technologies that can empower the highest level of success and efficiency. But their tech infrastructure needed a major upgrade to stay competitive.
Customer Challenge
Before partnering with MobileDemand, Steeltek had every department fractured and separated, and used paper prints for all data collection. Each department had one-to-three sets of prints, and each print had 30 pages that needed to be catalogued and tracked in some manner. In order to continue production, employees would have to hunt down prints, hoping they were legible. This had to be done for each job – which ate up time, energy, and resources.
Steeltek’s "guess and check" method created a major issue with revisions. By the time prints were in circulation, it was possible that a large part of what they were producing would likely be outdated. Enough was enough. It was time to get rid of paper prints for good.
MobileDemand Solution
Steeltek ordered a number of xTablet Flex 10s and placed them in centralized locations in each department. Now all employees knew where they could access information for data purposes. When the employees were executing productions, using the tablets they could access every job print, work order, manual, drawing, and more.
To keep things moving Steeltek also outfitted many departments with multiple rugged tablets; now one has to wait to access the information. MobileDemand had empowered Steeltek to dramatically increase their effectiveness and accuracy during the production stage.
Steeltek floor managers are also equipped with rugged Surface Pro tablets and cases to perform quality checks throughout the manufacturing process and review final inspections. The devices are protected by MobileDemand premium rugged cases, which are easy to carry and provide sufficient protection in this rugged environment.
Results
Implementing rugged tablets has levied a long-standing burden on company resources, which going forward, will save more money and time than Steeltek can quantify.
Four-to five hours a day have been recouped for much of the technical and mechanical data. Going forward, Steeltek is looking to integrate MobileDemand tablets into their shipping and receiving department, fully outfitting their company with technology that will keep them on the competitive cutting-edge, and enable them to leap over other companies offering similar services to best accommodate their customers.