Gaining greater visibility
Cornerstone started with a goal of developing a replicable maintenance plan across the company, helping to ensure compliance with maintenance regulations and provide visibility of the process to all stakeholders. The team started by implementing Asset Essentials in their California facility in West Sacramento.
Before implementing Asset Essentials in 2023, Cornerstone was using an older CMMS that did not provide the data Cornerstone required. Within a few months of using Asset Essentials, the team grew accustomed to quickly locating and using the system’s easy-to-access data.
“The data has been the best part,” says Carlos Bueno, Operational Excellence Manager at Cornerstone. “The operations side now has great visibility of what’s going on. They can see the status and progress of work orders they put in. They don’t have to call anyone to see where in the process we are, because the data is right in front of them.”
Maximizing cost savings
After launching Asset Essentials, the Sacramento facility began tracking cost savings. With better visibility into parts inventory, the facility was able to purchase only necessary parts, as they were needed. With more efficient management of preventive maintenance, equipment was better maintained and the maintenance team experienced a reduction in downtime.
During the first year of using Asset Essentials, the Sacramento plant recorded maintenance cost savings of about $250,000, according to Bueno.
The company is continuing to experience savings at additional locations. The second plant to onboard with Asset Essentials, located in Auburn, Washington, has realized about $180,000 in maintenance cost savings during the first six months.
Replicating success
Cornerstone is currently working to implement Asset Essentials as part of its maintenance plan across 30 facilities in the United States. Trainers and implementation staff have helped guide the process and prepare Bueno and his team to eventually handle it on their own.
For example, at the first implementation, staffers from Brightly — which was later acquired by Siemens — provided training and imported Cornerstone’s preventive maintenance work orders into the system. During the second implementation, Bueno and Brightly staff (now a part of Siemens) shared the work. At the third implementation, Bueno took the lead and staff were on hand to help if needed. Bueno says the help has been crucial, but his goal is to manage the implementations on his own with the ability to reach out when needed.
“Since we started working with Asset Essentials, we have offered feedback about things we’d like to see in the product, and we’re starting to see those additions,” Bueno says. “The Brightly [Siemens] team has been very responsive. That partnership is a big reason we’re sticking with it.”