Infor today announced that Bayer pharmaceutical and life science group will deploy Infor EAM starting at its business site at Bitterfeld, Germany. Bayer intends to enable more proactive facility, utility, and asset management operations to promote innovation, minimize costs, and maximize performance. Implementation will be handled by Infor partner RODIAS. Since the solution will be deployed in a multi-tenant cloud environment, Bayer can integrate subcontractors’ company processes more easily. Cloud deployment also helps eliminate time-consuming maintenance and upgrade processes for Bayer’s IT department.

Bayer Consumer Health and Bayer Pharmaceuticals produce over-the-counter and prescription drugs for 55 countries at its Bitterfeld site. Among the most well-known brands are aspirin® in all dosage forms and Xarelto®.  The production processes comply with the GMP guidelines. The availability of the equipment is a top priority.

Several reasons tipped the scales in favor of implementing a new enterprise asset management (EAM) system. For one, Bayer wanted to increase the availability of production facilities and machines and reduce service and response times. Secondly, an up-to-date EAM solution will introduce predictive maintenance and help reduce costs. The solution is to be rolled out as a pilot project at the Bitterfeld site.

Infor’s EAM solution will be integrated with Bayer’s existing ERP system, so employees will be able to manage the lifecycle of all machinery. In the event of deviation from normal operation, the system will be flagged for preventive maintenance in real time, avoiding breakdowns and sustainably reducing costs. Faulty components can be quickly identified by creating digital twins in 3D. After efficiently ordering the necessary spare parts, precise digital removal and installation aids support the process of replacing defective parts. Subcontractors also will be connected to the digital process through a mobile solution for recording, documenting, and signing off maintenance, repair, cleaning, or inspection activities.

By using Infor’s EAM solution, Bayer expects to have an innovative tool to improve its asset performance and thus successfully master new challenges in the future. The ability to visualize the respective plants as digital twins and connect them to mobile devices was one of the key advantages of the Infor solution. Also, being able to maximize both the utilization and reliability of the production facilities while extending their life is exactly in line with project goals of the pharmaceutical company.

“The pace of the market is picking up significantly in all sectors. Naturally, this will increase the demands for efficient production and the associated IT infrastructure in every company,” said Jörg Jung, Infor executive vice president EMEA. “By using Infor EAM, Bayer Bitterfeld expects to benefit from more transparency, control, and better decision-making options in production operations. As a result, the company is well equipped to improve the performance and efficiency of its sites. “

“Every large manufacturing company is exposed to a high risk in the event of a machine failure,” says Michael Lex, team leader at RODIAS and project manager for Bayer. “Innovative and advanced plant management systems reduce these risks by providing relevant information and thus ensuring greater transparency in decision-making in the event of a breakdown. A reliable EAM system speeds up the resolution of problems and thus minimizes downtime and maintenance costs”.

“To us, our customers are long-term partners, so we help them to continuously improve the degree of utilization of their plants,” adds André Panné, managing director of the implementation partner RODIAS. “Together, we can help reduce costs and increase profitability by combining the flexibility and functionality of the Infor platform with our extensive experience in maintenance solutions. By implementing on the basis of agile process models such as SCRUM, projects like this one at Bayer can be effectively and purposefully led to success in close cooperation with the customer in any complexity”.

Learn more about Infor EAM: https://www.infor.com/products/eam