Case
Yara Suomi Oy’s Uusikaupunki plants are part of the Yara Group, a world leader in fertilizer and environmental solutions. The company has four production plants in Uusikaupunki. The main products of the factories are NPK fertilizers and nitric acid. In addition, the factories produce small amounts of chemicals for the electronics industry.
In connection with the factories there is a deep water port and excellent sea transport facilities. Indeed, 85% of the fertilizer production is exported.
The plants ar part of Yara Suomi Oy. The plants directly employ 240 people.
The partnership between Yara and Syncron Tech began in 2007 with production diary applications that were delivered as a service to Uusikaupunki plants. Over the years, the SyncDiary applications were updated as operations evolved.
In 2018, as part of the factory’s overall production control development, a factory view project was launched, in which a factory-wide view of key figures was implemented.
“The biggest benefit is that we have a common overall picture of production across the plants. The common factory view provides us with all the key figures for production and safety, enabling us to anticipate operations across departmental boundaries. All the departments and functions are pulling together. This reduces internal friction.”
– Teija Kankaanpää, Plant Manager
Yara’s factory management had come up with the idea of utilizing a common snapshot to streamline production. Not only to coordinate the operation of successive process components but also parallel or supporting components. It was decided to collect key data from other automation and information systems in Syncron Tech’s system.
The reform of factory management methods revealed a need to make measured key figures available. You get what you measure and, especially, what you visualize. For this reason, it was considered important to make key safety-related information available as well.
Determination, cooperation and agile working methods resulted in a comprehensive factory view with departmental views obtainable from the overall view. The tool is also integrated into the electronic diaries used in day-to-day management.
Today, the system is used by everyone, from operators, production management and production planners to the plant manager. The system allows you to check the production situation of your own or another department in real time from anywhere.
1. Key figures for production and safety are known to all
2. A single view shows the overall picture of production
3. Department-specific details are just one click away
Syncron Tech’s software has supported Yara’s Uusikaupunki plants in achieving their production targets. The system transmits information collected from the production process in real time to both internal and external stakeholders. The views in the system have been developed in an increasingly proactive direction in accordance with the plant’s operational development guidelines.