High pressure to the top of the world

ur foreign subsidiaries develop and produce customer-specific high-tech components, parts, systems, devices and machines for applications in innovative industries. "Today, we are one of the global market leaders among suppliers of technological products in highly specialized industrial environments," says CEO Marco Schade.

Rigorous quality management required

One of Nova Swiss's main markets is diesel components. "Our components are installed, for example, in large locomotives and ship engines or power generation systems such as emergency power generators in hospitals," explains Dr René Minder, Head of Management System. In the field of high-pressure technology, Nova-Swiss products are used in high-pressure gas and liquid applications in the pressure range from 500 to 10,000 bar. Specific examples include high-pressure components and modules for hydrogen filling stations and satellites, ultra-pure gas applications, high-pressure testing equipment for leak testing valves and containers, and instrument calibration. In the surface technology service market, Switzerland and its neighbouring countries are served by the development and manufacture of technologically advanced, customer-specific surface finishes, for example to increase wear protection, enhance thermal or electrical insulation and protect against corrosion.

The position as a supplier in the supply chain gives the company a special responsibility and requires rigorous quality management, as René Minder explains. "Customers want our components, including the necessary certificates, without having to carry out tests themselves. In general, it is part of the company's strategy to take over everything imaginable from the customer. Nova Swiss works on the principle of "ready to assemble", i.e. product delivery in a ready-to-install state, without any additional effort, as René Minder explains.

Software passes endurance test Nova Swiss is confronted with a wealth of legal requirements and is certified in accordance with a large number of important standards. As recently as 2016, quality management was still working with huge Excel and paper lists, characterised by many duplications and redundancies. "A Q report took two weeks - it couldn't go on like that," recalls René Minder. The software evaluation that was initiated took a quarter of a year. After the attention of the company Synprovis was drawn to Improve, the tool was subjected to a special endurance test, because the uniform handling of the triumvirate of quality - occupational safety - environment was immediately fascinating. Improve's usability and customizing proved to be clearly superior to the market.

After the decision in favour of Improve, the system went live in January 2017, on the broadest possible scale: in addition to the basic version, the modules Occupational Safety, Audit, Measures & Costs, Test Equipment Management, Languages E/F/I, Environmental Management and Knowledge & Skills were implemented. In the current year, the employee assessment module will be added. "Since we place great emphasis on transparency, around 30 of our 135 employees in Effretikon now work with Improve on a daily basis," comments Simone Stutz, Assistant Management System. At the same time, this rate says a lot about the high level of acceptance that the tool enjoys among staff.

Quantum leap in deviation management

Initially, Nova Swiss focused on improving the management of customer complaints, internal deviations and supplier deviations. "This is where the cost reduction potential is greatest," explains René Minder. Among other things, the monitoring of supplier certificates has been simplified. Due to the Improve requirement for complete documentation, the number of deviation reports initially skyrocketed. In the years that followed, the deviation rate was demonstrably reduced by more than 30%, which, according to Q Manager Minder, "means a costly, clearly quantifiable increase in quality". In addition, the attitude of the employees towards quality issues has sharpened: "The introduction of the QA software has brought our quality sensors much closer to the people, the processes and the products," CEO Schade sums it up.

Broadband benefits

Where products, as at Nova Swiss, are manufactured in order-specific small batches of between 1 and 150 pieces, where a lot of manual work and comparatively little automation prevail and where projects take months to years, the processes in the cosmos of norms and standards are enormously complex. Added to this is the explicit intention and willingness of the company to recognize and implement all opportunities for improvement as opportunities. In this Nova-Swiss world, Improve software can deliver a wide range of benefits.

In auditing, the tool proves to be a comprehensive monitoring and control tool. In view of the 50 to 60 audits per year, the simplifications and time benefits of the software are extremely valuable. "Reports are created in minutes and save us four to six man-weeks year after year," says Simone Stutz. "The auditors are regularly impressed by the timeliness, completeness and clarity of our reports," she clarifies. Significant cost benefits have also been achieved in training management, which is very complex in view of the ongoing process and product training in this highly specialized company. In the test equipment module, all machines are recorded and historicized, "which allows us to do excellent maintenance planning," René Minder is pleased to report. In risk management, corporate risks are regularly assessed, measures are taken and the implementation status is monitored; this is done in order to sustainably reduce risks such as cyber risks, which are unfortunately a major issue at present.

Integrated management system as a conclusion

"Improve covers everything we expect from a management system," says René Minder. The intermodular consistency makes the software easy to use. Improve was able to achieve improvements in all areas without having to purchase other software tools. The aggregated figures allow analytical comparisons to any previous period as well as future-oriented forecasts and planning.