Valmex streamlines workflows and centralizes information thanks to Interacta

The challenge

Limited historicization and loss of information

When Valmex, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of heat exchangers , was faced with the need to digitize and optimize its processes, it knew it faced a significant challenge. With plants in Italy and a location in China, efficient PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) management was crucial to maintaining operational excellence and competitive advantage.

PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) is an iterative, 4-step process used to promote a culture of quality and continuous improvement in processes, products and management systems.

The initial situation in Valmex presented several critical issues . The first level PDCA (used for direct and specific improvements within single processes or in limited areas of the organization) were written on a departmental whiteboard and, once completed, were photographed and then erased from the whiteboard. This inevitably led to several difficulties, including:

• no management of the history of state transitions
• impossibility of accessing information for people not present on site
• inability to enrich information with notes or other documents
• inability to share the knowledge acquired
• limited historicization and consequent loss of information

The need to share information

“We had problems managing the PDCA, in the company we carried out activities without being able to know the progress status, and furthermore we could not trace the closed activities to analyze the problems”, says Giacomo Chiarucci, IoT Specialist at Valmex.

Second-level PDCAs (oriented towards cross-functional improvements affecting multiple processes or the entire organization) were tracked via shared Excel files, subject to human error and difficulty in consultation.

There was also a third aspect that needed digitization and optimization: the document repository , which until then consisted of over twenty printed cards and reports, inserted in binders hanging on the back of the department whiteboard. A situation that , in addition to leading the company to an exorbitant use of paper, did not allow people to access this information unless they physically went to the location.

Valmex's needs

Digitize processes to optimize them

Interacta comes into play to support Valmex in a path of digitalization, but above all improvement and innovation of processes.

The needs were clear: the implementation of Interacta had to correspond to the implementation of virtuous practices to operate better and intuitively, optimize processes and be able to access, at any time, information and documents valuable for one's work and that of other people.

“At Interacta we were looking for a software that could manage our flow by solving our problems, in a clear and precise way, through an easy and intuitive tool to use”, says Jacopo Toderi, Technical Project Manager of Valmex

Valmex's objectives also included clearly assigning activities and tasks to those responsible for them and, at the same time, ensuring that information was shared among all people in order to transform individual knowledge into collective heritage.

Furthermore, there was a need to have a real-time update on the progress of requests and activities, with a consequent objective measurement of average management times.

The solution and the results

PDCA optimization and information centralization

Interacta is the Digital Work Experience Platform that, in a single place, has allowed Valmex to digitize PDCAs and independently design new processes , as well as obtaining a document repository that is always available and consultable.

“Thanks to this system we have been able to manage continuous improvement more easily, furthermore thanks to the possibility of analyzing a database (made available by Interacta), today we are also able to improve the organizational process of the PDCA”, says Giacomo Chiarucci, IoT Specialist at Valmex.

The first and second level PDCAs are now managed in specific Interacta communities through posts published directly by the proposer that contain tabular information that allows grouping by areas of intervention. Currently in Valmex the role of proposer has been assigned to the Value Stream Manager, the function managers and the PDCA managers.

Interacta to monitor activities

Thanks to the dynamism of the Interacta platform, it is always possible to monitor the percentage of progress of an activity , add new ones and assign them to the relevant people.

As mentioned, PDCAs include different phases (Do, Check and Action). It is important to underline that Interacta allows you to acquire useful information to understand what has been done to reach a subsequent phase of the process with data in hand.

The power of Interacta also lies in its advanced search : by typing one or more keywords it is possible to find information and documents relating to a specific project or activity in one click, drastically reducing the time spent on long email flows or word of mouth.

Centralizing information in an always-accessible repository allows employees to have everything at their fingertips, improving operational efficiency and decision-making. The time saved by Valmex can be spent on higher value-added activities.

If you like stories like this, also read what we did for La Meccanica.

Never again without Interacta because

Today Interacta is an integral part of Valmex's daily life, continuous improvement is a very important topic for us, without this tool we would no longer be able to manage it.

Value for business

Interacta's ease of use has allowed us to streamline a process that previously required a great deal of effort just to manage.