Balta – Optimizing maintenance operations

SAP Field Service Management, implemented by Amista

Balta is a leading producer of textile floor coverings worldwide. With a consolidated revenue of €671m and 3926 employees, its products are manufactured in 9 production facilities and sold to 126 countries worldwide. Since June 2017, Balta Group has been a public company listed on Euronext Brussels.

Balta has four segments:

• Rugs: woven and tufted area rugs.
• Residential: wall-to-wall carpet and carpet tiles for private use.
• Commercial: wall-to-wall carpet and carpet tiles for commercial use.
• Non-Woven: needle felt, carpet backing and technical non-wovens under the Captiqs brand.

Balta’s core markets include the United States, the United Kingdom, Western Europe and a significant presence in Central and Eastern Europe.

For all Balta producing plants, SAP Plant Maintenance has been implemented. Amista is currently implementing SAP Field Service Management (SAP FSM) for all maintenance technicians.

Corrective as well as preventive maintenance orders are created in SAP ERP and are transferred to SAP FSM depending on their status. Once in FSM, they are planned and dispatched using the user-friendly FSM Planning Board by the planners in the different factories. Dispatched orders are pushed to the mobile devices of the technicians including predefined “checklists” depending on the type of work.

Technicians can create “Rush Orders” themselves on their mobile devices when they encounter problems. They can then ‘stop’ their current activities on their mobile device, give priority to the rush order, and continue their work after completion. During all that time, the planners see indications of what their technicians are currently doing. Consumption of material is linked with the SAP ERP backbone Materials Management module.