Success Story

Laboratory communication 4.0 with Peakboard.

GBA Group

Laboratory | Laboratory, laboratory organization

Challenges

Digital visualization of cross-laboratory and cross-company information at different company locations

Solution

Introduction of Peakboard at Pinneberg site and provision of boards with laboratory information via four monitors at central locations

Advantages

  • Quick provision of transparent information directly where it is needed and seen
  • Greater process efficiency through direct availability of work-relevant information

Time to value

Few days for the creation of first dashboards

The customer

GBA Group.

The GBA Group is one of Europe’s leading analytical laboratories and service providers. Its core competencies lie in the fields of environmental, food, consumer goods and pharmaceutical analysis. The GBA Group provides analytical and chemical services such as sampling and testing of food and raw materials, soil, water, drinking water, recycled materials, waste and air on behalf of industry, manufacturers, importers, engineering firms, municipal clients and the waste management industry.

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„With Peakboard, information is now quickly and transparently available right where it is needed.“
Sandra Schubert, Process Optimization at GBA Group

Challenge

Communication in lightning speed.

The company is represented at 14 locations in Germany and Austria and employs around 600 people. In order to optimize project-related internal communication at its locations, the GBA Group was looking for a modern IT solution beyond e-mails, electronic newsletters or company magazines. Easy to communicate and quick, direct and simple to consume, this was what process-relevant information should look like in future.

“Further discussions also revealed site-specific requirements”, explains Sandra Schubert, Process Optimization, GBA Group. “The Pinneberg site was looking for a way of transporting information on samples and equipment more quickly from the laboratory or site manager to the laboratory staff. For example, we often receive urgent samples that require immediate processing. Up to now, in such a case the responsible employees had to be informed via different channels: Some in person, some by telephone, some by e-mail. Another example is information about laboratory equipment, for example in the event of a device failure that leads to process delays. Here too, various colleagues must be informed as quickly as possible. We wanted to find an IT-based solution with which different information can be communicated visually more quickly, directly and reliably. As a pilot project, the laboratory information should be visualized at the Pinneberg site”.

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Solution

Heureka.

Schubert found what he was looking for at the Hannover Messe:

“I was at the Peakboard stand and knew that this was the solution for us.”

The all-in-one solution enables the visualization of any data on any monitor.
Peakboard includes all necessary components for data aggregation from various sources, such as Laboratory Information and Management Systems (LIMS) and real-time visualization. Since Peakboard visualizes the data autonomously, no central server is required. The complete Peakboard technology sits in a smartphone-small aluminum box – a combination of hardware and software with an integrated WLAN module.

“I liked how secure, powerful and easy Peakboard is,” says Schubert.

Kevin Jörgens, systems engineer at GBA Group, was also quickly convinced:

“For me, another positive aspect was the option of data source connection”.

Schubert continues:

“We got in touch with Peakboard and took part in a webinar to get more detailed information and ordered a free trial”. Peakboard also passed the live test with flying colors.

“We were able to create some dashboards via the Peakboard Designer without much effort and then travelled to Pinneberg with the Peakboard Box and a standard monitor to present the solution. The staff there were immediately enthusiastic, especially because creating the dashboards is so easy,” Schubert reports.

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Result

Relevant information to go.

Four Peakboard Boxes are in use at the Pinneberg site. They are used by around 70 employees. The monitors are installed on the three floors of the company building.

“We have installed a Peakboard Box in the sample preparation. This is where the sample control is done,” explains Jörgens. Another Peakboard Box was installed at the terminal of the electronic time recording system.

“Every employee has to pass it several times a day, so the space is ideal for collecting information ‘in passing’,”

Schubert explains. Two further Peakboard Boxes are attached to the measuring devices on two different floors.

Location-specific information relevant to the management of work processes is displayed: For example, device failures and notified repair time windows or urgent notices when there is a change in the processing of an order. In addition, general information is communicated, such as appointments for visits from customers or other external parties. Three colleagues from laboratory organization and management have installed the Peakboard Designer on their workstations. They fill the dashboards manually via a defined input mask with necessary information such as order numbers, parameters and delivery dates etc.

The GBA Group is more than just satisfied with the solution:

“I have never experienced better support from an IT partner,” Schubert emphasizes. “From the beginning of the webinar until today, we have been in constant contact. We usually receive a response to enquiries on the same day, at the latest after 24 hours. If we make suggestions that are relatively easy to implement, they will be implemented with the next update at the latest. And with further ideas we also run into open arms, so to speak.”

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Future

Illuminated breakrooms.

The rollout of the solution to other locations should take place within twelve months. On the one hand, site-specific laboratory information will be mapped. On the other hand, cross-company topics will be visualized on screens in the break rooms or canteens – for example, news on the company’s development, projects in the individual departments, information on the works council, new colleagues introduced with pictures, etc. A Welcome Dashboard is also planned to welcome guests. Around 25 further Peakboard Boxes are being considered.

Furthermore, the dashboards will be filled with data automatically in the future, and initial discussions with the in-house development department are already underway.

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Discover more

Interest aroused?

„After just a few brief discussions with Peakboard and watching a few online videos that they provided, I was able to design the interface myself without any help from the Peakboard team, down to being able to integrate our corporate identity.”

Denis Maljkovic, Head of Production and Industrialization at Aquis

Aquis Systems

Aquis Systems
“For me, digitization also means generating real added value from existing data. And that’s exactly what we are doing with Peakboard: We provide employees with the information they really need in their daily routine – in a simple manner and exactly where they are needed, whether in the office, in the factory hall or on the forklift.”

Christian Leins, Head of Software Development at Bizerba

Bizerba SE & Co KG

Bizerba SE & Co. KG
“The effects have been consistently positive. The overall effectiveness of production has increased, and our planning is more accurate. Our processes have also been significantly accelerated thanks to the MES functions. Our teams are even more motivated than before, and they are really leaning into the friendly competition to achieve the goals.”

Mityo Dryankov, Director Maintenance, Innovations and Technology at Bon EOOD.

Bon EOOD

Bon EOOD
„From the first minute the employees loved Peakboard and the visualization. They are much more motivated because they see the daily goals and workload. More transparency in the whole company.“

Jordan Marlin, Manager Operational Technology, Industry 4.0 Engineering at BWI Group

BWI Group

BeijingWest Industries (BWI Group)
“We were able to set up the dashboard so that we could self-manage it: We downloaded the Peakboard Designer, chose the components to be displayed, and then configured and set up the Peakboard Box. This was a simple task due to our knowledge of automation structures. There was also a lot of learning by doing, which was fun. We were able to put the first implementations into live operation after just a week.”

Ralph Sagberger, Head of Organization & Production at Corratec

Corratec

Corratec
“Only Peakboard met our requirements for standardized interfaces to various systems, especially SAP, as well as the visualization of shop-floor data in real-time and with no programming required.”

André Fimpel, Head of Lean Management at Helmut Fischer GmbH

Helmut Fischer GmbH

Helmut Fischer GmbH
“We like the easy usability of the Peakboard Designer and that complex designs can still be created with LUA. The excellent support from Peakboard and the speed with which new functions are implemented is clearly worthy of mention.”

Marc-Philip Stüttern, Head of IT at Joh. Clouth GmbH & Co. KG

Joh. Clouth GmbH & Co KG

Joh. Clouth GmbH & Co. KG
“By using Peakboard we have become faster and more precise in our processes. The newly gained transparency also reveals further potential for process optimization, which we will gradually exploit.”

Björn Mutschler, Head of Production at Johannes Giesser Messerfabrik GmbH

Johannes Giesser Messerfabrik GmbH

Johannes Giesser Messerfabrik GmbH
“With Peakboard, we have achieved efficiency through greater transparency. Employees can see at a glance right from their workplace what the current status is and can steer their work steps accordingly.”

Oliver Herz, Head of Application Development at MUNSCH-Group

Munsch Plastic Welding Technology

Munsch Plastic Welding Technology
„We needed a centralized display of current production data on an andon-board to take the next big step toward operational excellence. Employees should be able to see the status of their plant in real time: What is running on my machine right here, right now? The solution selected also had to be able to become the standard in our group to avoid having to work with a large number of different systems.“

Mario Pichler, Head of Automation at Pankl Racing Systems Inc.

Pankl Racing System AG

Pankl Racing Systems AG

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