“We came from a situation where the structure was insufficiently set up. The transition to Centix led to a revision of processes, resulting in greater overview, better information and improved control.”
Huisman operates globally in the design, construction and maintenance of heavy lifting and handling equipment. From locations including Schiedam, hundreds of employees work daily on complex installations such as cranes, pipelay equipment and grippers used for installing wind turbines.
Although Huisman originally focused on the offshore sector, its solutions have in recent years also been increasingly applied in the logistics sector, such as container cranes and overhead cranes.
Within such a dynamic organisation, effective asset management is essential. Not only to support daily operations, but also to ensure the safety, quality and continuity of production. To organise equipment, maintenance and inspections more efficiently, Huisman chose Centix. Judith Schoemaker, facility consultant, and Reinaldo Jardim, foreman of the issue warehouse, explain how Centix is used daily within Huisman and what it delivers.
From fragmented processes to overview and structure
Within Huisman, different departments work closely together. The Maintenance department is responsible for maintaining all assets in the production environment, while the issuing warehouse handles the issuing and management of tools. This collaboration requires clear processes and strong insight into equipment and maintenance.
Previously, Huisman used another system for tool management. According to Reinaldo, this system did not meet their needs: “The previous system was less complete and less user-friendly.” As a result, there was a lack of overview and efficiency in managing assets and processes, making it more difficult to consistently manage maintenance and availability.
With the transition to Centix, this changed. Huisman uses Centix Online Basis, complemented by various modules such as workflow management. The implementation immediately provided the perfect opportunity to redesign processes. Judith explains: “We came from a situation where the structure had been lost. By switching to Centix, we cleaned everything up and redesigned it. That really brought back overview and control.”
Centix makes it possible to centralise and structure processes related to equipment, maintenance and inspections. As a result, ways of working are better aligned and less dependent on individual knowledge within Huisman. Indirectly, Centix has also improved collaboration between the Maintenance department and the issue warehouse.
“We see that Centix helps us organise asset management in an integrated way; Maintenance and the issue warehouse no longer operate separately, but as one chain jointly steering on performance, risks and the value of our assets,” says Esther Mannak, Maintenance Manager. “At the same time, we realise that this requires more than just a system; Centix has mainly contributed to enabling and accelerating the steps we are taking as an organisation.”
“With Centix, we can do much more and work faster and more efficiently.”
Working more efficiently in the warehouse
In the issue warehouse, Centix has become indispensable in daily operations. Tools are continuously issued, returned and redeployed. Thanks to QR codes, it is always clear where an item is located and who is responsible for it, making tools fully traceable within the organisation. Reinaldo explains: “Everything that is issued or returned is scanned and linked to a person. This way, we always know where everything is.”
For Reinaldo, the move basket is one of the most important functionalities within Centix, as it saves him a significant amount of time every day. With this feature, he can move multiple items to a location in one action, without having to process each item individually. A practical example is handling workwear returned from the laundry. “We sometimes receive multiple trolleys at once, which we can now process in one go. Where we used to handle everything manually one by one, we can now process hundreds of items at once, allowing the warehouse to respond more efficiently to demand from production.”
Adding new tools has also become faster. “Previously, we had to enter everything one by one, including photos and data. That took a lot of time. Now we do this in one go via import, which significantly speeds up our work.”
In addition, visual support helps with recognising tools. “By adding photos, you can immediately see what it is. This prevents errors and makes the work clearer.”
Control over maintenance and inspections
For the Maintenance department, the strength of Centix mainly lies in managing assets and planning maintenance and inspections. All objects are centrally registered, including certificates. As a result, there is automatic insight into when inspections expire and need to be scheduled again. As Judith explains: “We register all objects in Centix and automatically receive notifications when something needs to be inspected. This allows us to manage this much more effectively and reduces the risk of overdue inspections.”
An important advantage is the visual insight that Centix provides. At a glance, it is clear which assets need to be inspected and when, making it easier to manage planning and follow-up. As Judith states: “We can clearly see when something needs to be inspected. This makes it much more manageable and easier to control.”
In addition to standard inspections, the department also works with its own inspection rounds, for example on a quarterly basis. For this purpose, they have configured their own inspection plans in Centix, fully aligned with their way of working.
Employees can carry out inspections on-site using their phones and record all checkpoints directly. “Previously, we worked with paper checklists. Now everything is digitally available, ensuring consistent recording and making it easy to retrieve information. An added benefit is the reduction in paper usage.”
Maintenance requests and incidents are also centrally recorded and linked to specific assets. Foremen in the production environment can easily create a service request, after which a ticket is automatically generated and assigned to the appropriate department. As Judith explains: “We can link reports to an asset and view the full history. This provides valuable insight into what is happening, recurring issues and opportunities for improvement.”
“We receive a weekly overview of what needs to be inspected.
As a result, we no longer have to chase this ourselves.”
More insight across the entire organisation
The benefits of Centix are not limited to the Maintenance department and the issuing warehouse. Other departments within Huisman also benefit from the insights the system provides. Teams automatically receive notifications about upcoming inspections and maintenance, making follow-up less dependent on manual actions or reminders. “We receive a weekly overview of what needs to be inspected. As a result, we no longer have to chase this ourselves.”
The internal customer, the production department, also benefits from this transparency. Employees can see where assets are located and what their status is. This leads to better control and improved collaboration between departments.
In addition, a link has been established with the Finance department. Assets above a certain value are automatically reported, giving Finance immediate insight into which high-value equipment is registered and in use.
Flexible and user-friendly system
An important advantage for Huisman is the flexibility of the software. Users can adapt the system to their own way of working and decide which information is relevant to them. For example, columns and views can be configured as desired, ensuring the system aligns with different roles within the organisation. Reinaldo explains: “Everyone works slightly differently, and that’s possible in Centix.” The ability to configure inspection plans further highlights the flexibility of Centix.
In addition, Centix is experienced as a complete system in which everything comes together. As a result, it provides more overview, reduces manual work and eliminates the need to work with multiple separate systems.
Conclusion
De inzet van Centix heeft bij Huisman geleid tot duidelijke verbeteringen. Handmatige werkzaamheden zijn verminderd, processen verlopen sneller en er is meer inzicht in de status en locatie van assets. Tegelijkertijd is een fundament gelegd voor beheersing, risicoreductie en continu verbetering van asset- en onderhoudsprocessen.
Learn more about Huisman? Visit www.huismanequipment.com.
Discover what Centix can do for your organisation
Have you become interested after reading Huisman’s experiences and curious about what Centix can do for your organisation? During a product demonstration, we would be happy to show you how our solution works. In approximately 30 to 60 minutes, we will guide you through our software, giving you a clear and complete overview of the possibilities Centix offers.
