The history of Arboga-based Recotech is closely aligned with the Swedish air force industry, and companies such as SAAB and GKN Aerotech. The company currently has around 65 employees, who work with thermal spraying, vacuum brazing, and machine-finishing in order to manufacture gas turbine components used for energy generation, as well as peripheral equipment for aircraft, mainly for the defense industry. Recotech has been using MONITOR since 2001.

“We get the very most out of MONITOR. Above all, its strength lies in the integration between the different functions and the process flow throughout the system,” explains Janne Jörgensen, Supply Chain Manager at Recotech AB.

There was a sense at Recotech that it had taken digital development with MONITOR G4 as far as it could, and that something new was needed to drive the business forward and future proof management of its day-to-day processes.

“We have strong links with a network here in the region through MITC (Mälardalen Industrial Technology Center, a subsidiary of Mälardalen University). There are around 10 companies that met up with a consultant from Monitor, who demonstrated the strengths of G5. We were able to discuss ideas on how we use the system, and had the chance to log in and try it out. We also took part in the Monitor Roadshow in 2020, where we got the chance to ask questions,” says Bosse Tell, CEO at Recotech.

What was it that led to you upgrading to G5?

“We saw new, useful functions such as Project management, which has been improved, while the Daily management and Tools & Maintenance functions also encouraged us to make the leap,” Janne explains.

How did the upgrade project go?

“On the whole, things went pretty smoothly. There were some small issues as you might imagine, but nothing we didn’t expect, and we had excellent support from our consultant and the team at the Monitor Support Center. And naturally, there’ll be areas to fine tune and improve for some time to come.”

The biggest challenge faced during the upgrade was dedicating enough resources to the preparations.

“So much depends on how you prepare; you can never spend enough time on this. We saw an opportunity to tidy things up, and feel like we have a stronger platform now than we did before upgrading,” says Janne.

At Recotech, improvement is a guiding principle. The company has recently completed a project – Produktionslyftet, aimed at improving production – which focused on continual improvement and standardized working methods in order to boost efficiency and create added value for the customer.

“We started with DigiLEAN – there’s a growing trend towards digitalization within Swedish industry. While upgrading to MONITOR G5, we also took the opportunity to review our processes and working methods. We see the upgrade as a new start, and a good opportunity to adopt new working methods that really work throughout our process flow. The advantage of the new system is that it’s more tightly controlled, with a lower risk of error, among other things.”

“G5 is a more secure system – previously, it was easier to take shortcuts. Traceable material is one example; in G5, this must be handled correctly. We feel like we have a good relationship with Monitor and get the support we need,” Janne adds.

“Not only that, the system has a more modern appearance. It’s also more user friendly, and we’re convinced it will be seen as a big improvement once everyone’s up and running with the G5 platform,” Bosse says.