Cox Machine, Inc. Drives Efficiency with MaintainX

Overview

Ryan Uptmor, Engineering Program Manager, works to drive efficiencies through project management, ensuring that KPIs measure production objectives. Brennan Miller is responsible for automation, deploying robotics and the industrial Internet of Things to take the company to the next level.

In 2019, Cox Machine, Inc. was 100% SHARP certified at both its Wichita and Harper locations. A dedicated safety team achieved the highly regarded SHARP certification, bringing the entire company to an elevated level of health and safety recognized by the United States Department of Labor.

Challenges

With Cox Machine’s facilities growing fast, the company was looking for the most efficient method to manage reactive maintenance tasks. “We used word of mouth, emails, and a basic ticket system to broadcast the maintenance needs of the factory,” Ryan said. “With our organization and facilities growing so quickly, we needed a reliable and complete solution to monitor and log our maintenance history on the machine assets.“

Solution

Cox Machine began researching CMMS systems. As Ryan describes it, “Our team tested multiple different solutions on tablets and PCs.” With multiple locations starting to use MaintainX, one facility maintenance manager recently called Ryan and said, “I love this. Please make this a full-time solution!” Before MaintainX, he used spreadsheets to keep track of all the data, and “that’s just difficult and no fun.”

“We had ideas about what was causing us the most pain, but with MaintainX,” Ryan said, “we now have data to help us make the asset decisions. As a result, we are making things more preventive than reactive with our maintenance.”

Ryan explained that Cox Machine’s ability to communicate via MaintainX is especially crucial because “We have 24-hour operations. We solely use MaintainX to communicate between shifts as we only have a 5–10-minute interlock between our shift schedules. With MaintainX, we use messaging, so we’re not duplicating efforts or working against each other. “

Results

With safety job #1 at Cox Machine, Ryan contacted MaintainX after implementation, and “within an hour, we were able to create a new highest ‘Safety’ priority level.” So now Cox Machine’s Work Order priority goes from low, medium, high, and safety.

Spotlight on the Customer

Headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, Cox Machine, Inc. is a closely held multi-generational family business. The company manufactures precision parts, components, and assemblies for the aerospace, Deep Space, and semiconductor industries.

Cox Machine, Inc. was founded in 1954 by Ernest “Bud” Cox. From his experience as a machinist at Cessna Aircraft Company and Kansas Tool, Cox decided that he had the necessary skills to open his own shop. He built a 16-foot by 20-foot building and began Cox Machine with four tools: a mill, lathe, shaper, and drill press. Today, the company has over 168,000 square feet of space across four divisions.