A major energy company's turbine remanufacturing plant deployed Andon call buttons across all production bays — unifying quality, maintenance, and EHS stop-the-line alerts under one system with measurable response times.
At a Glance
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Industry | Energy — Turbine Remanufacturing |
| Facility | Multi-bay remanufacturing plant, Southwest U.S. |
| Challenge | No response time data across bays; contractor and staff coordination gaps; no structured EHS stop-the-line process |
| Solution | 9 three-key call buttons, 7 watch pagers, 4 signal repeaters, advanced software with SMS/email escalation |
| Key Result | Plant Manager-led deployment with annual subscription renewals confirming sustained daily use |
The Challenge
This turbine remanufacturing facility — operated by a major energy technology company — rebuilds and services industrial gas turbines in a large bay-based layout in the Southwest. Each bay handles different stages of the remanufacturing process, with a mix of internal production staff, maintenance technicians, and external contractors working across the facility.
The Plant Manager recognized that the facility lacked any structured system for operators to request support and — more critically — lacked any data on how long it took for that support to arrive.
The specific pain points were:
- No response time metrics. When a technician in one bay needed quality sign-off, maintenance assistance, or an EHS review, there was no record of when the request was made or how long it took to resolve. Management operated on gut feel rather than data.
- Bay-to-bay communication gaps. The facility's layout — multiple large bays separated by walls and equipment — meant that visual signals and verbal calls didn't carry. A technician in Bay 3 had no efficient way to reach a quality engineer working in Bay 7.
- Contractor coordination. External contractors working alongside internal staff needed the same ability to call for support, but weren't integrated into any internal communication system.
- EHS stop-the-line scenarios. The remanufacturing process involves high-value turbine components under strict safety protocols. When an EHS concern arose, there was no instant, plant-wide alert mechanism to halt work and bring the right people to the bay.
- No escalation path. If a call went unanswered — whether the responder was busy, in another bay, or simply didn't hear it — there was no automatic escalation to a backup or supervisor.
Why They Chose an Andon System
The Plant Manager personally drove the evaluation, assessing how the system would fit the facility's unique layout and mixed-workforce environment. He explored both virtual buttons (computer-based) and physical call buttons, ultimately choosing physical 3-key buttons for the bay floor — where workstations don't always have dedicated computers — while keeping virtual buttons as a future option for desktop stations.
The evaluation focused on several requirements:
- Multiple call types on one system. The plant needed quality, maintenance, and EHS/stop-the-line alerts routed to different responders — all from the same button hardware. The 3-key call button (call, acknowledge, resolve) with configurable call types handled this without requiring different devices for different alert categories.
- Visual dashboard for management. The Plant Manager wanted a real-time display showing which bays had active calls, what type of support was requested, and how long each call had been open. The button board — displayed on any TV or monitor — provided exactly this.
- Metrics and reporting. Response time data, broken down by bay, call type, shift, and responder, was a core requirement. The Plant Manager wanted to identify bottlenecks and hold teams accountable — not with anecdotal observations, but with logged data.
- Coverage across a large footprint. The bay-based layout required signal repeaters to ensure call buttons in every bay could reach the transmitter and that watch pagers received alerts regardless of location in the facility.
The Implementation
Trial Period
The facility started with a 30-day free trial, allowing the Plant Manager and his team to validate the system in real production conditions before committing to a purchase. The trial confirmed that:
- Call buttons in each bay reliably reached the transmitter through signal repeaters
- Watch pagers received alerts throughout the entire facility, including remote bays
- The software captured the response time data management needed
- Operators and contractors adopted the 3-key workflow (call → acknowledge → resolve) without friction
Full Deployment
Following the successful trial, the plant purchased the full system:
- 9 three-key call buttons positioned across production bays, each configured with call types for quality, maintenance, and EHS
- 7 watch pagers distributed to production managers, maintenance leads, quality engineers, and EHS personnel
- 4 signal repeaters (2611D) strategically placed to provide complete coverage across the bay layout — ensuring buttons in the farthest bays could communicate with the central transmitter
- 1 CA transmitter as the system hub, connected to the software via USB
- Advanced software license with button board display, escalation sequences, response time reports, and call documentation
- 12-month SMS/email subscription for escalation notifications — ensuring that unanswered calls triggered alerts to backup responders and supervisors via text and email
EHS Stop-the-Line Configuration
One of the key configurations was the EHS alert type. When a technician pressed the call button for an EHS issue, the system was set to notify designated safety personnel immediately — with a short escalation timeout to the Plant Manager if the initial responder didn't acknowledge. This gave the facility a structured, logged stop-the-line process where every EHS event was recorded with timestamps.
The Results
Response Time Data Where None Existed
The most immediate impact was visibility. For the first time, the Plant Manager had data showing how long operators waited for support — segmented by bay, call type, and shift. Calls that previously disappeared into the void of radio chatter were now logged with precise timestamps: when the button was pressed, when help arrived, and when the issue was closed.
Unified Alert System Across Call Types
Rather than maintaining separate processes for quality calls, maintenance requests, and EHS events, the facility consolidated everything into one system. Operators used the same 3-key button regardless of the call type — the software handled routing, escalation, and reporting based on the configured call category. This simplified training and eliminated confusion about which process to follow for different types of support requests.
Contractor Integration
External contractors working in the bays used the same call buttons as internal staff. This meant that a contractor encountering a quality hold or safety concern could trigger the same alert and escalation sequence as any employee — ensuring consistent response regardless of who raised the issue.
Bay Coverage Validated
The 4-signal-repeater configuration provided complete coverage across the facility's bay layout. Watch pagers received alerts in every bay, and call buttons in the most remote bays communicated reliably with the transmitter. The bay-based layout — which had been a communication barrier — was effectively neutralized by the repeater network.
Sustained Use Confirmed by Renewals
The facility renewed its SMS/email escalation subscription annually and placed additional orders for replacement equipment — a clear signal that the system remained in active daily use. Systems that sit idle don't generate subscription renewals. The ongoing investment confirms that response time tracking, escalation, and reporting became part of the plant's standard operating procedures.
What They Said
The Plant Manager was hands-on throughout the evaluation and deployment — personally assessing button placement, pager assignments, and escalation configurations. His focus was always on measurable outcomes: response time data that could drive accountability, visual dashboards that made plant status transparent, and a system that worked for both employees and contractors.
What made this deployment notable was the breadth of use cases on a single platform. Quality sign-offs, maintenance calls, and EHS stop-the-line events all flowed through the same system — each with their own escalation rules and reporting categories, but all using the same hardware and software infrastructure. For a remanufacturing facility handling high-value turbine components under strict safety and quality protocols, that unification eliminated the fragmented communication that had previously left gaps in response coverage.
The annual subscription renewals tell the final story. A system purchased on the strength of a 30-day trial, still actively used and renewed years later, reflects a tool that became part of daily plant operations — not a pilot that faded after the initial enthusiasm wore off.
Related resources:
- Andon Systems Across Industries
- How to Calculate Andon System ROI
- Response Time Tracking in Manufacturing
- Browse All Case Studies
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