Nufarm Replaces Shift Communication Process with eschbach Platform
Nufarm's Linz, Austria, site has replaced its existing shift communication process with eschbach's Shiftconnector operations platform, creating a single, real‑time information source for Nufarm’s shift workers and improving transparency across production, maintenance and management.
Shiftconnector provides a log of all incidents and breakdowns, with a shared view between all teams.
Dr. Björn Christensen, site manager at Nufarm Linz, explained that, before adopting Shiftconnector, the company used paper logs and Excel sheets as well as Microsoft Teams, without a single system that could unify all of this information.
“It was becoming really difficult to have transparency and consistency across shift teams, departments and tiers, as there was no real standardized method of communication,” Christensen said. “This meant that if I wanted to check a particular shift log, I’d have to physically go over to the control room and dig it out, with the time spent doing so really adding up for a plant of this size. For example, if I wanted to find the root cause of unplanned downtime, I could lose hours digging through paper logs and spreadsheets to find it. Or I could ask the foreman to do so on my behalf, consuming his hours.”
The challenges detailed by Christensen were not the only issues facing the site. The plant relied heavily on manual data entry for tasks such as shift handovers and safety walks, and teams such as production and maintenance lacked a shared view on status, meaning it wasn’t always clear when an item might be delivered, or if it was delayed.
One of the areas where Shiftconnector has delivered significant benefits has been on shift operations. As Aldin Majlovic, plant manager at Nufarm Linz, noted: “Before the introduction of Shiftconnector, we were spending up to 50 minutes preparing the shift handover. All of the necessary information had to be pulled from the relevant sources, and then physically logged into our shift logbook, which was not only time consuming, but had a greater risk of error.
According to Nufarm, the platform is streamlining its workflows, cutting shift handover time and digitizing Gemba and safety walks with offline mobile logging, which allows operators to submit improvement ideas directly into the system digitally, even when they are in areas of the plant with no Wi-Fi connection.
The platform has reportedly strengthened cross‑department collaboration and long‑term operational insight, providing shared visibility into incidents, repairs and equipment trends.
“Now, a handover can be completed in as little as 15 minutes, with a much slimmer margin for error. This is a benefit that has been communicated back to us from across the plant — staff really see the value in this technology and what it brings,” said Majlovic.
Shiftconnector can also be used to build a growing data repository to support OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) improvements and continuous improvement initiatives.
Nufarm Linz has onboarded nearly 200 users across its production and maintenance teams to the Shiftconnector platform over the course of a year, with the system being tailored to the unique needs of the plant.
Dr. Christoph Steinlechner, production manager at Nufarm Linz, added that Shiftconnector’s no-code nature allowed Nufarm to easily customize the platform without the need for IT or third-party support.
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