Interview with Mr Dubois, operations director at jet’sac

Mr Dubois, can you tell us about Jet’Sac and the characteristics of your production site?

Jet’Sac, a subsidiary of the SPHERE group, is a company specialising in the manufacturing of polyethylene rubbish bags dedicated exclusively to the professional market. We offer many different ranges of bags specially for the hospital environment, a range of biodegradable and compostable bags and special ranges (for linens, green waste etc.).

The characteristic of our group is its industrial strategy directed towards the use of more environmentally-friendly raw materials. This is shown in particular through the use of virgin materials replaced by recycled materials and plant materials.

Today, the Auchel site has 14 5×8 production lines manufacturing 85 tonnes of bags per day.

What is your role within Jet’Sac?

I’m the Operations Director at the Auchel site. I’m in charge of maintenance, production and purchasing. My role is to guarantee that the factory is well co-ordinated and productive. To do this, I supervise the daily operations of my team of 70 colleagues and the factory is spread over five sectors: operations, QHSE, logistics, sales and administration.

In what context do you work with us?

At the beginning, we were only focussing on corrective maintenance, with variator repairs in particular, the maintenance of motors etc. Then our strategy evolved and we looked more and more towards preventive and predictive maintenance with the aim of drastically reducing the number of breakdowns, unforeseen events and consequently their associated costs. It’s in this context in particular that we decided to set up a vibration monitoring contract with DV GROUP on the motors and reducers of our extruders and several pieces of equipment attached to them. I had total trust in you because before arriving at Jet’Sac four years ago, I had already known about DV GROUP for more than 20 years!

Can you tell us about this vibration monitoring contract? What is it about?

We used to have an enormous number of breakdowns related to electro-mechanics. These led to stoppages and substantial expense. It was imperative to find a solution in order to avoid this situation happening again. Thanks to the support of our dedicated DV GROUP contact and his advice, we decided to set up a vibration monitoring contract. Your monitoring experts analyse the extruders’ motors and reducers four times a year (22 pieces of equipment) and connected equipment (shredder, crusher, ventilator) which are used in manufacturing the rubbish bags. And during two of the campaigns, they also monitored all of the ventilators on the lines.

What has our vibration monitoring solution brought?

Thanks to your monitoring solution, we now have real-time monitoring of our equipment, which allows us to identify problems, plan preventive maintenance action and thus reduce costs. To give you an example, in 2019 we had spent 200,000 € owing to a broken-down extruder reducer. In 2020, our costs went down to 50 000 € and in 2021, I have sufficient confidence in DV GROUP that we’ll be at 0! These days, our breakdown rate is lower than 20%, our maintenance budget is almost balanced and this predictive approach is helping us demonstrate our participation in various certifications, so obviously, we’re highly satisfied! In my view, the relationship between Jet’Sac and DV GROUP is a real partnership. In calling on you, I know that I’ll get service, reactivity, expertise, support and honesty: five essential elements for a successful partnership!