The Challenge
increase in uptime
higher equipment utilization
reduction in maintenance costs
Penn Color, a global manufacturer of color and additive solutions, runs five plants in the U.S. and one in The Netherlands. With thousands of active part numbers, constant changeovers, and unique formulations, agility is critical.
But their traditional downtime tracking system couldn’t keep up. Operators recorded events manually, often after the fact, and analysts stitched together incomplete data from spreadsheets and paper logs. It tracked operator efficiency, not machine performance. That meant unreliable OEE calculations, slow reactions to issues, and missed opportunities to improve asset usage.
“Our focus here is getting to what we call operator-led continuous improvement. We want our operators focused on improving the operation—not entering data.”
— Bill Scilingo, VP of Operations, Penn Color
Worse, with growth on the horizon, the team saw a looming capacity crunch. Without better data and faster insights, they risked hitting a wall that would limit future revenue.
The Solution
Penn Color piloted Guidewheel in its Hatfield, PA facility—starting with the assets that were causing the biggest bottlenecks.
In just a few weeks, Guidewheel sensors were up and running across key machines, automatically tracking power data to flag downtime in real time. Operators could simply assign reason codes from a nearby terminal—no more guesswork or after-the-fact logs.
Instead of chasing down data, analysts used Guidewheel’s built-in reports and Pareto analyses to prioritize high-impact improvements. Real-time dashboards gave operators and supervisors visibility into performance by team and asset, building alignment and enabling proactive problem-solving across shifts.
“Now we’re looking at analysis of data, not specific downtime events, and saying: Where’s our biggest opportunity to improve the process?”
— Bill Scilingo
Guidewheel wasn’t just a tool for leadership—it helped drive cultural change on the shop floor. Teams began using the data to empathize with each other’s challenges, collaborate across shifts, and own performance improvement together.
The Results
Within months, the impact was clear:
- 50% increase in uptime on the pilot asset group
- 30–35% higher equipment utilization across U.S. plants
- 3% reduction in maintenance costs by retiring underutilized legacy equipment
- Ability to accept more spot business and maintain 75–80% capacity for strategic growth
“In the past, it was a lot of scrambling. Now, our commercial group has a green light to go after new opportunities.”
— Bill Scilingo
By using Guidewheel to unlock hidden capacity, Penn Color avoided expensive equipment investments and turned operations into a growth enabler. Today, the team is equipped to meet year-over-year growth targets, respond faster to customer demand, and scale sustainably into the future.
