Vehicle battery manufacturer, Automotive Cells Company (ACC), has implemented enterprise asset management (EAM) software from IFS Ultimo to drive the development and industrialization of the first French battery for the automotive industry. By managing and maintaining more than 20,000 manufacturing assets with the EAM system, the Mercedes and Stellantis-owned company has improved operational efficiency and enabled both corrective and preventative maintenance.
Powering the energy transition through sustainable, affordable, high-capacity, and longer-life batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), ACC expects to manufacture batteries for 150,000 Stellantis vehicles by the end of 2025, with the first block currently in ramp-up. With its machines running for longer periods, the software-as-a-service (SaaS) EAM system allows ACC to repair assets quickly, saving time and money, and ultimately increasing production volumes.
François Carrot, Information System Director at ACC, explains, “Price competition is the first challenge for ACC. To win this battle and become a key player in the European energy transition, ACC focuses on scrap reduction and increasing overall equipment effectiveness. Our team understands the importance of adopting a modern and efficient EAM to manage and maintain the industrial assets that are critical to our strategic ambition. Better resource allocation and responsiveness underscore the operational efficiency at ACC, which is pivotal to the commercial performance of manufacturing businesses.”
Delivered by integrator Inoteam, the system setup includes plans and photographs for each ACC machine. Using mobile applications on tablets, engineers simply scan a QR code to access documentation associated with each of the 20,000+ assets. This includes information on periodical maintenance, the history of all operations performed, along with comments from the people who have worked on it. Being mobile-enabled allows ACC engineers to conduct maintenance rounds and record various values ‘on-the-go’. The centralized EAM also manages stock to ensure the availability of parts during repairs.
Johan Made, CEO at IFS Ultimo adds, “It is our mission to be easy to do business with. That requires us to deliver solutions that are easy to use and fast to deploy. With ACC, we saw a young company poised for growth that needed to catalogue all the machines in its facilities, including tracking all corrective and preventative maintenance to avoid breakdowns. They needed an EAM to provide a reference system. And they needed it fast. Rolled out to users in just six months, the engineers find it intuitive and rich in data.”
ACC’s digital transformation journey with IFS Ultimo will progressively continue, with the addition of functionality for purchasing, as well as health, safety, and environment (HSE) with permits.
About ACC
Automotive Cells Company (ACC) is poised to become the European leader in automotive batteries. Backed by TotalEnergies-Saft, Stellantis, and Mercedes AG, with robust support from European authorities, particularly in France, Germany, and Italy, we are committed to developing and industrializing the next generation of cleaner energy sources for transport through sustainable, affordable, high-capacity, and longer-life batteries.
As a competitive high-tech company, we are investing billions in the early stages of our development. Our R&D Excellence Center is operational in Bruges (Bordeaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine), alongside our state-of-the-art pilot plant in Nersac, France (Angoulème, Nouvelle-Aquitaine). Our first gigafactory in Billy-Berclau Douvrin, Hauts-de-France, the first of its kind in France, was inaugurated in May 2023 and is ramping up large-scale production. Over the next few years, we will further enhance our innovation and production capacities with a second block starting in 2026 in Billy-Berclau Douvrin. We have already established a global network of R&D associates, industrial partners, and suppliers.
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