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From the design department to the factory floor, few areas of the modern manufacturing operation have resisted the march of computers.

One of the exceptions to this rule has been maintenance scheduling, with the traditional wall-mounted cardboard ticket system holding its own against a host of digital pretenders.

However, with computerised maintenance management (CMM) systems boasting increasing levels of sophistication the argument for their adoption is growing all the time.

A compelling case is provided by gas sensor manufacturer City Technology, which, since deploying Logical Fish's Effishon CMM system last year, has enjoyed some remarkable efficiency improvements.

Part of the Honeywell Group, City Technology's existing methods of capturing data from its maintenance activities were inaccurate, difficult to use and provided little in the way of objective, useable information. The company set itself the challenging task of reducing process downtime by 50 per cent in only a one-year period. To do this, it determined that it needed to find a way to provide clear visualisation and standardisation in terms of work and personnel deployment, combined with accurate data collection and reporting of its processes.