Case Study: Horizon Global boosts preventive maintenance to 81% and cuts production backlogs to under 1 week with UpKeep

Horizon Global Achieves a Domino-effect of Effiency

Horizon Global, an equipment and manufacturing customer, was struggling with a manual maintenance system that relied on spreadsheets, handwritten notes, and verbal coordination, which created bottlenecks whenever multiple breakdowns occurred and left the team unable to track assets or make data-driven replacement decisions. To address these challenges, Horizon Global selected UpKeep’s mobile-first maintenance solution and began implementation in August 2018, rolling the app out first at its Pretoria plant.

UpKeep implemented a three-phase rollout—migrating asset data and schedules, organizing spare parts, and sharing reports with the shop floor—enabling technicians to use smartphones to log and receive workorders. The results with UpKeep were dramatic: preventive maintenance rose from about 30% to 81% (target 85%), reactive work fell from 70% to 19%, production backlogs shrank from 8–12 weeks to under one week, and overall equipment uptime and data-driven decision making improved across the business.

Horizon Global

Dirk Van Der Laarse

IT Manager