CASE STUDY

About NSG Group

The NSG Group (Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd.) is one of the world’s largest glass manufacturers, operating in over 30 countries and producing architectural, automotive, and technical glass. At the core of its business are high-value glassmaking furnaces, each worth tens of millions of pounds. A single major repair can cost around £80 million, while building a new furnace from scratch may reach £250 million.

With 33 furnaces worldwide, effective inspection, safety, and maintenance are mission-critical to protect these assets and maximize their lifespans. The responsibility lies with the Refractory Services department, a highly specialized team led by Technical Supervisor Robert Taylor.

His team oversees inspections, safety reporting, compliance checks, and repair projects across multiple continents. Managing this work with limited resources and older systems posed significant challenges, from missed reports to costly downtime, driving NSG to seek a more efficient solution.

Download the PDF

Before Snapfix

NSG’s maintenance and safety reporting relied on outdated methods that slowed projects, created risk, and added significant cost:

• Paper Risk Assessments: Technicians carried notepads, filled forms, and dropped them into boxes. Reports often went missing, leaving hazards unaddressed.

• WhatsApp Overload: With hundreds of people per project, key information was buried in group chats.

• Inefficient Legacy System: The previous platform required multiple logins and QR scans. Uploading a single safety report could take up to 20 minutes which discouraged use.

• Operational Delays: Missing reports and poor oversight sometimes forced projects to halt. With downtime costing hundreds of thousands of pounds per day, the financial risk was enormous. 

• Compliance Gaps: Sites outside the UK often failed to perform routine checks, leading to incidents requiring costly emergency travel (29 hours to Chile in one case).

Robert reflected on the difference Snapfix made compared to NSG’s old systems. What once felt slow, frustrating, and error-prone has been replaced with speed, visibility, and confidence. “It was a very messy system. Reports went missing, incidents repeated weekly, and delays cost the business hundreds of thousands a day.”

"With Snapfix, a report takes 30 seconds, with our previous system it took 20 minutes."

Robert Taylor,

Refractory Technical Supervisor,

NSG Europe

Why Snapfix

When Snapfix was introduced during a major furnace repair, the benefits were immediate:

• Ease of Use: Reports now take 30 seconds, not 20 minutes. Technicians snap a photo, mark red/yellow/green, and assign responsibility.

• Multi-Site Oversight: Managers track inspections and incidents across 33 furnaces from one dashboard.

• Real-Time Reporting: Trends like PPE non-compliance can be spotted and resolved in days, not months.

• Cross-Team Collaboration: Contractors and external partners can be added seamlessly, without complex permissions.

• Asset & Compliance Expansion: NSG now uses Snapfix to catalogue assets, manage check-in/check-out, and pilot furnace compliance inspections.

For Robert and his team, the shift was transformative. What once felt slow and fragmented is now fast, transparent, and scalable, giving NSG the confidence to manage critical assets worth millions.

“Engagement has been the biggest benefit. People actually want to use Snapfix 24/7

 Before Snapfix, things got missed and jobs slowed to a stop. Now, nothing slips through the cracks.

 Snapfix lets us involve contractors and external teams without the headache of complex systems.”

Implementation

Snapfix was first piloted during a hot patch furnace repair, where every technician was equipped with a work mobile pre-installed with the app. Health and Safety reporting immediately went fully digital, eliminating paper forms and messy WhatsApp groups. Adoption spread quickly across teams, and Snapfix is now used on every repair and inspection worldwide.

In the UK, NSG has started rolling out the Asset Manager module, tailoring it for furnace audits and compliance checks.

As Robert Taylor explained, “Once it started, there was no stopping. Now every single project we run, Snapfix is there.”

The Results

Time & Cost Savings

• 20 minutes reduced to 30 seconds per safety report, saving hours daily.
• Daily safety briefings now take minutes, not hours, freeing up H&S managers.
• By avoiding delays, NSG has prevented project overruns costing hundreds of thousands per day.

Increased Reporting & Engagement

• Technicians submit far more reports, creating safer projects.
• Engagement “goes through the roof” compared to legacy systems.
• Thousands of incidents logged across projects; from loose cabling to PPE breaches, ensuring early intervention.

Safer, More Proactive Operations

Snapfix has given NSG a new level of visibility into safety and maintenance trends, allowing the team to act faster and with more precision.

• Weekly “Key Safe Behaviours” are set based on Snapfix data.
• Trends like missing PPE are corrected in days, reducing repeat incidents.
• Sites using Snapfix are more likely to hit furnace lifespan targets (15–20 years), compared to those still relying on outdated systems.

This proactive approach has transformed safety culture across projects, making operations faster, safer, and more consistent worldwide.

Avoiding Costly Emergencies

For an organization managing furnaces worth millions, avoiding unplanned emergencies is vital. Snapfix helps NSG prevent small gaps from escalating into costly predicaments.

• A compliance gap in Chile required an emergency specialist repair team to travel; a costly 29-hour trip that could have been prevented. Snapfix’s compliance rollout is designed to avoid such situations in the future.

• Improved oversight reduces the risk of £80 million furnace repairs being required sooner than planned.

By strengthening compliance and oversight, Snapfix reduces downtime, saves money, and ensures NSG’s global operations remain on track.

Conclusion

With furnaces worth millions and downtime costing thousands per hour, NSG cannot afford inefficiency. Snapfix has transformed safety reporting, compliance tracking, and asset management, delivering time savings, better engagement, and more proactive maintenance across 33 global sites.

For companies in manufacturing, engineering, or any multi-site industry, the message is clear: Snapfix protects your most valuable assets by making maintenance and compliance crystal clear.

Ready to streamline your hotel’s operations? Get in touch with our sales team to schedule a free demo..