Company Profile
AVTECH Software (AVTECH) develops and manufactures computer hardware and software. The company’s Room Alert ® products monitor computer rooms, data centers and other facilities for conditions such as temperature, humidity, power, water leakage, smoke, air flow, and room entry. Based in Warren, Rhode Island, with around 20 employees, AVTECH has over 150,000 end users located in over 180 countries, in every industry and on every continent.
Situation
AVTECH company leaders identified several improvement opportunities that they hoped to address through the tactical implementation of Lean Manufacturing best practices. These included increasing inventory turns of less than 30 days, increasing same-day-order turnaround to over 95 percent, reducing customer exchanges to 1 percent, and improving the light manufacturing/shipping area layout. An analysis of non-value-added activities and manufacturing waste within the current methods of operation and organization prompted AVTECH to work with Polaris MEP, part of the MEP National Network, on improvements.
 IMPACTS
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$575,000 in added or retained sales | |
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$23,000 in new investments | |
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5 jobs added or retained | |
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$82,000 in cost savings |
Keep up the good work. Polaris MEP is a huge asset to every business in the state of RI. We look forward to working with them again on future projects.
Richard Grundy
AVTECH
Solution
Polaris MEP led, trained, coordinated, and facilitated the process of Continuous Improvement with management and non-management AVTECH personnel. The experts focused on the functional areas of light manufacturing, final product testing, shipping/fulfillment, component and finished goods inventory, and customer exchanges. They assessed AVTECH’s capabilities using Lean Manufacturing methodologies to determine current and future states maps. Next, they identified specific, measurable improvement opportunities based on the performance gaps.
Polaris MEP facilitated the agreed-upon changes to the factory layout, providing training on the use of cellular process flow concepts, one-piece flow, and other applicable tactics to eliminate non-value-added activity. AVTECH invested in new products, processes, and equipment to implement the improvements, generating cost savings and securing sales and jobs.