Analytic Systems is a “Lean” Canadian manufacturer of high performance power conversion products: battery chargers, dc/ac inverters, dc/dc converters and power supplies. The company is in the process of implementing its recently purchased Aegis Manufacturing Operations Software which is designed to improve efficiencies and quality by streamlining and controlling process planning and launch, process tracking and control, and quality and test management. It will increase flexibility and traceability.
Analytic Systems saw some very specific benefits in purchasing Aegis software. “The Aegis implementation will complement our lean enterprise, giving us comprehensive tracking of materials with validation control in all our work centers on the floor and accurate visualization of current information targeted at each work-center,” comments Paul Bowler, VP Operations. Analytic Systems is quality certified to ISO9001-2008 and AS9100 mainly for its military work, which is about 70% of its current production.
The Aegis software installation covers five of Analytic Systems’ manufacturing cells, from the surface mount process, directly integrating with Mydata MY100 pick and place machines, to the card test, box build and final assembly operations. This enables full genealogy and material traceability of each power system shipped. Aegis’ support of Analytic Systems’ team with implementation and training as well as on-schedule delivery of the software, in Analytic Systems’ view proved highly beneficial during the changeover to the new, paperless manufacturing environment.
Determining where all the work orders are located throughout the factory is now a matter of accessing real-time information. Customer service often depends on having the information they need when they need it. Aegis allows Analytic Systems to track WIP progress and provide predictive job completion times, which is important to Analytic Systems' customers.
Quality has to be a "given" in any manufacturing process. The Aegis software provides Analytic Systems with the required information to build the product correctly and to verify the quality while the work is still in process so any corrections can be made. The Aegis software collects data and puts it into reports, visualizations, and real-time dashboards that will be used by Analytic Systems to constantly improve productivity, quality and efficiency. Traceability of every product is also achieved and allows failures and rejections to be tracked down and eliminated before they become an issue for the customer.
Analytic Systems' President, Jim Hargrove, sums it up when he says, "We want to be the best of the best, which is why we've made this investment in technology. We're taking the necessary steps for continuous improvement of our processes and efficiency so we can provide our customers with a superior product."
