Synergy 2000 is Helping Acme Aerospace Inc. Take on More Business While Saving 50-60 Man-Hours a Week

The Details

Acme Aerospace Inc. a business group of Transdigm Group Inc., has over 30 years experience in the custom design and manufacturing of aviation and aerospace battery systems and similar support products. “We manufacture fiber nickel cadmium batteries, chargers and systems for military and commercial use,” explained Bob Hyland, Process Engineer, for Acme Aerospace Inc.

Acme Aerospace, Inc. has recently launched an initiative related to automation. According to Hyland, “In the past, we’ve done things manually which was very labor-intensive. We are just now moving to automation. We use the Synergy 2000 Statistical Process Control (SPC) software to collect the data and report on the data instantly. The Synergy 2000 SPC software is helping us get automated and get efficient.” Synergy 2000 also enables Acme Aerospace Inc to have an instant view into any process. “I can get real-time data information now. I can open up the file, while the operator is working on it, go in quickly to see what is going on and track down any (singular) operation immediately,” said Hyland.

“Recently, we’ve taken a lot of huge orders and our business is growing. We have doubled the volumes we put out. With Synergy 2000, we are able to take on more business without losing any efficiency in data collections.”

— Bob Hyland, Process Engineer, for Acme Aerospace

Using Synergy 2000, has really allowed Acme Aerospace, Inc. to save time in work of its operators. ‘We have about 85 people, 50 of which are operators. Before Synergy 2000, they would have to fill out reports by hand, put them in the appropriate files and store them. Now the operators are quite happy. With Synergy 2000, they take the measurements and push a button and the data is saved and available for review instantly. We’re saving each operator 30 minutes a day in set-up time or each of 6 operations about an hour a day savings which translates into 50-60 man-hours a week,” Hyland commented. By our math, that’s about 3,000 hours per year!

Since implementing Synergy 2000, Acme Aerospace Inc can holistically view any component of the system. “You can immediately access the data in a couple of keystrokes, the information is accurate, and you can view the history as well. You can set up a file structure, you can track a job number through the system. You can have multiple screens up at once and see all that data. You can make adjustments on the fly,” said Hyland

“Because we are providing batteries to aircraft, we are scrutinized by the FAA,” Hyland said. “We need to have complete traceability, to monitor everything that goes into that battery.” According to Hyland, using Synergy 2000 also helps with the FAA audits. “When they are auditing our processes they see how much easier it is to get the information. With the push of a button, an auditor can see Run charts and Histograms for 2011. Since implementing the software, they can go into one table and see all the data points. It is much easier to get to the data to report on it.” Hyland said.

In addition to saving time, Acme Aerospace Inc is able to take on more business. “Operators are taking measurements, hitting a button and the data are recorded. Recently, we’ve taken a lot of huge orders and our business is growing. We have doubled the volumes we put out. With Synergy 2000, we are able to take on more business without losing any efficiency in data collections,” Hyland remarked.

Although SynergySPC is fully implemented in Acme Aerospace’s operations, Hyland knows there are features of Synergy 2000 that they are not yet utilizing. One example would be email notifications. “Once our wireless system is setup we can use the email capabilities in Synergy 2000,” remarked Hyland.

Using Synergy 2000 has enabled Hyland himself to be more efficient. “The fastest thing I’ve ever done was to set up 60 tables in 2 days. This allowed me to be prepared before I had to set it up on the shop floor. I was creating data banks and data tables in minutes,” said Hyland.

Zontec’s SynergySPC can help you find inefficiencies in your processes within 2 weeks. Guaranteed. Request a complimentary assessment here.