| Greetings!
Hello and welcome to our first edition of the Avanti Engineering, Inc. newsletter for 2012.I hope you all had a nice holiday and that you're energized to have a great start to the New Year.
In this edition of the newsletter I'll discuss the following:
* Copper forecast for 2012 (spreadsheet attached)
* Addition to our engineering department
* Upgrading software to EDI capability
* First article sample submission
Production:
The first few weeks of January has revealed about the same consistency as the last quarter 2011. Business in general is robust with backlogs about normal with some equipment yielding a quick turn-around. Most equipment is currently running a 4 week backlog. Order volume appears steady with smaller order quantities and shorter commitments. Be wary of this ordering trend and weigh your risk factor. A longer order commitment will reduce pricing and machine setups. Shorter commitments will add to higher pricing and reduce the on time performance.
Avanti Engineering is pleased to announce that our company exceeded our sales goals for 2011 by 9.5%. We want to thank all of you for being a part of this success.
Engineering:
We have an addition to our organization in our engineering department. Juan Sanchez has become part of our engineering department. Having a third person in this area will help get the quotes, new job's and engineering changes processed quicker. We look for Juan to help increase or responsiveness and our output in these areas. Avanti welcomes Juan to our team, and for your reference Juan's email address is jsanchez@avantiengineering.com
EDI:
Avanti Engineering, Inc. is currently exploring the installation of an EDI module (electronic data interchange) to our computer operating system. We have been approached by some of our existing customer's about becoming compliant. The goal is for both supplier & customer to communicate order changes more efficiently. I am currently meeting with our software manufacturer to learn more about the benefits of EDI. If any of you are currently using EDI and would like to comment on your experience with using it and how it might help our company's share information please contact me directly at my email address rbratta@avantiengineering.com
Quality:
I would like to take a few minutes and review our first article sample submission policy. This does not include PPAP sample submission. Lately we have been experiencing extreme delays in sign off approval process and in some cases without a sign off at all. It is imperative for ISO 9001:2008 & production purposes that the first article sample submission gets inspected and a disposition made expeditiously. Machinery is idle waiting for approval and this downtime cannot be made up. Below is a step by step flow of our first article process for your review.
1. Sample submission pieces and documentation are submitted to customer (usually the buyer that placed the P.O.) Samples are sent with complete inspection details & verification data to show that the samples are in specification to the customer's drawing.
2. Upon receipt of the sample submission you will notice an enclosed statement (sign off) report which states "These samples & inspection report are being submitted per the print & revision date above. The parts meet our company quality standards and are hereby approved." The customer representative authorizes, with their signature title & date approved and either faxes or emails ASAP! Non approved samples should be communicated immediately!
3. This same form is submitted when there is a revision change to the customer print. The first article samples and inspection report will be submitted prior to shipment. We cannot ship production parts without a signature by an authorized agent of the company purchasing the product. This rule is part of our ISO procedures and protects both companies from either shipping or receiving inferior product.
4. When we receive a PO we start the initial production process. When we send first articles for approval our production commitment is still in place. We will commence the "running of production" with full confidence that our parts meet your drawing specification while awaiting your approval. This is done to expedite production and to eliminate down-time. If our production is found to be noncompliant to the customer's print specifications than Avanti will accept full responsibility of scrapping the parts and new first articles will be submitted.
Note: Any dimensional changes to the customer print after production has started will be the customer's responsibility. First article production samples are not meant to be considered as a proto type for engineering changes.
5. Please pass this email on to quality personnel who are the most likely individuals to sign off on first article documents. By following this process it will ensure that approvals and non-approvals happen quickly. It will also reduce the downtime on equipment which is so important to shipping parts on time and also keep our documentation coordinated.
I would like to thank you all for your business and for taking the time to read our newsletter If you have any questions please contact me or your sales representative for further assistance.
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