Juki’s Intelligent Storage Solutions Help Vexos Deliver Increased Uptime and Efficiency
A mid-size global electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and custom material solutions (CMS) company headquartered in Canada, Vexos provides complete end-to-end supply chain management solutions in electronic and mechanical products for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and new emerging technology companies. With manufacturing facilities in the United States, Canada, China and Vietnam, the company efficiently competes in today’s marketplace, primarily focusing within the automotive, industrial, networking, communication, medical and security market segments.
Vexos’ services extend over the entire electronic product lifecycle, from value engineering services for product development to prototyping and new product introduction (NPI) through to the growth, maturity and end-of-life phases with a strong focus and commitment to quality and customer service satisfaction. Recently, the company completed a significant expansion of service offerings and manufacturing capabilities at its Markham, Canada manufacturing facility to support a growing customer base and regional growth opportunities.
This ISO 9001:2015 and 13485:2016 certified manufacturing facility has made significant investments in implementing an expanded suite of manufacturing equipment and operational management systems critical to the support of OEMs’ early manufacturing involvement activities, including value engineering support for design for excellence (DFX) services, NPI and product qualification.
Part of these enhancements was to identify areas and provide solutions within the manufacturing environment to improve the company’s current manual warehousing and storage systems, and then implement a fully automated solution system with the ability and capabilities to seamlessly integrate with its end-to-end manufacturing systems across the facility. Vexos identified Juki Automation Systems as a strategic partner to achieve this goal. The company has worked with Juki globally in the past on other collaborations but this was the first time for this type of application. Brian Morrison, VP of Engineering for Vexos, said that the company looked into six different vendors to find the company with the best fit. Of the six, he said that the Juki solution provided the best return on investment (ROI). Additionally, the Juki solution provided a complete, comprehensive solution that included automated transaction, material tracking, and pick and put away automation that the other solutions did not offer.
With the help of Juki, Vexos was able implement a new Intelligent Storage Solution system that included the installation of six Juki ISM3600 towers and one Juki ISM500 tower. This new automated material modernization system is expected to significantly improve operational efficiency with material management, automation of kitting process and complete integration with the company’s surface mount technology lines. These new enhancements will provide improved streamlined processes, increased uptime, and improved efficiencies. The new system also will provide a clean, efficient and controlled/traceable material solution including complete moisture-sensitive device (MSD) control, which is a key benefit for both current and new customers.
Juki’s Intelligent Storage Solution helps eliminate manual errors while delivering accurate, clean kits to Vexos’ production floor. Additionally, this solution provides closed-loop controls for the company’s strategic equipment and software partners.
“The expansion of our capabilities and service offerings is driven by the advancements we are seeing in new technology and the benefits of establishing a strong technology roadmap to ensure we are moving in the right direction for our customers,” added Morrison. “We work with customers to better understand their future technology requirements. This is why they trust us to bring the best solutions to the table. Working closely with the Juki team has been vitally important to the success of this expansion and will further enhance our capabilities as an EMS provider.”
With a strategic emphasis on the future of its team as well as its customers, Vexos is dedicated to supporting advancements in new technology and helping customers develop the new products that are shaping today’s markets. Vexos is focused on building partnerships and providing a level of manufacturing excellence that customers can rely on. Partnering with companies such as Juki help make this goal a reality. Providing top-rated service is a key element to Vexos’ success. Juki’s principles align with Vexos’: from pre-sales support, installation support and responsiveness to custom integration and flexibility of solutions that met its unique business needs, Morrison said that Vexos received first-class service and support from Juki. “The technicians were knowledgeable, supportive, and went above and beyond to provide work instructions, procedures and processes to allow us to use the equipment quickly and efficiently,” he added.
“These are exciting times for Vexos in Markham, and with a new wave of innovation emerging in the surrounding areas, we are seeing growing interest from OEMs looking to develop and manufacture these products right here in the heart of Ontario. These new investments gear us up nicely for the next generation of innovative products from our OEM customers and for them to leverage our expertise and new capabilities,” said Wayne Hawkins, SVP & General Manager Markham.
He concluded, “Choosing Juki as our technology enhancement partner has been critical to the success of this investment. Juki has enabled Vexos to significantly improve our warehouse capabilities, which ties directly into accelerating NPI processes. We can accommodate many late design changes by our customers right up to and during builds. Additionally, our NPI and production material kitting processes are more robust because we have eliminated human error. At the end of the day, we’re helping our customers get their product to market faster, which in turn strengthens our strategic partnerships and facilitates future growth.”
To learn more about Vexos, contact Tom Reilly, Director of Marketing & Sales Operations, at 195 Royal Crest Court, Markham, Ontario, L3R 9X6; E-mail; tom.reilly@vexos; Web site: www.vexos.com. For more information about Juki Automation Systems, contact Carlos Eijansantos, Director of Sales and Marketing, Juki Automation Systems, 5151 McCrimmon Pkwy., Morrisville, NC 27560; 510-468-6213; E-mail: carlos.eijansantos@jas-smt.com; Web Site: www.jukiamericas.com.