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Supply Chain Issues Resolved for Local Manufacturer
With the help of: New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NY MEP)
About
Founded in 1975, Graphic Technology, Inc., (GTI) is a leading supplier of tight tolerance lighting systems and services for critical color viewing, color communication, and color matching assessment. These systems are used mainly by the graphic arts and photography industries to mimic the lighting in retail environments to allow designers to select the perfect shade or hue. All of GTI’s products are manufactured in Newburgh, New York, at the company's 37,000-square-foot headquarters.
The Challenge
Manufacturing & Technology Enterprise Center (MTEC), part of the New York MEP and the MEP National Network™, has been assisting GTI with the design, manufacturing and programming of the controller boards used in many of their lighting products for several years. Due to the recent supply chain issues, components for these boards were unavailable. With a factory lead time of almost a year, GTI would have been poised to lose potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue.
Bob Incerto, Director of Engineering at MTEC, reiterated this point, saying, “ In the current environment of supply chain constraints, component lead times are now measured in years as opposed to weeks or days. Choosing alternatives while maintaining the integrity of the design functionality, quality, reliability, and cost presents new and unique engineering challenges.”
We are very fortunate to have the resources provided by MTEC available to us. The design capabilities and support that we receive has enabled us to remain competitive in the global markets we serve... Without the redesign, we potentially would have lost between $660,000-$880,000 in sales!
MEP's Role
Being a part of GTI’s supply chain already, MTEC’s engineering department was in the unique position to help. A team of skilled engineers and interns redesigned the printed circuit boards (PCB), secured a supplier for the redesigned PCBs, manufactured supporting components, and assembled and programmed over 100 boards to date. On a continued basis we support the implementation and application as the finished boards are installed in units at GTI. This relationship allowed for MTEC to be part of GTI’s iterative process and furthermore, an extension of their team.
This project involved thorough research into the specifications and availability of comparable components to replace the existing ones. After concluding their research, the engineering team redesigned the boards to fit the new components and started the production of the new PCBs.