Assembly and Kitting

Accurate and On-time Assembly

We build millions of units each month, and most work orders are completed within 24 hours. To accommodate this volume and turnaround while maintaining control and uncompromising quality levels, we rely on stringent quality practices and strong IT systems.

We designed a state-of-the-art planning system to enable us to respond to any customer demand with JIT that can be tracked through each stage. ALOM's Production Planning System, APPS, is fully integrated with ERP to ensure full control of work orders and materials flow. Each work function can follow the progress of the work order through the previous stages.

Our principle is to build quality into the product. No quality inspection will compensate for having a poorly built product. It is too costly, too time consuming, and too risky to rely on inspection and potential rework. Our important checkpoints throughout the production process help ensure that the product is assembled correctly:

Building the Right Product. Based on the bill of materials and assembly instructions, we build a first article that is audited against the assembly instruction and signed off for each production run by ALOM.

This gives us one extra checkpoint and the opportunity to stop production and change documentation to implement last-minute changes.

After the first article is approved, we build five more products for line set-up verification. Each is weighed on our electronic scales, which are set for go/no-go for that particular build.

During the build, the first article is available on the production floor along with the documentation.

Critical Processes and Checkpoints. Before production is started, ALOM assesses critical processes and moves. Examples include matching serial numbers and complicated assembly moves such as accurately aligning labels and folding or cutting paper.

At the end of the line, each product is weighed on a weigh scale. ALOM carefully audits all materials to ensure they are accounted for at the beginning and end of the build. The scales are set for go/no-go, and will typically be able to discern the completeness of the package down to a registration card or product. Our scales are calibrated by a certified technician and traceable to NIST standard. Before the product is released for inventory and/or shipping, each master pack box is weighed to ensure for exact count.

Line Fallout. Under the assembly line, red bins are available for discrepant components or components damaged during assembly. If a certain component causes repeated problems, the account manager is alerted for potential action. Data concerning line fall-out is then communicated to purchasing and/our customer for corrective action.