The Tray™ Issue #21 – How to Save Up to 90% of Your Facility Floor Space

Enercon Technologies, located in Gray, Maine, is a contract manufacturer that has been in business for about 40 years making electromechanical devices. Up until about a year and a half ago, they were operating out of a 30,000 sq.ft. manufacturing space, about 50%+ of which was tied up with floor space inventory racking systems.

“Because of that, we decided to start a large expansion project here in Gray, Maine and chose the Modula System. It integrated very well into our new facility, allowing us to vertically store all of those materials in a much smaller footprint,” said Garrett VanAtta, Director Supply Chain for Enercon Technologies.

Enercon uses the Modula System to not only bring the goods in from receiving, store them in the Modula system, but also to transport them up and down between floors within their warehouse facility.

The Enercon Modula System was custom designed to have three separate openings: two on the first floor on either side of a wall that separates their warehouse from the production space, and the third opening on the second floor which feeds their SMT circuit board assembly line.

“When I started here at Enercon, and my supervisor was training me on the Modula System, I was very impressed with the technology and the process of scanning your badge, entering your item numbers, and the ease of having that item handed right to you,” stated Kelly Jewett, Material & Inventory Specialist for Enercon Technologies.

The Modula System makes it much faster for Enercon to pick the electronic components for kits because before the operators used to need to walk between sections looking down long rows of aisles, trying to find a specific location.

Now, the parts get delivered right in front of them. A huge boost in efficiency and time-savings.

“We can pick kits for the job much quicker, which internally helps us to get product to the floor quicker, and ensures we have the right parts being delivered for that particular kit. Picking items out of the Modula System is so much easier than before. When we were picking items from the actual warehouse, we had to use ladders and move a lot of different boxes on the shelves. That was very time-consuming. With the Modula System, you hit a couple of buttons and you’re good to go!” said Jewett.

In Enercon’s unique situation, manufactured electronic components are extremely sensitive to dust, dirt, and containments. The Modula System allows them to store those inside the Modula unit, which keeps the sensitive electronic parts and components much safer and cleaner.

“For us, electrostatic discharge is very important because we don’t want to damage the electronic components. Our Modula System towers are all grounded and have ESD protection set up for all of the trays, enabling the components to be protected. This helps not only for the raw materials that are going in, but also the sub-assemblies that have been built up before they go into the final box,” said VanAtta.

Enercom likes the fact the Modula Systems are built here in the USA and were very convenient to be able to work with an Authorized Distributor within the states vs. overseas. Enercom looks forward to filling up their Modula System set-up at some point, and further expanding that as well.