How Canon’s Therefore™ Document Management Solution Took Avitron to Greater Heights
From blueprints and engineering specifications to internal and external document approval, multiple records are necessary to ensure that even the smallest components in the aerospace industry are made to precision. For manufacturing company Avitron Pte Ltd, this attention to detail in their documents is but a necessity to ensure that their parts maintain a high standard and quality for their clients.
As a subsidiary of SAM Engineering and Equipment, Avitron’s elaborate engine cases are used in leading airliners such as Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Faced with an intricate and complex work environment, how does this company keep their processes organised?
Read on to understand from Ms Lim Shumin (Production Manager), Mr Joseph Soh (Engineer), and Mr Mohamad Jasmani (Materials & Planning Manager) on how Canon’s Therefore™ Document Management Solution changed the way their company worked for the better.
How important is implementing the right technology important to Avitron?
Shumin: As we embark on our Industry 4.0 initiative to improve our productivity levels, we were focused on how the use of technology could help us reduce waste, streamline our processes, and make for more effective communication.
Jasmani: Our preliminary research made us realise that digitisation was an important step to become more cost-efficient and productive in the long-run. With more advanced technologies available in the market and more companies skewing towards digitization, we took the opportunity to kick-start this journey with Canon’s Therefore™ to help us transform into a digitised factory of the future.
What were the key factors that made you choose Canon over other competitors?
Shumin: We wanted a digitised system that is able account for the following factors: traceability, accountability, security, ease of use, and ease of integration. We felt that the Canon Therefore™ Document Management Solution checked all the boxes for us.
Jasmani: In the aerospace industry, we are subjected to comply to the stringent standards of auditing. Our workflow have been much easier after implementing Therefore™, with the relevant usernames and time-stamps attached for accountability. Just a simple click of the button allows us to extract the entire company’s digital footprint, which is a much simpler process as compared to our previous method of manually extracting hard copy documents.
How did Canon Therefore™ help resolve the existing workflow challenges faced Avitron?
Joseph: Before working with Canon, our documentation process was extremely long and time-consuming – after printing out the relevant documents, seeking approval from different departments could take up to a month! Our engineers also faced delays when document revisions were required, as new documents had to go through the entire approval process again. In worst case scenarios, some sensitive documents may even get misplaced, making us vulnerable to security lapses.
With Canon Therefore™, processes are much faster and more secure. Documents are sent over to the relevant parties for approval via email, and upon approval, would be automatically sent to the production floor, closing up gaps for human errors.
Shumin: The approval process now has sped up significantly and is way more efficient, taking only a week!
Jasmani: Prior to Canon Therefore™, we also encountered scenarios where documents went missing even after they have been converted to soft copies due to negligence. But with this centralised system, documents are now stored in a secure, backed-up depository.
How did Canon’s staff help in your company’s transition to Therefore™?
Shumin: The Canon team is very dedicated – they were on-site almost every day for about two months to analyse and familiarise themselves with our systems. They dug deep into the heart of our internal infrastructure to get all the information they required, shedding light on certain areas that we took for granted and highlighting specific parts of our processes that we could improve on.
Jasmani: There was a lot of consideration as we not only had our own internal infrastructure, but also third-party systems and providers in the mix. Canon’s service staff made sure that they attended these meetings and discussions to better understand our workflow. They also made sure that Canon Therefore™ worked seamlessly with our company holistically.
Shumin: I think the team has contributed greatly to the successful and early integration of the Canon Therefore™ solution. We did not encounter many major issues in the first few iterations of implementing this product. The determination and tenacity of the Canon team, as well as their ability to really listen to our needs, is extremely commendable.
How was Canon’s after-sales service? Can you share some of your experiences you’ve had with the Canon service team?
Joseph: We faced a few issues here and there, but these were resolved quickly thanks to the dependable Canon team. Help was just a call away, and the team was very clear in their instructions, which made the job for our IT department much easier as well.
Shumin: As an aerospace company, our needs can be very demanding. Embarking on a whole digital transformation journey isn’t something that can be taken lightly – we cannot abandon the process midway and need to see the entire implementation through. Thankfully, Canon gave us peace of mind and held our hand throughout the whole journey. Their commitment and promise to deliver go beyond their scope of work, and for that we are truly grateful.
Find out how your company can be more productive and cost-efficient with Canon’s Therefore™ Document Management Solution by contacting our sales professionals here.
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