Community Spotlight-

Production Technologies

A unique manufacturing company in Tracy.

The Internet has had an impact on the local business community.  We have reported many times that local businesses must endorse and use the Internet or allow themselves to be slowly replaced by on-line sellers. This advice might lead people to believe that small businesses must set up e-commerce web sites to avoid being left behind in the Internet revolution.

   Production Technologies takes a different perspective to endorsing the Internet and becoming part of the cyber evolution.  Instead of trying to sell products on the Internet, they have focused on providing the infrastructure for the new virtual companies.

The Production Technologies building on Commerce Court in Tracy.

   Production Technologies is a manufacturing and fulfillment center located near the Safeway distribution center in Tracy. I have found few companies in Tracy that apply such advanced management methodologies to become part of the Internet sales e-commerce business without having an e-commerce site. Let’s take a look at Carl Banks and the methods he has used to evolve his company  through hard work and innovative thinking.

The simple and attractive office entrance.

   Carl graduated from Tuskegee University in Alabama with degrees in biology and physics. He spent a few years at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in their NOVA laser project before moving on to work in the private sector. In the private sector, he learned about manufacturing while he was involved in a project to manufacture instrument accessory kits for a biotechnology company.

   Carl was hired by a large computer company to help set up the prototype of a more efficient way of handling the return of merchandise from retail outlets. The prototype test was to determine if subcontracting the return of printer supplies could save money for the computer company in handling the large volume of product returns that are often caused by people simply opening the box to look inside.

   The prototype was successful that the company set up similar arrangements for all of their product returns, but handling all of their products was too large an undertaking for Carl's evolving company so he agreed to handle the printer cartridge return business.

Carl, in blue, discusses the lean manufacturing progress with Project Manager Izzy Galicia.

   It was interesting to learn from Carl about the process of handling product returns.  Products are returned to the seller for any number of reasons. In the area of toner cartridges, many people will purchase the wrong cartridge and not realize it until they have returned to the office and compared the new cartridge with the old one. The product is then returned to the store and exchanged for the correct one.  It is a process that happens regularly and we have all returned items that were not correct.  What happens to the cartridge that was returned? This is where the story of Production Technologies gets interesting.

Returned merchandise waiting to be processed.

   The cartridges arrive at the appropriate Production Technologies facility and are gathered for evaluation or triage. If the seal has not been broken on the cartridge, the unit is tested to determine if there is a problem and is cleaned.  If it passes the quality inspection process, it is repackaged in a new factory carton. Defective units are sent out to a materials recycler and repackaged units are sent through special distribution channels for handling repackaged units.

Machines for sealing packages.

   About eighty percent of the cartridge returns are from the eastern part of the United States so Production Technologies opened a second facility near Nashville, Tennessee, to reduce shipping costs. This move was consistent with Carl’s strategy of building Production Technologies into a world-class company by the year 2006 through constant innovation and improvement..

Product boxes ready to be filled.

   The consumable office supplies market is constantly growing, because items like toner cartridges must be provided to customers for five years, which is longer than the typical life cycle of the printer products. The growing number of printers with the support time lag allows the number of consumable products to rise as new products are released and the old ones must still be supported. This creates a consumables market that remains longer than the printer itself. This is an excellent business opportunity for Production Technologies.

   Handling returns is not the only work done by Production Technologies. The increase in e-commerce sales throughout the world has created a new vocabulary for the business world. Traditional companies that sell from physical locations have entered the e-commerce business and are often known as click-and-mortar businesses.

Product ready to ship.

   Some of the smaller e-commerce companies are specializing in the virtual world of business on the Internet and do not have a manufacturing infrastructure.  These virtual companies are occasionally referred to as click-only businesses. 

   These companies often have limited experience in manufacturing and choose not to manufacturing of their products or to provide the necessary support infrastructure. This has left a manufacturing and support void between many of the newer virtual companies that operate on the Internet and those who are traditionally structured while also offering their services on the Internet.

A manufacturing cell for an e-commerce company that uses Production Technologies as its manufacturing infrastructure.

   Production Technologies has entered the e-commerce business by providing the product manufacturing and support infrastructure for the new breed of virtual businesses. Many of these products are made for the virtual click-only companies who design products and sell products on the Internet. 

   Production Technologies uses Kaizen Lean Manufacturing processes to continuously improve their methods of manufacturing while reducing costs. As a result of their continuous improvement process, they have remained competitive in a rapidly changing business environment.

   Kaizen, which is Japanese for improvement, is a method of analyzing the business processes, mapping them out visually for analysis, and changing the business processes to make them leaner and more efficient. We hope to do an article on this interesting process in a future issue of the Tracy Business Journal.

   Production Technologies is a company using innovative and forward thinking manufacturing processes to exist on the leading edge of product delivery for Internet businesses. Their goal is to become a world-class company during the next two years and it looks like they will achieve this goal through their constant eye on improvement and evolution.
 

Return to the Table of Contents