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| Oasis Engineering looks set to earn more accolades in 2009. |
After more than 25 years of being a relatively low profile supplier of ball valves for the CNG industry, New Zealand based manufacturer Oasis Engineering could become one of the most talked about players in the natural gas vehicle industry in 2009. A raft of innovations in product development, production management, marketing and customer relations have already begun to bear fruit for Oasis. Managing Director, Andy Cameron, says the best is yet to come though; “We’ve always been known as a reliable and innovative supplier but in 2009, we are taking that to a whole new level.”
Cameron says the drive behind the innovations is a culture that makes the distinction between ‘nothing being wrong’ and ‘everything being right’. “We are competing against some seriously large companies so innovation is one of the strengths that we have to play to our advantage. Fortunately New Zealand is also famous for innovation so you could say we have a natural edge already.”
Productivity Up
First amongst the new wave of innovations are a series of changes to production management that have already delivered outstanding results both for the company and customers. Bringing together the brightest minds in workplace efficiency and sustainability, Oasis has succeeded in making dramatic improvements to production capacity and delivery times.
Aiming for a target of 90% on-time delivery, up from 70%, Oasis has managed to exceed this target to the point that 98% of product leaving the factory is now either on time or ahead of time. Production data shows that delays to the remaining 2% are now only occurring due to late deliveries from suppliers.
While that’s impressive enough, what makes it more so is that they have managed to increase throughput by 30% and reduce standard delivery times from 6 weeks to just 4 weeks. Customers requiring a faster delivery time can even sign up for an express order with an appropriate surcharge added.
Some of the improvements have been mainly process based while others have arisen from investments of more than $300,000 in automation. Two custom-built robotic units have increased throughput on the 2 day shifts operating at Oasis, and introduced ‘lights-out’ capabilities, allowing production runs to continue unmanned twenty four hours per day. Building products to tolerances of less than 2/1000th of an inch, the units produced by the robots are easily passing through Oasis’ strict ISO 9001:2000 approved quality control measures.
On-Time Guarantees
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| Fully automated machining, 24/7, gives Oasis the ability to guarantee delivery dates |
All these improvements have made Oasis so confident in their ability to deliver that they now pay customers a rebate if they don’t meet their agreed delivery times. Sales and Marketing Manager, Andrew Cutfield says the rebate is proving a winner with customers, “More than anything, the late delivery rebate gives the customer confidence in our assurances. They know that when we promise a delivery time we actually mean it because it will cost us if we don’t.”
Product Development
An additional benefit arising from the production line improvements has been the freeing up of manpower and equipment for product development and testing. As well as refining existing products, Oasis has turned their attention to new products, some of which Cameron describes as revolutionary.
“We have commenced in-service testing of a new three-way CNG dispenser valve that reflects our ‘nothing being wrong’ to ‘everything being right’ approach perfectly,” he says. “Existing dispenser valves have been ‘good enough’ for quite some time but they don’t come close to the capabilities of our new unit.”
The new valve, due for release in early 2009, promises much increased flow rates, higher durability, reduced maintenance times, increased life cycles and, importantly, improved usability for customers refueling. Shown only to a limited number of customers to date, Cutfield says they are already lining up to place orders, something Oasis won’t be doing until the in-service trials have been completed to their satisfaction.
This design philosophy is incorporated in the newly released range of High Pressure Quick Release Couplers and Breakaway’s that provide significant advantages in gas flow rate. The serviceability aspect of the design brief is also incorporated in the newly released high flow, plug and play dispenser & priority panel manifolds
Custom Builds
Not content with that workload, Oasis is also carving a growing niche as a developer and supplier of customized solutions for industry clients. Custom development and production used to represent around 7% of Oasis’ business just 3 years ago but is now up to 25%. “Because we specialize in valves for the CNG industry, and because we have low production run capabilities, our e2e (engineer to engineer) reputation is growing all the time,” says Cutfield. “Right now we have custom units either in development or production for customers in more than 5 countries around the world.”
Going the Distance
Of course, its what happens after the products are put into service that matters most. Here again the nothing wrong to everything right ethic is put into practice, with a small but important part of the Oasis premises being reserved for high pressure life cycle testing.
Since installing the test bay, even Oasis has been surprised by the results. Cameron says, “We always knew we had a life cycle advantage over our competitors but that was based on anecdotal results from customers. When we started doing parallel testing alongside the units of our competitors, most of whom are major players in the industry, we were astounded to see our products outlasting our competitors by a factor of 3 – 12 times.”
Cutfield says this is one of the features that keep bringing customers back. “Down-time costs money and any time a customer has to replace worn parts, the time of the service technician and lost productivity of equipment that has to be factored in. Longer life cycles thus offer higher revenues, through reduced station down time.”
The Ultimate Prize
Though they may be small now, Oasis is resolute in their goals for the business. Cameron sums them up quite simply, “We want to go from manufacturing the best products in the world to manufacturing the best selling products in the world.” Though its not a small task, its a vision that Cameron and all 22 staff are 100% committed to – not just winning the game, but changing the game altogether!
See Oasis Engineering at the NGV India 2009 Conference and Exhibition. Their full suite of products will be on show and Andy Cameron will be speaking on the Oasis R&D process.
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