Our Experience

OpTech has a successful history of bringing value to our clients and partners.

Asia

In 2004, OpTech formed a partnership with a Japanese automotive conglomerate, Vuteq Corporation, to provide global tier-one supplier support to Toyota.

This highly successful joint venture company, Vutex Inc., is a tier one supplier which assembles numerous components and handles more than 3,400 different parts for Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas (TMMTX) facility located in San Antonio, Texas.

TMMTX assembles annually more than 260,000 full-size Tundra (since 2006) and mid-size Tacoma (since 2010) pickup trucks, which is equivalent to a vehicle leaving the assembly line every 60 seconds!

Services Provided

Internal Logistics:

Direct Delivery
Kitting (SPS – Set Parts System)
Sequential Delivery (Bin & Bulk)

Assembly:

Instrument Panel Modules
Door Modules
Glass
Front and Rear Bumper

Sub-assembly:

Front and Rear Console
Front and Rear Bumper
Radiator
Front Grill
Steering Wheel
Air Bag
Stabilizer Bar
Engine Main Wire Harnesses
Brake Tube
Windshield
Air Box
Door switches

Infrastructure

Facilities:

345,000 Sq. ft. On-Site facility
69,000 Sq. ft. Satellite facility

Staff:

900+ Team Members
Multi shift operation

Mobile Equipment:

50+ Tuggers
15+ Fork Trucks

EDI (Electronic Data Exchange):

Forecasts 830
Daily Order 862 e-Kanban

GALC (Global Assembly Line Control)

Mexico

Case 1

In 2003, OpTech founded Soluciones Tecnológicas Integradas (STI) to offer Supply Chain Management solutions to companies in Mexico and Latin America.

STI performed Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) services to include delivery and install, as well as the supply chain management which supports these efforts. The leading telecommunications company in Mexico become our largest client.

Infrastructure:

Physical Presence in 77 Cities
500+ Team Members
3 Regional Headquarters and 5 Strategically Located Distribution Centers
200+ Dedicated Subcontractors/Partners to Assist in Courier Services

Solutions:

Delivery of Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), Components, Literature, and Promotional Materials
Telephone Lines Installations (Subscriber Loop). Voice + Data Lines, Renovations, Migrations…
Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA)
Services Integration
Staffing & Personnel Services
Storage and Order Fulfillment
Market Field Surveys
Sales, Service, and Quality Assurance Validations

Magnitude:

Coverage: 80% States of The Mexican Republic (75% for DSL), and 600+ Cities
50K+ Residential / Commercial Orders Fulfilled per Month
Interface to Over 350 Retail Stores & Call Centers
4M+ Residential Deliveries
- 65 % in 12 Hours
- 87 % in 24 Hours
- 99% in 48 Hours
60K+ Installations (Copper and Fiber)

Systems:

Custom Order Fulfillment and Inventory Management System. Internet & Mobile
Customer Interfaced for Real Time Reporting
XML (Extensible Markup Language)

Case 2

In 2005, under the IMMEX program (Manufacturing, Maquila and Export Service Industry), OpTech started offering Reverse Logistics Solutions in Mexico.

The raw materials and equipment are imported into Mexico as a temporary import tax and duty free (including the value added tax, IVA), to be used in an industrial or service process intended to produce, transform, or repair goods for subsequent export. All the finished goods being exported out of Mexico within a government mandated timeframe.

OpTech has operated several high-volume maquiladora facilities at the U.S./Mexico border, to maximize the efficiency and proximity to the supply chain. The world’s largest telecommunications company became our client.

Infrastructure:

4 Strategically located facilities at US/MX border:
- 2 Maquiladoras (MX): Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas and San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora
- 2 Logistic Hubs (US): Laredo, TX and Yuma, AZ
1,100 Team Members
Operation 24 hours / 7 days

Solutions:

Refurbishment
Labor Intensive Manufacturing
Kitting
Assembly & Subassembly
Firmware and Software Loading and Testing
Functional Testing
Personalization
Discrete Production Runs
24-hour turn-around-time

Magnitude:

Processes 14M+ units Finish Goods
350K+ Units Refurbished/month
Capacity 29M+ CPE units since 2007
5K+ two-way Truck Border Crossings per year

Systems:

Control Inventory by Serial Number
Real time Data via Web Portal down to Serial

Europe

Case 1

Turnkey solution to support ERCAM, our Spaniard client who supplied the dual-axis, single-axis, fixed and roof systems for a 41MW Solar Farm (more than 167,680 solar panels), located in Bexar County, Texas.

OpTech support included Facilities Design, Environmental Certifications, Staffing, Supplier Selection, Technology Requirements, Transportation Contracting, and Installation of Production and Office Equipment.

1. Facilities Design:

OpTech engineers designed ERCAM’s 33,000 square foot production facility layout and electrical requirements to accommodate various metal fabrication equipment including welders, saws, and presses. This required a major power upgrade to the facility.

2. Staffing:

While the production facilities were being completed, OpTech staffing activities began with the initial placement of administrative, engineering, and logistics personnel in addition to all the required machine operators. The first phase of staffing totaled approximately 70 highly skilled workers. All required business policies and procedures were supplied by OpTech.

3. Supplier Selection:

Concurrent with the facilities project, OpTech provided ERCAM with over 100 supplier site surveys for potential steel, concrete, fastener, and molded plastic component suppliers throughout the US and Mexico. Through collaboration among OpTech, our customer and the potential suppliers, procurement contracts were placed which established a vehicle to purchase nearly 13 million pounds of steel annually.

4. Logistics:

Transportation requirements were defined, and processes were implemented to successfully accomplish a 100% on-time delivery record not only for the steel purchases but also for over 3 million pounds of concrete annually. Because of OpTech’s alliances with key global freight forwarders, transportation costs for cargo shipped from Europe to the United States were reduced from $500,000 to $220,000 during a single quarter.

Challenge #1

Continuous redesign of the product

A major challenge that required immediate attention was the continuous redesign of the customer’s solar tracking product. With the continuous improvement philosophy of OpTech, a goal was set to reduce the turn-around time for first article acceptance from a 30-day approval cycle to less than one week. OpTech accomplished this by establishing an on-site quality auditing program reducing first article approval to one day.

Challenge #2

High quality requirements

OpTech’s Key Performance Indicators for the initial phase of this four-year solar farm project were zero defect quality levels for purchased product, 100% on-time deliveries, and a fully operational production facility with zero certification issues for occupational, environmental, and safety regulatory requirements. Because of these exceptional KPIs, our client indicated their desire to utilize OpTech for their upcoming transition to a new 97,000 square foot production facility.

Challenge #3

Inexistent Supply base

Due to the customer’s nonexistent experience in the American market, and the consequent lack of knowledge of the business, OpTech researched and developed a competitive supplier base according to their project specifications. We established 75 Suppliers in the US & Mexico:

42 Steel Suppliers
13 Plastic Suppliers
10 Fastener Suppliers
5 Concrete Suppliers
5 Galvanization Suppliers

Additionally, and in order to support the production, OpTech established the product certification and the quality control at each supplier facility, as well as managed the procurement and landed cost of materials.

As a result, 24,810,505 lbs. of raw materials were sourced before delivering turnkey of the project to client.

Outcome:

A complete turnkey project was entirely developed and delivered by OpTech in a timely manner, complying with the customer’s multiple and strict requirements, and exceeding the expectations of their own client.

The complex customers’ needs included Facilities Design, Environmental Certifications, Staffing, Supplier Selection, Technology Requirements, Transportation Contracting, and Installation of Production and Office Equipment.

Through its alliances in the freight transportation industry, OpTech was able to minimize the cost of moving cargo from Mexico and Europe to the U.S. for the client. The transportation costs were reduced by nearly 50% in a single quarter.

Case 2

Our client PHB Weserhütte, a Spanish engineering company specialized in the design and construction of turnkey projects, was awarded with a contract to design, supply and install the materials handling system of a $610M direct HBI (Hot Briquetted Iron) reduction plant in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The client, with no experience in the United States market, needed a trusted and knowledgeable partner able to meet the high-quality requirements of the project to manage their supply chain at the best possible cost.

Project Scope

OpTech was the single point of contact responsible for the management of the whole supply chain, as well as other supporting activities needed to complete the project on time with success.

Sourcing:

Analysis of customer’s materials, vendors, prices, and volumes.
Emphasis on entire life cycle of products vs. just initial purchase prices.
Both USA and Mexico markets researched.
Several suppliers studied to achieve high quality, reliability, short lead times, and cooperative actions.
Excess of demand in USA (due to Eagle Ford Shale boom) and lower labor and production costs in Mexico led us to Mexico to cut operating expenses.
Workshops surveys designed and completed based on customer’s most critical needs.

Procurement:

Supplier vetting and cost optimization.
Final selection with customer’s approval.

Logistics:

Delivery process designed and developed for each specific Mexican supplier based on their capabilities.
Synchronization between each supplier’s production and receipt schedule at jobsite.
Control Tower and Transportation of the materials door-to-door.
Mexican and U.S. ground transportation.
Border crossing.
Storage (in both Mexico and US) of materials that need to be held due to several factors.
International Ocean transportation from Europe (Spain, Greece, England, Belgium, Austria…)
Action plan designed for non-conforming materials.

Personnel:

Selection and Recruiting of personnel to support the operation at workshops and jobsite.
Manage the information between suppliers, personnel, and customer.
Support of workers with necessary equipment and tools.

Consultant and Assessment:

Custom Brokerage.

Challenge #1

Customer’s lack of experience in the US market

Considering that this was the first contract in the US for the Spanish multinational company, they did not have any kind of experience or knowledge in the market and business culture of the Americas.

The successful +13 years of experience in Mexico combined with the +25 years of experience in the US market were a powerful differentiator for OpTech.

Challenge #2

Volume, frequency, and pace of multiple kind of shipments

One of the biggest fears of the customer were the aggressive deadlines required by the project, which were loaded with high penalties in case of non-compliance.

The perfect synchronization of several shipments departing from different countries at the same time, in a high pace, were put in place by OpTech to assure the smoothest transit and Just in Time deliveries with a 24/7 visibility.

Challenge #3

Several high-level activities taking place at the same time

OpTech provided the customer with a single point of contact for all logistics operations:

Picking up the materials from dozens of suppliers in several countries, consolidation of the goods to achieve the most efficient shipments, trans-loading the merchandise in different ports, brokerage of the items filling the proper codes for several different kinds of materials, border crossing and importation of the goods, and final delivery.

OpTech deployed several teams with different expertise to deliver a door-to-door solution from a single point of contact for different kinds of shipments.

Challenge #4

Combination of specialized and traditional transportation

OpTech provided the experience and capacity needed by the customer to manage a combination of heavy hauls, oversized, truckloads, LTL, break bulks, multimodal and intermodal transport services safely, reliably and on-time, every time within different countries and with different regulations required.

Outcome:

By developing a successful strategy, OpTech was able to provide best-in-class solutions that met our customer’s logistics needs in two different continents, from a single point of contact, and in a just in time fashion.

Through proven capabilities and experience OpTech utilized its resources in the most efficient way resulting in a significant decrease of the costs initially estimated by the client and making this project another success in their international portfolio.