Delivering Power
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By Hanna Aronovich   
Monday, 14 May 2007
smc Saft America is large enough to meet the needs of the most demanding customers, but small enough to keep a personal focus.
Saft America is large enough to meet the needs of the most demanding customers, but small enough to keep a personal focus.
Customers want more power, and with notable military and aviation clients on its list, Saft America ensures that it delivers. As a worldwide player in the battery industry, Saft says it designs and manufactures high-performance battery solutions used in a variety of critical applications, including transportation, space and defense.

With approximately 4,000 employees in 17 countries, Saft is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of nickel-cadmium batteries for industrial applications and lithium batteries. The company’s U.S. headquarters are in Valdosta, Ga.

Saft America President Thomas Alcide says the battery industry has specific needs and its challenges are straightforward. “Everybody wants to be wireless,” he states. “Everyone is looking for an autonomous power system that doesn’t need to be plugged in or hooked up. And, everyone wants more power – and more energy and more safety.

“All of those factors are driving the industry. We’re focused on how to deliver new products for new systems, and do it safely. That’s one of the things that the whole industry is dealing with.”

Saft America’s key markets are defense, aviation, general electronics, space, rail and telecom. Alcide says each industry continuously develops new products, and Saft America must also continuously develop new battery systems. “In defense and aviation, in particular, progress is ongoing,” he explains. “We developed battery technology for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program, for example, which wasn’t even in existence five years ago.”

Saft America works closely with OEM customers starting from the initial design of the product to develop or adjust its technologies to match the customers’ requirements. Alcide says Saft America works with large customers such as the U.S. military, Raytheon Co., The Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin, Alstom Corp., Bombardier, Smiths Industries and Northrup Grumman Corp., but it also works with smaller companies.

“That’s the benefit of working with Saft,” Alcide explains. “We are large enough to have the resources to develop leading-edge products, but we are small enough to be able to work closely with our clients.”

Many of Saft America’s product lines are made to fit standard applications, but the company can customize its products for a specific industry or market. For example, the company worked with Raytheon on the Improved Target Acquisition System 28V 2.5 kWh standard battery.

“Our battery systems are more than just power,” Alcide notes. “They are smart batteries. They communicate with the devices they are in. They are state-of-the-art with regard to built-in test, graphical-user interfaces and fully qualified software.”

Because many of its battery products are based on a standard design, Saft America employs what it calls “progressive manufacturing.” Alcide says the company has been on the cutting-edge of lean manufacturing – even before the buzzword came about.

“Saft calls it ‘world-class manufacturing,’” he states. “We’ve been using the elements of these programs such as just-in-time, TPM and kanbans, to name a few, for more than 10 years, and we credit that approach with much of our success. It’s empowered our employees and improved our speed to market.”

Although Saft America has been focused on lean manufacturing for more than a decade, Alcide stresses that “these programs never end.” The company has a corporate-wide department focused on Saft’s manufacturing initiatives around the world. Saft also maintains a position of “manufacturing where the markets are,” Alcide says.

Saft has long-term plans in the works, as well. “We create a strategic plan each year,” Alcide notes. “We look at the industry, what its future needs are and how we can accomplish them. We have some R&D groups working on products three to five years out.

“But, we also have research people looking 10 years down the road. It’s a constant parade of products coming down the line. We’re an industry leader, and we’re helping to guide the battery technology direction in the future.”
 
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