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Europlacer Responds to BAE Systems' Call for Help
February 22, 2013 |Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the January 2013 issue of SMT Magazine.
A little over one year after floodwaters devastated BAE Systems’ Johnson City, New York facility, Bob Opeka, SMT process owner at BAE Systems, praises Europlacer North America for the support the company provided during the recovery effort.
As storms pushed over the Northeast portion of the United States on September 8, 2011, small towns were threatened with rain and consequent flooding. The Village of Johnson City, a town of approximately 15,174 residents, was overcome when the nearby Susquehanna River breached, resulting in significant flood damage there and across the region.
One local resident who was interviewed at the time said, “In 2005, we had the 100-year flood and, in 2006, we had the 500-year flood. What year flood is this?”
Helicopters were busy rescuing residents from their rooftops, as highways that had just opened after Tropical Storm Irene were promptly closed again. All surrounding rivers were filled to new, historically high levels. In nearby Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the Susquehanna River had reached a record 42.66 feet, almost two feet higher than the National Weather Service had predicted.
BAE Systems, Johnson City, New York, September 8, 2011.
The Johnson City manufacturing facility was home to a division of BAE Systems, a large, global company that makes a broad range of products for the military, cyber intelligence, commercial aviation, security, commercial transit bus, and defense industries. As floodwaters poured into the region, employees were fearful for their homes, personal belongings, and livelihoods. Additionally, the engineering and manufacturing teams at BAE Systems were concerned about the technical ramifications of an impending disaster, given the inherently precise equipment used in their manufacturing processes.
“Honestly, this is not a time I wish to relive or rethink. It took endless hours of hard work and dedicated people coming together to eventually return to a normal set of business conditions,” said Opeka.
BAE Systems engineers knew that they could not move the machines before building evacuation became a necessity. They decided to prepare for the worst and applied their best protections, including power-down, equipment prep, and standard emergency procedures. BAE Systems’ preparation paid off. After an agonizing 24 hours, the water level began to recede, leaving the team faced with planning immediate recovery efforts. Europlacer’s IINEO machine and four Finesse machines eventually emerged from under 42" of standing water.
Bob Opeka, SMT process owner, BAE Systems.
In addition to the machines, Europlacer’s tape trolleys were entirely submerged. Within 24 hours, Opeka contacted Europlacer to explain the situation and enlist coordinated support. Europlacer North America immediately sent kits of potential replacement parts that might be needed during recovery.
“We did not require a purchase order at that time. In fact, there was not even time to process the order through either company’s system. Purchase orders were not on anyone’s mind,” said Chris Ebborn, Europlacer North America’s technical support manager. “We were simply focused on a fast, effective recovery plan for BAE Systems.”
It became immediately apparent that BAE Systems needed its key suppliers to act quickly in a coordinated recovery effort.
“We hoped that our equipment suppliers shared our eagerness to work together.” Bob recalls. “Europlacer, led by Chris Ebborn, was ready to help. He immediately arrived to effectively plan recovery efforts, with our best interests in mind. Over a three-month span, Chris and Europlacer North America treated us as their number-one priority with frequent on-site support.”
“Initially, we spent many days just trying to assess the damage. With everything submerged, the first recovery phase was somewhat difficult to assess,” said Ebborn. “We were challenged many times over the five month duration of this recovery effort.”
Europlacer’s IINEO and Finesse machines were moved to a warehouse that served as a recovery staging area. The machines were cleaned thoroughly, from top to bottom, and then all machine surfaces were lubricated. Each subsystem was analyzed with mechanical setup fixturing and test equipment. The machines were practically rebuilt and prepared for power-up, with emphasis placed on the computers first, and progressing through the entire power distribution system.
“We were all very safety conscious, particularly when the main power was applied,” said Ebborn. “We took extreme care to make sure everything was dry before proceeding through power-up.”
BAE Systems Endicott PCA Team.
“Throughout the entire recovery process, we were testing, troubleshooting and maintaining a log of each day’s progress. We were encouraged to discover that all placement heads had not been submerged, which was a very good sign,” Ebborn continued.
After replacing four out of the five main computers, the crew proceeded to make sure that each contact on each power terminal was clean, secure, and fully functional. Once the power distribution system was completely tested, the first IINEO machine burst into life.
“We continued to check and double-check each step, ensuring that each successive power-up was just as successful as the first,” said Ebborn.
He continued to explain how difficult it is to comprehend the amount of water and the exposure of the equipment throughout this process.
“As we were changing out some screws on the base of a machine support, I noticed a bit of rust on one screw,” said Ebborn. “As I unscrewed and pulled away, water started just streaming out of the frame. After about 20 minutes, there was at least a half-gallon of water drained into a bucket.”
In parallel with machine recovery efforts, a recovery contractor was employed to clean the mechanical assemblies. Tony DiRado, BAE Systems, led the effort to analyze and repair trolleys. All of Europlacer’s 50 trolleys had been completely submerged and it was difficult to assess visually, yet the repair effort resulted in 80% of the equipment being recovered and usable.
After weeks of stable operation and requalification of machine performance, many spare parts were returned to stock at Europlacer North America’s Tampa, Florida office with no questions asked.
Opeka remembered, “Europlacer really defined ‘True Partnership.’ Many companies claim to partner with us, but there was no better partner than Chris Ebborn and Europlacer’s recovery team.”
Opeka continued by saying that the company showed superior customer service by acting quickly with no questions asked. “Europlacer came in, assessed the situation and created a replacement kit, which shipped ASAP. Chris Ebborn was basically locked down with BAE Systems for five months, until we had completed our recovery exercise.”
“A year later, I would do it all again,” said Ebborn. “We genuinely value our strong relationship with BAE Systems. They are a great team of people to work with, and we are thrilled that we were able to come through for them. Successful recovery of BAE Systems’ Europlacer equipment is a testament to the inherent quality of the machines our company manufactures.”
“Our golden rule in customer support is to exceed expectations at all times, but especially when situations like this arise. This is how I would want to be treated, so we strive to do the same for all our customers,” concluded Ebborn.
Since the September 8, 2011 flood, BAE Systems has executed a full business recovery and today remains in full operation in nearby Endicott, New York. Chris Round is Global Marketing Manager at Blakell Europlacer Group.