In honor of our 60th anniversary, we're reaching out to our staff to help tell our story. In this interview with Inventus Power's Sam Kang (VP of Asia Supply Chain, Sourcing, IT & QX Operations) and Jason Jiang (Director, Sales & Business Development - China), we'll discuss the expanding capabilities of our Qingxi, China plant, from production automation to in-house testing and agency certifications.
Can you tell us about your roles at Inventus Power?
Sam: In my role as VP of Asia Supply Chain, Sourcing, IT & QX Operations, I am responsible for customer satisfaction, supplier assurance, employee development, and establishing a safe and productive work environment at our Qingxi, China (QX) location.
Jason: I have been with Inventus Power for over 12 years. In my current role as Director, Sales & Business Development - China, I support our global customer base located in China as well as pursue and develop new business opportunities within the region.
Our QX facility is Inventus Power’s largest manufacturing site. What are the key products and manufacturing capabilities at this location?
Sam: At our Qingxi, China factory, we manufacture battery packs, chargers, and power supplies for applications in the consumer, commercial, and medical markets. Our QX facility is globally certified to the following:
- ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System
- ISO 13485:2016 Medical Device Quality Management System
- ISO 14001:2015 Environment Management System
We're also certified to China’s AEO (Authorized Economic Operator) system and registered to US FDA QSR820. The factory has the full capability of printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), auto & manual insertion, wave soldering, molding, and the final assembly process.
Jason: In addition to the manufacturing capabilities Sam described, I would add that our QX facility meets a high standard of technical and quality requirements for battery packs, power supplies, and chargers. Our QX Team delivers excellent quality and customer service. Through our vertical integration, we can offer our customers short lead-times and turnkey solutions. Our quality processes are validated through ISO audits, customer audits, and USFDA auditing.
Over the years, how has the automation capabilities at our QX location supported the company’s growth?
Sam: As our business has started to develop larger and more complex battery and power systems, there has been an increased focus on automation developments in the factory, such as SMT lines that can handle the small size of the 0201 component equipped with SPI and AOI machines. Additional automation processes that have been added include auto dispensing, auto laser welding, auto labeling, auto nut placement, auto screwing, auto spot welding, E-WI system, and an energy recycle burn-in system. The investments in new automation processes have created production efficiencies, reduced human errors, increased customer service, and have better positioned Inventus Power to build medium / large format batteries.
Jason: When our customers are choosing a supplier partner for their battery or power solution, there are several factors they take into consideration. Besides price, our customers consider business size, strength of the supply chain, manufacturing capabilities, quality processes, and efficiency. Automation and semi-auto production lines provide customers with confidence in product quality and performance consistency. Medium to large format battery packs with series and parallel configuration capabilities rely highly on machine automation. QX first started investing in automation to support complex UPS battery backup systems for high capacity 1- 3kW data center applications. QX has shared its automation production experience and lesson learns with other Inventus Power manufacturing facilities to help support the company’s overall growth.
With our QX facility being one of the five Inventus Power manufacturing locations, what are some of the benefits of being part of a global manufacturing system?
Sam: Based in Dongguan, South China, our QX factory is located within a global manufacturing hub that attracts talent for operational excellence. The factory is also near to the Asia Technical Center in Guangzhou, so it can support the related development activities for standard and custom products. Our other four global factories can also leverage resources and technical expertise.
Jason: From a customer perspective, our QX facility has a favorable geographical advantage since it is located close to worldwide trade and finance harbor in Hong Kong. In the Dongguan area, there are many direct EMS customers that can benefit from shortened lead times and lower material out-bound/in-bound costs. Cargo can easily enter and leave for Asia and our global customer base through the Hong Kong harbor. Customers can also benefit from the facility’s globally harmonized systems and processes which helps create efficiencies and increased communication across all facilities from order processing to delivery.
Are there any plans for the QX facility you can share with us?
Sam: As a global business within a growing industry, our QX factory will focus on its strength to continuously drive more automatic production especially for medium-to-large format battery packs and generate more systematic controls in the manufacturing environment (i.e. Intelligent Manufacturing, MES & PDM systems, Lean Six Sigma, etc.) to attain more vigorous and sustainable development.
Jason: I agree with Sam that a major focus will be to continue investments in automation and increasing customer-focused competencies and efficiencies by leveraging lean methodologies (Kaizen, value stream map, etc.) in order to offer increased value to our customers and stay competitive as a high-tech global manufacturing facility.
