LAI upgrades manufacturing facility

LAI International, Inc., a strategic supplier of precision components and sub-assemblies for original equipment manufacturers, announced it has completed a major facility upgrade program at its Maryland facility to support increased customer demand.

State-of-the-art waterjet machining workstations have been installed at LAI's manufacturing plant in Westminster, Md., allowing the facility to handle larger material sheet sizes and doubling the number of cutting heads. Additional intensifier units, high-pressure lines and water purification equipment have been installed to increase capacity for advanced waterjet machining.

"Installation of new high-speed waterjet machining equipment is complete, which allows us to increase operational efficiencies and boost capacity to handle higher volumes and larger sizes of raw material," John Rogers, vice president of operations for LAI, said.

As part of the facility upgrade program and lean manufacturing initiatives, production workstations have been refurbished and the plant layout has been enhanced.

"We've re-structured the arrangement of work cells on the production floor, re-configuring our systems for more efficient and flexible workflow," said Stephanie Miller, plant manager of the Westminster, Md., facility. "We've made significant changes to smooth out the process flow, and reduce excess motion and waiting times in several production lines."