|
|
| » |
May 28, 2009
July 22, 2008
March 19, 2008
July 1, 2007
February 1, 2006
February 1, 2005
January 10, 2005
December 1, 2004
August 2, 2004
July 1, 2004
June 15, 2004
May 15, 2004
May 1, 2004
April 23, 2004
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Alberto-Culver announces expansion of Mixtank automation system into LA facility
Bannockburn, IL - 5/1/2004 - Decision Design Corporation, a leading custom software development firm, today announced that it has been awarded a contract to expand the Alberto-Culver Mixtank control system into Alberto's Los Angeles hair care manufacturing facility.
"We are very pleased to further extend our work and long standing relationship with Alberto Culver," said David Schwind of Decision Design. The Mixtank control system product was first introduced at Alberto's Melrose Park, IL facility in 1999 and provides quality assurance and automation to Alberto's shampoo manufacturing.
Prior to the introduction of Mixtank, recipe generation and shampoo batches were configured and mixed manually. This manual process meant that the makeup and quality of each batch was prone to human error and introduced batch consistency problems. Additionally, the manual process was very labor intensive. The Mixtank control system reliably guarantees the makeup and quality of each batch, while simultaneously reducing the human intervention. The application combines many technologies to create a cohesive control system including Allen-Bradly PLC based device controls, Rockwell Automation's RS View, and Visual Basic and SQL software.
The Los Angles facility where the Mixtank control system will be implemented is an important part of Alberto's U.S. production capability. The Los Angeles facility is the fourth region to receive the Mixtank control system. Last year the system was introduced in Alberto's Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Argentina facilities. Schwind added that "the introduction of Mixtank into the LA facility is a big step toward making Alberto a seamless global manufacturer. Providing a homogenous production process across all lines in all facilities will allow Alberto to shift production to the most cost efficient facility without the risk of compromising quality standards."
Decision Design first became involved with Alberto Culver when Alberto was working with another vendor to automate their hair care manufacturing facility in Melrose Park. The original vendor, a well-known software firm, failed to complete the important project by the date promised, going over budget and introducing severe technical problems. Decision Design stepped in with their Remediation Services methodology; services specifically targeted at rescuing troubled software development projects. The Decision Design team quickly put interim stop gap processes in place to relieve some of the labor stress created by the previous vendor not having the system completed on time. Once a short term stop gap was in place, Decision Design worked to remediate the application, now named Mixtank, that has become the cornerstone of Alberto's production processes.
The implementation in the LA facility is slated to begin in October of 2004 and is scheduled to complete mid 2005.
About Decision Design
Decision Design is a leading provider of custom software development in the areas of New Product Development, Software Systems and Remediation Services. Founded on the principal that clients should never have to choose between client service and quality product delivery, Decision Design has been building a reputation as a value added custom software provider since 1995. Decision Design has offices located near Chicago, IL, and San Francisco, CA, and can be found on the web at www.decisiondesign.com. Critical Decisions, Delivered.
|
|
|
