VirTex – Why Manufacturing Day Should Be Every Day
VirTex [www.virtexassembly.com] an industry-leading Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider with a workforce of over 300 industry experts, 11 SMT lines and 165,000 sq. ft. of operational floor space in three locations; Texas, Wisconsin, and Mexico.
On Friday the 6th of October, the company joined thousands of manufacturers across the Americas and Mexico as they opened their doors to showcase to the public what modern manufacturing in action looks like, and to inspire the next generation of skilled workers.
At VirTex, we work with our Original Equipment Manufacturer customers (OEMs) to fulfil their electronic design, development, and distribution requirements. We have manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and Mexico, and we can build everything from Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) to complex, multi-level, integrated products in the gaming, industrial, automotive, medical equipment, and aerospace & defence industries. “One of the common problems within the EMS industry is that as we build for well-known, brand leading companies, and if we are doing our job right no one hears about us; we are the industry’s best-kept secret”, Rick Polansky, Senior Vice President of Business Development at VirTex states. “We are essentially the brand-behind-the-brand, the OEMs route to market. We saw Manufacturing Day as a route to highlight the scientific, technical, engineering and mathematical environments [STEM] that EMS companies like VirTex operate in every day, to bring the products that you use in your day-to-day world to life! We have over 250 employees spread across our three facilities, all cross-trained and developed to work across several varying market segments. Many of these people have been part of our VirTex family for over 20 years. Manufacturing Day was a route to educate people as to why a career at VirTex, or the EMS industry as a whole, is a good one, a stable choice, with promotional or cross training opportunities where you are at the centre of innovation and technology and dispel some of the misconceptions that manufacturing is simply manual labor, build-to-print.” Polansky concludes.
VirTex welcomed over 20 visitors to their Headquarters in Austin, Texas, with one-third of those being female. The age range spanned from the youngest at 15 through to one guest within the 50+ range. VirTex collaborated with a couple of their local partners; AISD, the Applied Technology Centre, Anderson High School and ARMA – Austin Regional Manufacturers Association.
To ensure that visitors received true hands-on experience and to guarantee that they left with a real understanding of a day-in-the-life of VirTex, their visit kicked-off with an overview of ‘What is Contract Manufacturing’, by General Manager of the Austin facility Eric Wichamann. This was followed by a facility tour around that six fulfilment stations of; receiving, knitting, pick and place, AOI, flying probe and shipping. The session was followed up by an interactive Q&A where many guests discussed how they would like to help share their experience about the reality of working in manufacturing, versus the image that manufacturing has become synonymous with.
VirTex works in close partnership with organizations such as the AISD, the Applied Technology Centre, Anderson High School and ARMA – Austin Regional Manufacturers Association, often bringing in apprentices on day release, or visiting their premises for educational seminars. Through the years, they have witnessed the benefits that close collaboration bring, and both parties are committed to supporting the local communities in which they reside.
To conclude, Brad Heath, CEO stated; “It was important for us to show our support to Manufacturing Day, as we were able to expose STEM students to modern day manufacturing as a career, and alternatives to traditional 4-year college programs. The event allowed us to build on our relationships with teachers and community college partners, to help us to create a curriculum and internship program that can further the interest in manufacturing as a career. At VirTex, we believe that we bridge the high school and community college curriculum, better preparing the students for a future in manufacturing, innovation and the supply chain. I was personally delighted with the interest of the students and their academic leaders who both couldn’t hide their surprise and fascination that a career in manufacturing holds. It would now be my pleasure to welcome them to VirTex as interns.”
