Operations

The Operations Manager is Andi Jones. Her role involves ensuring that both Operations (factory-based manufacturing) and Materials (purchasing and inventory in the warehouse) run smoothly.

There are over 300 staff working in the factory to meet customer orders.

The Surface Mount team operate 12 process lines incorporating robotic placement equipment, providing populated PCB's on demand to production. They also operate and maintain the EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) materials store. EDI sends data to our suppliers concerning our component requirements. Using a bar code system, our stocks can be replenished daily.

The team have input into DFM (Design For Manufacture), materials specification, capacity planning and new product introduction.

The Purchasing team use historical sales data, a build plan and the sales forecast to make vital decisions. Apollo use suppliers from around the world and 94% of purchases are made with our top 20 suppliers and 74 % with our top 10. Using a small number of suppliers maintains proper supplier relations. Up-to-date purchasing techniques such as EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), DLF (Direct Line Feed) and Faxban are also used to speed up this process so that Apollo maintains constant daily deliveries.

The Inventory team are responsible for stocks and material handling.

Interaction with the rest of the company is essential and daily meetings between departments ensures that the process runs as efficiently as possible.

Apollo also has a Training Room and offers factory staff the oportunity to train for NVQs.