Since coming under the ASSA ABLOY umbrella, SARGENT has focused on refining their manufacturing processes, along with the development of new and innovative products. Today’s manufacturing plant is made up of five different factories or “Profit Centers”, each producing items particular to their product line (e.g., bored locks, mortise locks, closers, exits, cylinders, or, Production Services – supplying production/ support services to other profit centers). Unlike batch production/ “push” techniques of the past, today we produce “what we need, when we need it, “pulling” product through the factory in a theoretical one-piece flow. Manufacturing areas are centered around production-area configured “cells”; cells generally set-up by the Profit Center employees in a way that will link operations. This joining minimizes material transportation and work-in-process inventory, while fostering maximum efficiency. Complementing the efforts to improve overall efficiency and product quality, has been an aggressive capital expenditure program allowing for sophisticated machine tool purchases to be integrated into the manufacturing process.

On the engineering front, SARGENT continues to lead the industry in new product introductions and innovations to existing product. Their latest frontier is the development of more and more electro-mechanical products, a trend we anticipate will continue well into the future.

www.sargentlock.com