Winner in the Data Integration - Intelligence category.

Project Status 5000 (PS5K) is an integrated project management system that gives a complete, real time picture of your project. Our customers benefit from more accurate quotes, lower prices, improved design, higher quality and on-time delivery.

PS5K allows us to constantly monitor several thousand data points related to any project’s process. At any given time, we have a complete picture of your project.

PS5K lets us identify problems early, allowing for tweak corrections in-process instead of expensive overhauls and re-dos down the line. Because we have complete integrated project data on file, similar projects and repeat builds are easier – so, less expensive for you.

Bottom line: Lower prices, more accurate quotes, improved design, higher quality, on-time delivery – and better customer communications because we have more information to share!

Winner in the Data Integration - Applications category

The Purchasing System (TPS) improves our ability to find each customer the best parts at the best prices from the sources that provide the best service and quality.

TPS is another customized solution we developed to make it easier and faster for us to help customers sort through all their options for materials and parts and find just the right ones to best fit the design, purpose and budget. Excellent customer service is important to us and TPS lets our engineers quickly check variety, cost differences and features for each type of product available. The customer gets cost savings and better designs. And POs are not paper anymore. They’re generated electronically and that’s good for the environment.

Winner in the Data Integration - Integration category.

Document Tracker (DTracker) was developed to improve our ability to monitor performance in the discreet processes that make up your total project. Now, we can eliminate more waste, give more accurate estimates, control costs, achieve the highest quality possible, and be more accountable to our customers.

In-house efficiency means we can give better customer service consistently. We developed DTracker to organize the flow of our projects and make it easy to see exactly what is taking place and who is using what materials at each stage of every project. DTracker can pinpoint process details for a whole project or for an individual part. The system has helped us improve the way we track performance and costs and those improvements are passed along to our customers through more accurate estimates, less risk and better prices.

Winner in the Innovation - Product category.

Joey has been recognized as PM100’s 2009 “Breakthrough Product” because it will truly revolutionize pouch making machines throughout the industry. Joey customers will reduce run times, reduce waste, reduce down time, and improve flexibility, quality and profits.

Before the end of 2009, customers who need Vertical Form Fill Seal machines will be able to choose Joey – an advanced, new generation machine ingeniously engineered to improve packaging operations. Joey minimizes downtime by handling changeovers efficiently, saves cost by using less material for seams, and increases quality in the final product by a precise sealing process that significantly reduces “leakers”. Joey’s operational flexibility, its capability to turn out a higher quality product at reduced costs will redefine customer expectations for pouch making machines.

Winner in the Leadership - Industry category.

AEC contributes more than 45% of net income annually to outreach initiatives in schools, universities, to teachers and to community organizations. We are proud to serve as a vocal and visible model of the creative, innovative and progressive face of manufacturing today. We’re spreading the word that manufacturing jobs offer good futures for individuals, families, and communities.

Somehow the conventional wisdom has become that manufacturing is dead and that America is now a service economy. Well, it just ain’t so – and we are doing our part to counteract the rumors. We regularly open our doors for plant tours and talk to students about the wide range of career options in manufacturing industries. We’ve worked with local colleges and universities to develop ‘real world” design projects for engineering capstone courses. We’ve also helped develop continuing education courses for secondary school teachers so they will be better equipped to provide career guidance to their students. AEC senior management has provided board leadership for Silver Crescent Foundation, a South Carolina nonprofit that promotes manufacturing and filling the workforce pipeline for the future. We know manufacturing will continue to be the backbone of the US economy and we want to attract the best and the brightest to join us.