In the design phase of its new 35,000-square-foot (3,251-square-meter) manufacturing and office facility in Kelowna, British Columbia, the leadership team at Anodyne Electronics Manufacturing Corp. (AEM) worked hard to optimize the space for both customers and staff.
The rapidly-expanding avionics company had outgrown its previous facility in just 11 years, and wanted to level up from the converted office building that helped establish AEM as a leading global provider of aircraft communications systems, loudspeaker systems, and panels.
“We’ve made great strides in having this custom building laid out from scratch,” said Brian Wall, CEO of AEM. “The building was built with many manufacturing efficiencies front and center … and we’ve already seen improvements through these efficiencies from our old facility.”
AEM’s new surface mount line is a key example.
Its state-of-the-art Yamaha technology largely eliminates the need to manually handle printed circuit boards (PCBs), minimizing the potential for human error.
Similarly, a new state-of-the-art Muratec sheet metal press delivers impeccable accuracy, safety, speed and precision, and its new MIL-DTL-7788 standard light patterning stations enhance the company’s ability to manufacture illuminated instrument panels.
The new facility also has paint booths and an Alodine line for coating metal components, and AEM has invested significantly in its research and development environmental test lab. This allows the company to handle testing in-house rather than sourcing it from third parties.
“Precision is what aerospace manufacturing is all about,” Wall said. “So, we have to be sure we’re delivering that.”
Audio expansion
AEM designed its new building with ambitious growth targets in mind.
What the company didn’t know at the time was how quickly it would grow, thanks in large part to the acquisition of Eagle Audio Systems in 2021.
“The acquisition came after the fact,” Wall said. “But what an absolutely perfect inlay for this product line to come into our new facility … it fit right in.”
Eagle Audio was previously a division of Eagle Copters Ltd. in Calgary, Alberta, best-known for the flagship P139-HD Digital Audio System and custom avionics consoles for the AS350/H125 aircraft, as well as dimmer power supplies, audio mixers and power converters.
“The integration of that product line has been seamless, because we were already manufacturing all of the components that come together to make these audio units,” Wall said. “It was a very straightforward, almost plug-and-play type of product to put into our existing facility.”
All of those products have since been integrated under the AEM brand.
Special missions provider
Throughout its history, AEM has been a trusted partner of special missions operators — with a particular focus on helicopter law enforcement.
The acquisition of new products enables AEM to provide a suite of exceptional offerings that meet the communications requirements of special missions operators in high-demand situations. AEM’s industry leading loudspeaker systems, paired with the P139-HD Digital Audio System and P132 Avionics Console, are a common installation for law enforcement applications.
“Special missions operators trust us because of the functionality and the preciseness of the products that we build,” Wall said. “The reliability is absolutely paramount.”
In addition to law enforcement, AEM’s special missions communications systems are used in a variety of special role aircraft around the world, including aerial firefighting, search-and-rescue, and surveillance aircraft. Some current operators include the Texas Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Tokyo Metro Police, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The gravity of responsibility that accompanies special missions is front of mind for everyone at AEM — from executives to frontline staff and everyone in between.
“It’s that mindset that everything has to work 100 percent of the time — completely functional, reliable,” Wall said. “And we talk about that in most of our meetings.”
Custom program development
In addition to its commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products, AEM has built an impeccable reputation as a custom avionics developer for special missions operators around the world.
Its suite of specialty solutions includes a custom warning bell system for Embraer C-390 fixed-wing aircraft.
AEM developed this solution by modifying COTS versions of the LSA400 loudspeaker amplifier and the TS150 loudspeaker, and integrating it with the C-390’s existing audio system to provide audible alerts in the aircraft cargo compartment.
“We’ve been able to create a reputation for ourselves here, and that’s based upon our quality, speed, capabilities and the value of the solution that we provide. All of that adds up to make a pretty comprehensive package, which is very attractive, even though we’re a relatively small company.”
Wall also credits AEM’s design, repair, research and development, and product support teams for much of the company’s success.
“Timely communication and responsiveness are other things that really set us apart from our competition,” he said. “If [operators] have a problem that is not solved by a current offering, think of AEM as the place to explore different options. We want to be having those conversations with people.”
As AEM continues to grow, the leadership team is taking a cautious approach, hiring carefully and making sure not to overcommit or overpromise.
“Our entire team realizes the significance of our people,” Wall said. “We go above and beyond to ensure that we’re better, that we’re communicating openly and frequently, and most importantly, that we’re listening to our customers and our employee group.”
