A Review Of Tower Tech Systems, Inc.

A Review of Tower Tech Systems, Inc.

The article, DMI Exceeds 2004 Wind Tower Production Expectations, Canadian Market Keeps Company on Track was published on March 30, 2005 in the magazine called Renewable Energy World. The articles main objective was to describe how in 2004, DMI Industries manufactured and delivered nearly 1,000 wind tower sections. Forty percent of their towers successfully went to the Canadian market.

After reading this article I compared it to another article about Tower Tech Systems, Inc. entitled Tower Tech Systems, Inc. Announces Global Launch of Automated Wind Power Mass Production. One question that arose was how can Tower Tech Systems, Inc. compete with DMI and increase production from 800 units per year to 2000 units per year? According to Ray Brickner, owner of Tower Tech Systems, Inc. (TTSI) "Tower Tech is dedicated to provide immediate and long term manufacturing partnership with those who want the most cost-effective solution to their wind tower needs in the United States and Canada". Mr. Brickner went further stating that this is capable due to the TTSI location. Their production site consists of 46 acres with over 700,000 square feet of heavy manufacturing under roof. It is conveniently located on a peninsula surrounded by the Manitowoc River, which is a deep water channel that leads directly into Lake Michigan and the Atlantic Ocean. TTSI has recognized that Canada is the number one competition for wind towers, a country already in production with DMI. Therefore, TTSI's goal is to focus in on areas that are surrounded by oceans, lakes or extremely remote windy areas other than their competition in Canada.

Tower Tech Systems, Inc. can provide an entire production workforce necessary to produce wind tower support structures, turbine assemblies and monopiles. Their wind towers, made of stacks of rolled steel plate, are more than 200 feet high and generally 25 to 60 ft. long. The towers also consist of conical cylinders 8 to 20 ft. and larger in diameter. Due to the mass production of massive wind towers, TTSI needs to follow a strict strategic layout plan. The flow of production, employee competency, sales and marketing dominate Tower Tech Systems, Inc. competitive priorities.

The current layout of the manufacturing area consists of high definition plasma and oxy-fuel contour plate beveling, grinding, computer controlled workstations, twin wire submerged arc welding, automated plate rollers, drilling stations, laser cutting, assembly, automated blasting, painting and foreman offices. Presently, TTSI uses a flexible-flow layout which organizes resources (employees and equipment) by function rather than by service or product. Typically, foreman and his crew are assigned to a certain area of production. TTSI should consider the hybrid layout, which combines flexible and line-flow layouts. Since TTSI is a fabrication and assembly operations facility