Bidding Farewell to 2021 – At Your Service in 2022!

To Our Valued Customers:

Happy New Year to All! Each year as the calendar turns, we try to utilize this season as a time of reflection and communication with our customer base. This is a moment for us to offer commentary on the events and accomplishments of the preceding year and to say “Thank You” for the trust and confidence that you, our customers, place in us throughout the year.

Our attitude towards continuous improvement did not waiver during 2021 and much headway was made as a result. 2021 ushered in a major new piece of equipment, our Mazak 600 Series Integrex multi-tasking, 5-axis machining center, model e-670H. This machine has increased our turning capabilities to 42” diameter by 160” long with fully functioning 5-axis milling capabilities. This machine tool is fully operational and contributing to the demands we were experiencing in the marketplace for large multitasking and 5-axis machining. Add to that, the addition of our first acquisition, All-Fab, officially coming under the Astro umbrella starting on March, 1 of 2021. All-Fab specializes in welding and fabrication within the energy production and transmission sector. This acquisition, with the acclimation period well underway, is starting to gel and on its way to providing additional capabilities and capacity for a variety of our customers. Additional positives in 2021 saw us reach NQA-1 Safety Related status for our nuclear energy related customers, and NIST compliance for a more robust IT infrastructure, a requirement evoked by many of our customer contracts. Our goal is to ultimately achieve full CMMC Level 3 compliance and certification.

As we look ahead at 2022, a firm decision has been made to implement a new ERP system, ProShop, which will be a major continuous improvement initiative and has huge potential efficiencies that could revolutionize our shop floor workflow. This will engage every team member who will be more involved, connected, and informed through individual workstations that have been installed throughout the company. Certain aspects of the company will go paperless at some point and the new system will aid in speeding up processes and paperwork changes as business decisions are made. This will be a major upgrade to our current ERP and will lay the groundwork for many years to come. This represents our biggest, most important, and possibly most rewarding continuous improvement initiative of the year with the official kickoff in training starting in January 2022.

So, bring on the New Year! We are committed to continued customer support regardless of the challenges of the day. Our focus is, was and always will be, continuous improvement to serve our growing customer base and manage the ever-increasing levels of sophistication of our customer’s demand. As a 100% employee-owned company, our commitment to customer satisfaction has never been greater!

In conclusion, we say from our team to yours; “We look very forward to providing continued support to our growing customer base in the upcoming year”. We at Astro thank you, our customer, for the confidence you have shown in us and your continued business in 2021!

We wish continued growth and prosperity to you and your organization and look forward to working with you again in 2022!

Categories: Press Releases