Business Aid
Worse, it couldn't identify the source of the particles, says Gary Riggs, the company's manufacturing engineering manager. "The unknown cause was a worry because we felt an uncontrolled factor could take a turn for the worse and could force us to suspend our packaging operation."
Through the Palm Beach County Development Board, Riggs linked up with the NASA-funded Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program -- a group of more than 45 technical companies, universities, colleges and NASA-related centers that offers 40 hours of free technical consulting to Florida companies.
Since 1995, SATOP has helped about 150 Florida companies a year. In one case, it helped Sarasota's Sunguard Shade Structures design a cantilever shading system that saved an entire product line.
Harland Hyde, an engineer at AJT & Associates, a technical services company in Cape Canaveral that's a SATOP partner, worked with The Anspach Effort to solve its problem. Hyde recommended Anspach use an advanced filtration system that cut particle counts by as much as 75%.
Says Riggs, "The risk to our business and customers was profound. SATOP offers real solutions, which is peace of mind of incalculable value."
Florida DATOP Center
Phone: 321-869-6330
e-mail: Paul@spacetechsolutions.com