Thermatech | AR Lintern

Background

THERMATECH | AR LINTERN (“THERMATECH”) began in 1948 in Detroit, innovating in school bus heating and air circulation. Today, not far from their original headquarters, they engineer and manufacture cabin HVAC and battery thermal management systems (BTMS) for transit bus, school bus, truck, off-road, rail, and defense OEMs.

THERMATECH has successfully launched specialty vehicle EV heating and cooling cabin systems for 3 high-profile all-EV manufacturers in the US, Canada, and Europe, and is currently developing new battery thermal management systems for large construction and off-road vehicles for operation in various climates and terrains around the world. Their systems are additionally engineered into some of the world’s most recognizable defense vehicle platforms.

Challenges

Although THERMATECH is classified as a small business, the Company mainly sells into large specialty vehicle OEMs as a Tier 1 supplier. As such, the company needs to maintain a reporting infrastructure and compliance level similar to those of much larger companies.

To meet this level of compliance and maintain efficiency, THERMATECH needs to streamline reporting across its multiple siloed legacy systems into a new business intelligence platform. At the same time, THERMATECH needed to modernize its technology infrastructure to support a new BI platform transformation, including improved VPN remote access and wireless onsite access, as well as other infrastructure and security improvements required by NIST-800 and CMCC.

Solutions

To implement a new BI platform, THERMATECH created a data lake across its online payroll system, online accounting system, and on-prem MRP system. Once the data lake was established and the data was properly transformed, THERMATECH used Microsoft Power BI to develop integrated reporting in both production operations and compliance reporting. THERMATECH opted to use both Microsoft SharePoint and Teams to publish these new reports so users can access reports through auto distribution, a new SharePoint aggregated reporting site, and in-plant monitors.

Results

With the assistance of EGI, THERMATECH implemented the plan, utilizing two preferred consultancy groups: one with expertise in data and Power BI, and the other in network architecture and security. After a successful round of gap analysis between current and desired system states and a 6-month implementation horizon:

  • THERMATECH relies heavily on its BI intelligence software and improved network infrastructure.
  • Key operational, purchasing, and sales data sets are established and validated to support changing reporting needs.
  • New reporting callouts include a new production and shipping schedule, new sales and purchasing insights, and reconciliation reports to coordinate data across all IT platforms.
  • THERMATECH is positioned to build on its new capabilities, including the digital transformation of its production work instructions and other operational processes.