Learn more about how PCI Group’s ACTIV DR solution protects you against both planned and unplanned business disruptions.

Business continuity is critical for any operation. Built-in redundancy enables companies to continue work even if there’s an incident that disrupts it in some way. That’s especially crucial for transactional mail. On this episode of Ask the Experts, Perry Fernandes, VP of Operations of PCI Group, spoke about the importance of redundancy and how we accomplish it for clients.

“Too many things can happen—natural events, labor, transportation, logistics. You can’t have a single point of failure of operations,” Perry said. 

To avoid this, we know you can never have one of anything—equipment, people, software, or spaces. 

The redundancy of our systems is possible due to having parallel sites in Fort Mill, SC, and Irving, Texas. “We make sure it’s a mirror image in locations by using LEAN and 5S.”

LEAN manufacturing minimizes waste and maximizes productivity at both locations. 5S is a methodology that involves assessing everything in a space, then deciding what’s necessary and what isn’t. Additionally, Perry spoke about standard work in LEAN. “Our training practices align with standard work, which means we do the same thing all the time. It’s consistent across locations because you never know when you’ll need to up the load on one location versus another.”

To keep both sites moving forward, we also use load balancing, as there are always peaks and valleys in work volume. There’s always the option to shift manufacturing to address ebbs and flows. 

All these things work together to ensure redundancy and provide confidence to our clients. “It’s necessary for what we do with strict deadlines. You can’t operate without it,” Perry shared.