At ACS Industries, innovation, quality, and customer focus are at the core of everything we do. As a family-owned manufacturer serving a diverse range of industries, ACS has built its reputation on engineering excellence, continuous process improvement, and a commitment to reliable manufacturing.
To share more about the values and vision that drive our company, Marketing Intern Lauren Haddad sat down with the President of ACS Industries, Jeff Buckler, for a conversation about innovation, quality, and the future of the business.
Q1. How does ACS foster an environment where engineers can innovate and grow?
Jeff Buckler: It starts with talented people that can come up with ideas and then experiment. We strive to give people the room to experiment. Because we’re family owned and not beholden to outside equity, we can have the patience to see ideas through to conclusion. If they fail, we can go back to the drawing board. When they succeed, we can move very quickly to implement them.
Q2. How does feedback from customers influence your engineering process?
Jeff Buckler: ACS is entirely customer driven. The real product we provide is a manufacturing, quality assurance, and distribution system which can process our customers’ requirements capably, reliably, and repeatably. This starts with our technical teams understanding customer requirements – how our products are intended to function in a larger system – and then devising the appropriate form, fit, and process to provide it. We make sure we have something that works, then make sure we can make it over and over again, then see how we can improve the process to make a better part with better quality. Then we go back to the beginning and start again.
Q3. In three words, how would you describe the culture here at ACS?
Jeff Buckler: Value-adding. Innovative. Accountable.
Q4. How does ACS maintain high standards of quality while meeting diverse customer requirements?
Jeff Buckler: We’re fortunate in that our customers all want high quality. All of our customers specify quality assurance targets, including certifications, second- and third-party audits, and the ability to demonstrate continuous improvement. While our automotive businesses have the most stringent requirements, the rest of our product lines also benefit. Cleaning Products gets FMEA discipline, Hydrogen gets PPAPs, and the all of our other customers end up with the benefit of robust, process-oriented, risk mitigation strategies inherent to those systems.
Q5. Where do you see the biggest opportunities for engineering advancements at ACS?
Jeff Buckler: Our strategic plan focuses on improving process quality – whether that’s product quality off the factory floor order entry quality in the back office, or really any process outcome in any function, anywhere in the business. This puts renewed focus, attention, and energy into things like process capability, design for manufacturing, and continuous improvement which will drive us towards zero accidents and zero defects.
Q6. What motivates you most about the work you do at ACS?
Jeff Buckler: We’re incredibly fortunate to be involved in noble industries. Our products enable systems that save lives (airbags, seatbelts), protect the environment (exhaust products), send rockets into space (bespoke high temperature threads for aerospace customers), drive sustainability (PEM electrolyzer anodes), and ensure that commercial kitchens and public common areas are clean and sanitary (Cleaning Products). Our stuff makes a huge impact on the world.
Reach out today to find out how ACS Industries can engineer and manufacture the ideal components for your noble industry application.