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Avnet opens $26M tech center in Chandler
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SKILLED WORKER: Eugene Sabin, a computer technician, builds a computer to specifications Monday in the Avnet facility in Chandler.
Tim Hacker, Tribune
Avnet has opened a new $26 million technology center in Chandler to build and supply complex computer and server systems to customers throughout North America.
The Avnet Global Solutions Center at 6700 W. Morelos Place employs 250 engineers, technicians and logistics personnel who will build, or "integrate," computer and server systems from hardware and software components provided by suppliers such as IBM and Dell. The advanced systems will be custom-made for medical, defense, banking and other users in the United States, Canada and Mexico, said Mike Kenney, vice president of operations.
The 228,000-square-foot center has the capacity to build and ship more than 700,000 technology systems a year.
The center began operations in July, and a grand opening ceremony is scheduled at 10 a.m. Oct. 29 for customers, suppliers and other invited guests to view the high-tech plant.
"Increasing demand for Avnet's higher-end technology integration services, such as complex server configurations and software customization, drove our need for additional capacity," said Roy Vallee, chief executive of the Phoenix-based company.
The center includes 118,000 square feet of high-ceiling warehouse space with wire-guided forklifts that can navigate automatically through narrow aisles, allowing the maximum use of available floor space.
Also included are a 45,000-square-foot integration center, where the systems are built, and a first article lab, where Avnet can design a system in partnership with the customers' own engineers, then reproduce it as many times as necessary to meet the customer's needs. Finally, the facility includes a repair depot where the company can perform warranty work or revise and refurbish equipment.
The Chandler hub is the largest of four Avnet computer-assembly centers and replaced a smaller building in Phoenix. The new operations are about twice as large, Kenney said.
Despite the economic slowdown, Avnet has not seen a decrease in demand for its computer-integration services, he said.
"A lot of our customers can partner with us and do it more efficiently," he said. "We've taken the cycle-time down."
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