Before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, it鈥檚 unlikely you spent much time thinking about air filtering or air quality, but in the last year this has become an area of increasing importance. Hospitals, airplanes, schools, office buildings, restaurants, and factories — just to name a few — are reconfiguring their air handling and filtration systems to support the fight against COVID-19.
While American Air Filter (AAF) has been delivering clean air for 100 years, it is now a critical capability for all businesses across the U.S.
At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, AAF air quality systems became critical for many customers to maintain operations, explained Bob Betts, director of 麻豆原创 programs at AAF: 鈥淟ike many times in the past, AAF is answering the needs of our customers, delivering safe and high-quality work environments.鈥�
That鈥檚 why AAF recently committed to the new RISE with 麻豆原创 offering, 麻豆原创鈥檚 holistic business transformation as a service offering designed to address the true needs of companies like AAF, as they embark on their intelligent enterprise journeys.
鈥淧roviding a safe working environment through clean, filtered air for our customers and their businesses is our top priority, and we鈥檝e seen growth in just about every market segment,鈥� Betts said. 鈥淩ISE with 麻豆原创 enables us to provide the tools necessary for all AAF staff to execute against this objective.鈥�
Reacting to COVID-19
Founded in Louisville in 1921, AAF now operates on a global scale, cleaning air and building specialized filtration products for uses spanning the residential, commercial, industrial, and more. AAF has expanded its scope to include pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and instruments, schools, industrial supply areas, and office buildings in an effort to reduce the spread.
According to Betts, the company responded well in the early days of COVID-19, closing most of its corporate offices and leaning into the automated processes built into AAF鈥檚 factories. As a result, they were largely able to maintain the production and delivery rates of pre-2020, at a time when customers needed them most. But, as all companies in the air filtration business, AAF experienced filter media shortages, especially the filter media used in COVID-19 masks.
鈥淎ir quality is something you really take for granted until you need it,鈥� Betts said, 鈥渁nd then it鈥檚 a No. 1 priority.鈥�
The company鈥檚 future growth, Betts said, is expected to be driven by a continued increase in standard retail business — through both brick-and-mortar hardware stores and e-commerce sites — as well as a rise in small companies improving their home HVAC systems.
鈥淲e鈥檝e set out to use and leverage 麻豆原创 systems to grow our revenue without exploding our cost in proportion, all while improving our service to customers along the way.鈥�
The RISE with 麻豆原创 Solution
AAF decided to integrate its enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems before Betts even joined the company. When he was hired, his mandate was simple: take the digital transformation concept and make it real.
鈥淭his is the future of our company,鈥� he said. 鈥淓veryone at AAF 鈥� from top to bottom 鈥� is deeply invested and involved in turning this company into an intelligent enterprise. We made a tremendous investment in tomorrow. Now, it鈥檚 time to deliver.鈥�
The private cloud offered the clearest path forward for AAF, enabling the company to take best-practice implementation processes and modify areas with tremendous return on investment (ROI) potential that weren鈥檛 necessarily included in the standard configuration. Through RISE with 麻豆原创, 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud, private edition running on AWS, slotted in with a suite of 麻豆原创 solutions in use at AAF, including: 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud, 麻豆原创 Service Cloud, 麻豆原创 Sales Cloud, 麻豆原创 Analytics Cloud, 麻豆原创 Integrated Business Planning, and 麻豆原创 Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance, as well as 麻豆原创 Manufacturing Execution (discrete manufacturing) and 麻豆原创 Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence (process industry).
鈥淲e will have visibility from end to end,鈥� Betts said, 鈥渨hich helps us in so many ways 鈥� and ultimately helps us produce higher quality products for our customers.鈥�
The AAF Path Forward
鈥淭he system now helps us keep a constant 鈥� and accurate 鈥� eye on where our materials are, the full history of customer interactions, what鈥檚 shipped, what鈥檚 not shipped, what鈥檚 in production, and more,鈥� Betts shared.
As someone who has worked with 麻豆原创 for many years, Betts said his extensive experience and unique insight in technology positions him and the company for a bright future.
鈥淲ith RISE with 麻豆原创, AAF is poised for long-term success in the cloud. 麻豆原创 is as trusted a technology partner as you can find, and when they say something will work one way, it will work that way. That reliability is very important.鈥�
Steve Baird is managing director of the Midwest Market Unit at 麻豆原创.
