PSC Global announces SCM partnership with Portal Devices
PSC Global is delighted to announce we’ve joined forces with a local engineering firm, Portal Devices Limited, respected innovators in the field of immersive technologies, providing specialist display engineering. Portal’s expertise in immersive installations has for many years been applied to the attractions market.
‘Immersive technologies’ refers to technologies which enable people to experience pseudorealistic or entirely artificial environments, with fantastical images, audio, interactivity, and even scents. This type of ‘immersion’ describes the experience of being surrounded by a virtual world: think theme park dark rides, immersive art, planetaria, driving and flight simulators; even your local cinema does a good job of it. They make the unreal real and transport people to different environments, absorbing them in a powerful experience. It may be a stretch but try to imagine how gaskets fit within this innovative, immersive entertainment.
Why would they need a gaskets company? What role could gaskets possibly play in immersive technologies?
Engineering, reliability and high-performance equipment underpin the effective delivery of immersive experiences. The bigger the fantasy, the more exacting the challenge. And Portal Devices supports some of the biggest names in the industry, household names of attractions we all know and love. They entrust Portal Devices to get the immersive installation right, to deliver the highest quality designs and equipment against quality assurance requirements that reach military levels of care. Portal Devices needs to produce reliable products, and they are very fussy about who they trust to help them deliver.
The world of immersive entertainment relies heavily on the ‘wow!’ factor. Portal’s founder, Matt Roberts, knew he needed the projector mounts, structures, acoustic devices, laser alignment devices and other kit they were developing to be 100% reliable for many years of almost-continuous service. He trusted PSC Global’s gasket expertise could help him achieve the quality and consistency he required; he knew PSC as proven suppliers to blue chip companies. These projector mounts are hefty mechanical fabrications which house the highest-grade large venue projectors and lenses. The projectors weigh in over 150 kgs and cost as much as a new sports car. With such costs, the protection of critical components against dust and vibration is essential and, with air conditioning and filtration systems added into the mix, the units need many gaskets to perform perfectly. Any flaws could not only damage guests’ experiences but also result in a ride being closed with a significant loss of revenue. PSC Global’s knowhow could deliver custom-built, gaskets to print from fire-retardant foams and neoprene; an off-the-shelf solution wasn’t ever going to be an option. But, that was just the start of our shared vision.
Portal Devices knew that PSC Global could support them with so much more than gaskets. Roberts had previously worked with another PSC customer, an impressively-skilled and world class engineering firm, and knew they valued PSC. Our company recently rebranded under a new name: from Pillar Seals and Gaskets we’ve become PSC Global. The organisation we created in 1963 to supply o-rings and sealing products to engineers has evolved and grown significantly; in 2022 we needed a name that better reflects our wide-ranging expertise and diverse partnerships. Our brand reflects our capabilities, our ambitious vision and international operations. PSC Global accurately sums up who we are and what we do. We’re still gasket manufacturers but we’re far more; we’re gasket, kitting and supply chain specialists. In fact, our ambition is to lead the market in Europe for gasket manufacturing, kitting and supply chain management logistics.
The potential of the relationship was clear. PSC Global would offer end-to-end product management support and leave Portal to get on with the stuff they do best. Their strengths lie in designing extraordinary attractions and developing supporting technologies; we have the skills and procedures to operate efficient procurement, kitting and assembly services and international logistics. Our supply chain management (SCM) abilities maximise competitive advantage, quality and customer satisfaction. We knew we could help Portal Devices deliver their products to customers when, where and in the quantities they need to; we would become their partnered production house. From sourcing and managing materials into assemblies, goods inwards verification, ISO9001-standard quality control systems before delivery to the actual shipping process itself, PSC Global’s support will be evident throughout the chain.
Our size means we can relieve them of expensive warehousing costs, including the storage of spares, freeing up capital. We have the financial strength to maintain large buffer stocks. We can share access to a US storage facility, a critical element in efficiently serving Portal Device’s theme park customers, and our site in Prostejov in the Czech Republic gives us a strategic presence in Europe. When assuming control of a third party’s logistics (3PL), it’s vital we safeguard continuity of supply. Still in its early days, the partnership will develop over time and our team’s keen to become involved in more complex aspects of the supply chain: precision components, sheet metalwork, covers, steel tubing and frameworks. Portal Devices have already been so convinced that they are now introducing PSC to other projects and new technology development projects for the establishment of critical IP.
Roberts said ‘We found the perfect solution to fulfil our operational goals - the skilled and capable team at PSC are hugely enjoyable to work with and readily understand the engineering and production controls we need. We’re looking forward to building on this serendipitous partnership’.
‘We are ramping up production for this welcomed new partner’, said Chris Smith, our Managing Director, ‘Portal Devices demonstrate how our SCM and production skills can provide invaluable capability expansion for companies needing local world-class operations for a world-wide customer base’.