A discussion with S.T. Nicholas of Arctic Pole Industries
Building Christmas
According to Nicholas, Arctic Pole is faced with very unique planning and manufacturing issues. “99.9% of our orders arrive in early December – more often than not written in Crayon – with delivery deadlines on or around the 24th of the month, so our lead times are extremely short.” To address this reality, Nicholas and his team have developed a unique Sourced-As-Needed Toy Approach or SANTA. “The holiday season would not be the same without SANTA. With SANTA we’re able to track every order from raw material to finished toy, and Vidcie is a critical part of the process.” Stopping to sip from a mug of egg nog, Nicholas continues, “With Vidcie, I can instantly see anything I need to see. Whether it’s the wood whittling workshop, the paint team or the gift-wrap crew, getting eyes-on is as easy as asking a camera equipped worker to move to a new location. It’s essentially an elf-serve process.”
Dash Away All
In order to maintain 360 degree control of the entire operation – including delivery – Arctic Pole Industries maintains its own fleet of custom-built toy transport sleighs. While this certainly increases convenience, it also requires a skilled maintenance team to keep things flying smoothly. But even the best techs occasionally need backup and Vidcie has proven to be indispensable in these cases. Nicholas had this to say: “Anyone in the Holiday Services Industry knows it takes a keen eye and years of experience to properly evaluate issues such as harness fatigue and sleigh bell corrosion. And quite frankly these experts are few and far between.”
“With Vidcie, our ground teams are able to stream live video in real time back to our Ops Center so that our in house experts can get an elf’s-eye view into the
problem. By adopting Vidcie, we have been able to dramatically speed up both the diagnosis and resolution of problems on the runway and have seen a 23% decrease in ROG (Reindeer On Ground) time.”
Putting Out Fires
For most companies, the job is done when the product is packed and shipped. Not so with Arctic Pole. “SANTA is all about ensuring delivery to the end user, and once again, Vidcie has proven to be indispensable” states Nicholas. “When we arrive on site, we must ensure that everything goes according to plan, with no surprises. While wind, snow and roof pitch are all occupational hazards, other pitfalls are easily avoided with Vidcie Live Video. A great example is the smokestack
scenario. As I prep for the initial descent into the work area, I use a length of industrial grade holiday ribbon to lower a Vidcie camera down the chimney. In this way, I’m able to use the real-time video feed to check for open flame, hot coals, unsteady log stacking or any of a number of other hazardous conditions. The level of Situation Yule Awareness that Vidcie provides is truly a game changer.”
When asked for final comments, Nicholas simply laid his finger aside of his nose, gave a nod and said, “With video streaming the job is done right. Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”