US military takes stock thanks to North East’s Advantex

Advanced wireless technology and skills supplied by a fast growing North East IT and Communications company have been pivotal in improving inventory systems at dozens of US military bases across Europe.

Houghton-le-Spring IT and Communications company Advantex has completed work on behalf of the US Defense Commissary to improve stock-taking and control systems using Cisco-based wireless LAN technology at US air force, navy and army bases in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Holland, Turkey and Iceland.

The Fort Lee, Virginia-based Defense Commissary Agency is similar to the UK forces’ NAAFI.

It operates a world-wide chain of retail sites supplying military personnel, veterans and their families with goods and services in secure surroundings, including dozens of shops and leisure facilities at European military bases.

The Agency outsources responsibility for storage handling and data capture systems – hundreds of inter-linked cash tills among other associated equipment – at these bases to US cash-handling giants NCR Corporation.

When it was decided to upgrade the systems 18 months ago, NCR brought in US manufacturers of electronic systems, cables and wired technology, End-To-End Inc to draw up a tender, source a supplier and oversee the project.

Advantex won the contract from End-To-End Inc in the face of some stiff competition from national IT and Communications firms, netting the company £250,000 worth of new business.

The work has seen Advantex engineers survey dozens of sites using the latest laptop computer software to assess and identify the best places to install signal relay points at each site to ensure the new wireless inventory systems would work properly.

The company was also responsible for testing the system once installation had been completed.

The 12 month contract was finished ahead of schedule by a six-strong team of locally-based engineers who travelled out to work at each site for periods of up to one month at a time.

The new IT and Communications infrastructure has enabled NCR to use the latest hand held wireless scanning technology in order to improve the quality and reliability of its automated stock-taking and re-ordering processes at each military base.

The contract was one of the largest Advantex has secured and included 35 sites in Germany alone, including the large Ramstein Air Base and Germersheim Army Depot.

Advantex won the contract in the face of stiff competition from major contractors, which followed the successful installation of similar types of systems at six US military bases in the UK.

These were RAF Lakenheath, RAF Fairford, RAF Mildenhall, RAF Alconbury, RAF Croughton in Oxfordshire and RAF Menwith Hill, near Harrogate.

Advantex designs, installs and commissions computer and telephone local area networks (LANs) and was started in 2002 by former Royal Marine Commando Stephen and his brother David O’Connell.

It now employs 30 people and last year moved to a new site on the Rainton Bridge Industrial Estate in Houghton-le-Spring to accommodate expansion. This year the company is predicting turnover to rise to £1,500,000 by the summer.

End-To-End’s Mille Paske was impressed by the speed and quality of Advantex’s work.

She said: “The company reacted extremely quickly to our requirements, offering the best and most cost effective turnkey solution. They were able to deploy teams on-site very quickly and the quality of their workmanship was peerless.

“I wish we had the same quality and standard of engineering excellence in the US.”

Advantex’s Stephen O’Connell said: “This contract has been a massive boost for us, strongly reinforcing our position as one of the top suppliers of advanced network solutions.

“We are a young company, but clearly have the ability and expertise to deliver any size of project on time, within budget and to the highest specification.”

This latest news follows the recent appointment of several network engineers, trainee apprentices and a new accounts manager, who have been brought in to strengthen the business as it looks to build on its growing reputation as infrastructure specialists.

Advantex has already supply network-cabling systems and network cameras to and.

Major clients include Nissan, furniture retailer ScS, Caterpillar Articulated Trucks, NSK Steering, Simpson’s Malt, wood-based panels manufacturer Egger (UK) Ltd and Cleveland Potash, which operates Europe’s deepest mine at Boulby.

The company achieved the prestigious ISO9001/2000 industry quality mark within its first year of trading.