Challenge
elite | studio e serves a diverse array of clients across many industries nationwide. Their projects vary widely in size, scope and complexity, making it difficult to find manufacturing partners who consistently deliver exceptional production quality while still being flexible enough to adapt to evolving challenges.
Solution
Aero Manufacturing’s personalized approach to customer service and proven track record of precision manufacturing enables elite | studio e’s design team to guarantee and deliver exceptional results to even their most discerning clients.
Meet the Client
elite | studio e is a bustling family-owned firm specializing in designing and building food service spaces for high-volume settings. Their comprehensive turnkey process encompasses all aspects of a project, from the initial technical and interior design plans to the project's fabrication, buildout and installation. Each aspect of the process is closely monitored by a team of experienced pros, resulting in a fully furnished and functional space that is ready for immediate use by the client. Since their founding in 2000, they have collaborated with a wide range of organizations, including educational institutions (both higher education as well as K-12), healthcare facilities, corporate offices, senior living facilities and more.
A Deeper Dive
We were excited to sit down for a conversation with two of the top minds at elite | studio e:
Ivan Weiss is the president, COO and one of the co-owners of elite | studio e. Ivan wears many hats - he oversees the projects team as well as design, implementation, construction, project coordination, accounting, and finance. He is also very involved in the high-level management of vendor relationships, like the one that the company maintains with Aero Manufacturing.
As the Project Coordination Director, Jenna Sperl supervises a team who handles quoting, purchasing, budgets, and post-construction support for a variety of clients. Her team also provides support to project managers during construction and addresses any service issues clients may face during the construction process. In her daily work, she collaborates closely with Aero Manufacturing on various projects.
What types of projects do you typically turn to Aero for help with?
Jenna: I would say that they are one of our first choices for pretty much everything.
Ivan: Yeah, it's the truth. The reality of it is that there's a lot of companies that make similar product lines and we have worked with other companies in the past. But it's one thing to make and ship a product, it's another thing to really stand behind a product and be there when a client needs it, and that's really the differentiator.
How have Aero’s custom manufacturing capabilities benefited your clients over the years?
Jenna: We’ve had projects in the past that have had very, very complicated corners or turns that we have worked with Aero to make sure everything was drawn properly and built to fit the space. Every room is different - You might have a kitchen with a column, or maybe it has a weird notch out, or the wall comes in at a strange angle. Whatever it is, you need the stainless steel to meet the wall perfectly, both for cleanliness purposes and of course aesthetics, and Aero really helps us to navigate that every time.
Ivan: And sometimes people don’t realize when they need custom fabrication, so they go to just a standard catalog table because they say, "What's the difference between one stainless steel table and another?" But Aero has some unique features like the slip fit joint, a few other things that they really focus on that provide a custom solution at a reasonable cost. And it allows people to get into custom but not have to get into the crazy high-end custom right away, if that makes sense. They've provided a solution that's a middle ground.
Jenna: Oh I’m glad you mentioned the slip fit joint - that has actually helped us numerous times, because it's one extra level of coordination we don't have to do. Previously if we were getting into tight spaces, we would have to have the counters made in small sections and then have them welded together onsite. Welding can be expensive, and it can be hard to find a good welder in certain areas. But that slip fit joint has really helped to alleviate some of that, and has allowed us to be able to get into tighter spaces without having to do a ton of welding.
What is it like to work with Aero Manufacturing on a day-to-day basis?
Jenna: One of the things that my team loves and that makes them one of our first choices is that we have a sole source to go to for each phase of the project at Aero, unlike other companies where it's just a generic email address and you get whoever you get. We always have the same contact person, so we're able to build a relationship with them and they know what we are looking for. There's a more open dialogue with them, as opposed to our inquiry just going to a generic email and whoever's next in line picks up our project.
Ivan: And to add on to that, one of the reasons that we come back to them again and again is that they're very consistent. They deliver on what they say they're going to deliver without many surprises, and if there's a challenge, it’s just handled. This is so important because the timeline of a project really matters in our industry. For example, in a project for a healthcare facility, there's a lot of very intricate coordination on the delivery because obviously a hospital never closes, so you're dealing with getting product in through specific locations at specific timeframes for minimal disruption. Other manufacturers will give you a date and then it'll start to slide or change, and all of a sudden you're backed against the wall. Aero is very good about giving us a date, holding to the date, and if there is any hiccup or anything - which is rare - they don't hide from it. They really do communicate it and we make sure we talk through it thoroughly to get back on track.
Has Aero helped you navigate challenges with projects in other industries outside of healthcare?
Ivan: Yes absolutely. Often projects for something like a K-12 school will be a bit rushed - the school will have to go through funding, they might need to submit designs to state regulators, or all kinds of other obstacles, and then all of a sudden you'll hear from them and it’s “Okay, we need to deliver this job in six weeks." Aero is always ready to jump into action when we need them. On the other side of the spectrum, you have the corporate clients where it's really all about the quality expectations - the fit and finish. Even though a lot of their stainless work may be going in the back in kitchens where it's not as visible, they care a lot about making sure that what’s coming into their space is of good quality and will last. With Aero, we can confidently assure even our most discerning clients that we’ll deliver exceptional results.
How does Aero Manufacturing fit into the larger picture of how you work with your clients?
Jenna: We typically bring Aero in pretty early in the process, and we love that we’re able to do that. We design the space with our client, and then once we've laid out a design that everyone is comfortable with, then my team will reach out to Aero to start to work on quoting it with them. Aero is always super helpful and responsive if my team requests revisions or has questions. They’ll review our drawings too, and if they see anything that may be inconsistent with their best practices, they'll definitely point it out and let us know so we can have an open dialogue about it. They're very thorough in the shop drawing process with us to make sure that there aren't any issues when we get on site later.
Ivan: We also really appreciate how well they are tuned in to their operations. Other manufacturers may have different facilities all over the country, each making a different piece of something that we ordered. They're shipping things from one place to another to be assembled, and each location has different customer service people. And so sometimes we'll be like, "Where's our product?" And they'll respond, "Well, part of it's here, part of it's there and we don't really know. And we need to check and we’ll get back to you." And it is just very frustrating for us to deal with that when we take so much pride in being transparent with our clients about what’s going on with their projects.
In your opinion, what sets Aero Manufacturing apart from other vendors?
Ivan: In our industry, there's a massive amount of consolidation, and there's no personal touch or personal care, frankly. And to me that's such a differentiator for Aero because in any product, things can go wrong, but we have a connection directly up to the owner and it's not because we're anything special. I think they just really care about having a relationship with people. It’s not just them being a manufacturer with a catalog of products you can buy.
Jenna: That's exactly what I would say. It's the relationship that you build with them. You're not just another email coming in, another order. Our rep also emails me periodically just to check in, see how things are going. That's something that not a lot of manufacturers do. Every few months he'll ask me if there's anything that we need support on or anything that they can improve on, which is a nice little extra touch that they give.
Ivan: They're also really great about training and support. They're always offering to host our team at the factory for training and development events, even if they're not salespeople. They're not shy about inviting people to come in and peek behind the curtains at the shop. So I just think they're a honest company that is really interested in, like we said, being relationship driven. And I think that means a lot in today's world.
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