Wheat Meet International 2013

IDM PickPlaceWheatstone dealers arrived at our New Bern factory the week of June 9th, 2013 from all parts of the world; Hong Kong, Ireland, Brazil, Austria, The Netherlands, Canada, Australia, India, France and Switzerland were among the countries represented.

They laughed. They learned. They toured. They flew a remote-controlled helicopter in a well-heeled New Bern restaurant.

At the factory, they learned about networking and processing and some cool new console moves. They discovered new presets and breathtaking sunsets off the docks of the Hilton and again at a company pig roast. They learned that WheatNet-IP BLADEs are not only smart, they’re civilized. (In a network of two or more BLADEs, they hold “elections” to determine which one is the master BLADE for clock syncing and so forth.)  And that you have to try really hard to mess up the sound of a new AirAura X3, even if you rock the factory down to the studs. 

They got a behind-the-scenes look at our in-house gate-array development and customized board layouts that rival the electrical grid in a small city, and saw some of the new stuff we’re working on in the lab (they’re sworn to secrecy, in case you’re wondering). They tweaked settings and sketched out systems for upcoming projects with our field and system engineers. They walked the lines in our 52,000 square-foot factory to meet our skilled machinists, fabricators and screeners, and to marvel at our new magnetic solder machine and pick-and-place surface mount machine.   

They learned where on the factory floor Jay Tyler warms up the occasional pizza when no one’s looking. (Hint. Always look inside the new surface-mount ‘oven’ before firing it up.)  

During Wheat Meet 2013, our international dealers kept telling us how unusual it is to visit a manufacturing plant that actually manufactures product these days. We didn’t know there was any other way! Here, raw materials arrive in the back door, wind through the factory to be pressed, molded, wired and tested, retested, and tested again before making its way out into the world as a Wheatstone or Audioarts product. We do just about everything here in the factory, from machining, fabrication and screening to printed circuit board surface mount, which is why we’re able to keep the quality high and the cost reasonable, plus build-to-order and develop new products faster than the other guys.

Overall, they left here refreshed, prepared, and ready to meet our Wheatstone customers’ needs, wherever they might be in the world. 

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