JEFFERSON — American Emergency Vehicles® (AEV) is centralizing the company’s operations and manufacturing facility to one 35-acre campus in the company’s headquarters city of Jefferson, N.C., it announced today in a statement.

The company, which is owned by the publicly traded REV Group® (REVG), has been based in Jefferson for more than 30 years, and decided to improve its operations through the consolidation of five facilities to one facility.

In a phased approach, the company will refurbish the current facility over the summer, and then complete equipment installation by February 2022, allowing the company to expand from four production lines to five.

“We are committed to maintaining our reputation for hands-on American craftsmanship, likewise we are also committed to ensuring our emergency vehicles have the most modern technology to continually improve the productivity and safety of our customers,” said Randy Hanson, VP and GM for AEV in an interview with WRAL TechWire.

The renovated facility will also utilize designated quality gates, which according to the company will yield greater vehicle quality.  The facility also allows the company to execute a single-piece flow through each stage of the painting process, for new and remounted ambulances, which will result in greater consistency between vehicles, said the company.

“In the AEV complex, we have added new technology in our painting systems, we have added both fiber lasers and CNC routers to our manufacturing processes,” said Hanson.  “W have extended our partnership with ZeroRPM to offer Idle Mitigation Systems technology in our vehicles, which help reduce the negative impact extended idling has on the environment, personal health, and vehicle operating costs.”

The company previously announced that its vehicles can be equipped with Traumahawk Telematics, an integrated vehicle intelligence solution, which generates advanced informatics allowing emergency vehicle fleet owners and managers greater efficiency, and enhances patient and crew member safety, said Hanson.  “Traumahawk Telematics enables remote fleet management and maintenance, monitors driver behavior, tracks fleet utilization, and provides an intelligent platform for additional capabilities such as RFID asset tracking.”

The company estimates that it builds nearly one quarter of all ambulances available on the market, including four different full lines of emergency vehicles, using a LEAN manufacturing process and serves clients nationwide.

The new complex will allow expansion, said Hanson, “which will increase production capacity and allow for additional growth in the future.”