Cohu Inc. The Electronics Division of Cohu, Inc., is a leading manufacturer of high-performance, closed-circuit television cameras and accessory equipment systems for security, surveillance, machine vision, robotics, and defense and aerospace original equipment manufacturers. The company was facing declining profitability and dwindling sales opportunities due to a declining defense industry, foreign competition, and quality and process control problems. Working with the California Manufacturing Technology Center, San Diego-based Cohu implemented a total quality management process and achieved impressive results. Among them: improved on-time delivery processes cut three days from its lead time; changes in its shipping process resulted in savings of more than $10,000 per year; and revamping processes for manufacturing printed circuit boards reduced costs by 8 percent.
Display Technologies. Display Technologies, a Carthage, Mo., manufacturer of color and monochrome displays, wanted to improve on a quality inspection process that was labor intensive, fatiguing for personnel, and yielded variable results. Final adjustments to monitors accounted for as much as 40 percent of the 20-year-old company's labor costs. Display Technologies chose to explore vision inspection systems. It turned to the Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center to help it evaluate the available options. The extension center linked company engineers with a facility that had implemented a vision system so they could study one in operation. Center field engineers then helped the company gather technical information on specific features and capa-bilities most appropriate for Display Technologies' operations. "With MAMTC's help, we were able to greatly cut down the time it took to investigate, analyze, and formulate a plan for our vision system," says Jeff Slama, test systems engineer. "MAMTC knew where to turn for the information we needed to get the job done." Once the system is implemented fully, Display Technologies anticipates that product quality will increase, while inspection costs will decrease by 40 percent.
Universal Rundle. A commitment to quality improvement and employee training has paid off for Universal Rundle, a manufacturer of toilets and lavatory fixtures, with plants in Monroe and Union Point, Ga. To help it develop and train quality improvement teams, the company tapped the expertise of the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance, an affiliate center of the MEP. Extension personnel provided instruction on quality management theory, data-gathering methods, and problem-solving techniques. Subsequent improvements in the company's operations led to decreases in defect rates and customer complaints. When other firms in the industry were laying off workers in response to a slow market, Universal Rundle was pressing to keep up with growing customer demand. It added new workers and instituted overtime. The company attributes the growth in sales to higher productivity and improved product quality, which, it says, is the result of increased employee participation in the quality process.
Accu-tech Industries, Inc. Accu-tech, a Shelby Township, Mich., machine shop and parts supplier to the auto industry, wanted to improve operations and find new ways to market products. The Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center carried out an assessment focusing on marketing, quality, and organization. The findings enabled Accu-tech to develop new, more customer-responsive sales and marketing strategies and to restructure its management organization. The company invested in new technology, increasing capital equipment purchases by 10 percent, and it generated a 15-percent increase in annual sales.