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From the Editor:
Inovar Expands Business Through Customer Partnerships
December 31, 1969 |
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Inovar Inc., an inthinc company and mid-volume contract electronics assembly provider located in North Logan, Utah, held an open house to announce its expansion through adding 40,000 square foot to their existing building. Inovar's success as an EMS provider is based on its ability to provide a full range of services, included materials procurement, thru-hole and SMT PCB assembly, test, and system builds. The company has experienced 1000% growth in the past five years. And in 2007, it merged with an OEM customer to form inthinc.
The Logan facility expanded from 20,000 to 65,000 sq.ft. to accommodate their 270 employee, 28 engineer, 24/7 shift coverage. There is also a 50-employee OEM unit that resides in a separate facility in Salt Lake City. The Logan facility includes one prototype and three production SMT lines, and Inovar plans to add another line. The type of equipment has widened over time, as required by customers, to include diverse items. For instance, there now are separate leaded and lead-free lines; selective soldering; ICT, flying probe, and X-ray inspection systems; automated UV conformal coating and potting; software control systems from Valor, and Manex ERP; and a dedicated new product introduction (NPI) business unit.
"Customers want flexibility, and we actually like change," says Jed Jones, VP of EMS sales. Medical, military, and high-reliability-type products are the most difficult boards to build, but these types of boards clearly represent markets that Inovar's management finds of primary interest. At present, the company's business mix looks like this: 39% industrial, 23% military/aerospace, 17% medical, 14% aftermarket auto, and 7% other areas.
Customers are largely high-rel, with complex PCBs.
It's clear that a large proportion of consumer electronics board assembly has moved to China. When the level of EMS production reaches $10 million in outsourcing business, the advantage of moving to a lower-cost area becomes attractive; however, there's not the big push for a China solution now from Wall Street as there was last year. "Perhaps that's why our business has been so good in the last 18 months," adds Bob Black, VP of Juki and supplier of pick-and-place and selective soldering equipment for Inovar.
Two of Inovar's customers talked about their successful partnerships with the company over time. Dave Martinez's company, Edge Products Inc., makes electronics to improve the performance of diesel trucks and automobiles. "You might call them male cosmetics," he says. From a small company, Edge has grown quickly, and as they grew, Inovar provided guidance at quarterly business meetings, board design assistance, cost-saving ideas, and a customer team to focus on what Edge needed. Inovar provided the much-needed leverage to deal with a major processor when Edge needed supplies quickly. They also helped control costs when working with board design requirements.
Bill Percival of L3 Communications, another customer using Inovar's EMS offering, presented to those building boards for L3's Department of Defense (DoD) business. Percival required skills for working with high-frequency RF applications. L3 had worked with suppliers in the past but hadn't found the right high-technology fit with low rework results. They went through competitive bids and the normal rigorous selection process to find the right EMS provider to handle their boards. "We bought a flying probe tester from SPEA because it was required to handle the types of boards that we build for L3," said Jim Bjorklund, VP of operations at Inovar. Bill Percival presented a large poster to thank the employees at Inovar who built L3 boards for the Rover 4, high-tech radio receiver. "By helping to provide soldiers in the field with real-time information, you have saved American soldiers' lives by your efforts," he said.
"Working with companies that push our capabilities only makes us a better company," Bjorklund added. Having work hours and times specifically adjusted to students' needs draws employees from the nearby University of Utah eager to expand their skill sets. And there are other reasons for their success. "We build partnerships with our customers and suppliers, and these relationships make us more flexible than most Tier III EMS suppliers," says Blake Kirby, president and COO. "We offer a Tier I menu selection with a Tier III flexibility." At present the company does domestic business and has no plans to export business to China. They take the time to get training for their staff to IPC 610 rework requirements. Inovar uses Juki's equipment because they must deal with 300 different SKUs a month and Juki's flexibility meets Inovar's needs.
"In 2007, revenue was at $37 million; and in 2008 it may reach $50 million," Bjorklund adds. Partnering works well for Inovar.
Gail Flower, editor-in-chief