Company Profile: C&D Assembly was founded in 1992 and has become a full-service Contract Manufacturer performing turnkey automated SMT and Thru-Hole assembly and board testing services. C&D also provides PC board repair and refurbishment as well as electro-mechanical assembly, chassis assembly, and box builds. In almost 15 years, C&D Assembly has grown into a twenty-person organization, occupying a 14,000 square-foot company-owned building in Groton, NY.

Situation: C&D Assembly had recently reached a state where, in order to grow their business, significant changes in contracting, facilities, processes, and team focus were required. C&D’s business model was based on consignment manufacture. OEMs provided most or all of the materials and parts needed for assembly. Several years ago industry requirements began to shift towards Turn-Key Assembly, therefore requiring Contract Manufacturer’s to procure all materials as well as provide labor. Providing on-time delivery to the OEM surfaced as a major problem for C&D, driven mainly by their infrastructure deficiencies in setting up and maintaining a stable material pipeline.

C&D leadership decided to change the way they do business and seek growth by engaging in a strategic planning process with AM&T. This activity was followed by a program with AM&T to implement the actions resulting from the strategic plan.

Project: The C&D team undertook a three month strategic planning process, diligently meeting once per week with AM&T staff to develop a meaningful plan. The team determined that to be successful, it would be necessary to focus on five key areas:

• Transition their business model to turnkey manufacture

• Expand their facility to support turnkey manufacture

• Improve processes and develop a quality management system

• Upgrade their Workforce Skills

• Focus on Sales & Marketing

Once the plan was in place, the leadership team spent 18 months implementing the action plan through an IEP grant and has begun the journey to achieve their strategic growth, profitability and performance goals.

Impacts: As a result of AM&T’s engagement with the C&D Assembly team, they have increased sales from $1,000,000 to $4,000,000, more than doubled the size of their facility, and improved processes and overall quality in just over 2 years. C&D was able to obtain a grant to offset some of these implementation costs. C&D is currently working with AM&T to implement lean manufacturing techniques throughout their facility.

Testimonial: “As a struggling small company, C&D management really did not know where to turn for this type of help. AM&T has been (and still are) a valuable asset in helping C&D to overcome some major growing pains. Everyone on the team at AM&T is professional and knowledgeable and has been a pleasure to work with.”

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