STI Electronics – Not just another New Facility
Attracting attendees from New Hampshire to Floriday and as far away as Ireland, Jim Raby of STI Electronics humbly captured his audience and prepared us for our first ever visit to STI’s new facility in Madison, AL.
When Jim Raby, Founder and Technical Director of STI,
greeted us after a welcoming dinner, the night before the open
house, he spoke with such passion for his company and its
achievements, that it captured our attention as we all sat there
and watched him intently with raised eyebrows, waiting to hear
what he would say next. But it was when he said “It is an
honor to have you all here” that I was stunned. I think I can
speak for all of us there that the honor felt to be all mine, but I
knew Jim meant it, truly. Since Jim founded his company in
1982 it has become his life and passion.
Not only is Jim a sincere and engaging man, he is a multiachiever
in many areas of electronics… He developed the
NASA and Department of Defense Soldering Schools. He
initiated the Zero Defect Program for Wave Soldering and
developed and implemented WS-6536D and the DoD-Std-
2000 specification programs. He most recently developed the
Imbedded Component/Die Technology® (IC/DT®) packaging
technology, which we were all lucky enough to view a full
presentation, delivered by Casey Cooper, STI’s Electrical Engineering Manager, before heading
back to the airport.
For any company to be truly successful it has to be supported by a team of professionals with the
required skill sets that fit in as “part of the family”! This is certainly the case for STI. STI is literally
and figuratively a strong family business. David Raby, Jim’s son, has served as President since
1991, but both Jim and his wife Ellen continue working – not accepting the idea of retirement!
(Although they are getting ready to embark on a 28-day cruise to Australia!)
David Raby has led a strong team of employees since his command began. His employees all
range in at least five years tenure with the company (or much longer) and together they grew the
business reaching an impressive 32% annual sales growth in 2008! Positioning themselves for
continued success and growth, STI also recently launched their “Industrial Tools and Supplies
Division” at the end of 2008 and hired a full team of people to run that area. But the growth doesn’t
stop there.
The main reason we all flew in was to see their remarkable new facility. Meeting the people was a
huge bonus!
What does STI do in 54,000 square feet of space?
As we approached the building with all its unfinished landscaping I saw what appeared to be a large
one-story office building. But behind the decorative façade loomed 54,000 square feet of working
space. So what is STI able to do in 54,000 square feet of space that they couldn’t do in their smaller
facility? Invest in their future! The belief of “Build it and they will come” is a hope they stand by at
STI.
Their success in the past builds this confidence in their future and expanding their facility means
broadening the scope of production capabilities as well as services. STI has every reason to believe
they will reach the next level.
Jim Raby
But how do you shut down one facility and open another without shutting down your business? Ask
Diana Bradford, STI’s Vice President of Operations/Training Resources. Diana was the one
responsible to ensure that the move went smoothly. Today, they are fully functional in their new
expanded home and the only thing left to do now is to get the former facility rented out and present
us with a tour of the new one.
Not Running Scared, Running Smart!
Throughout our morning we were led through not one but three main divisions of STI that all work
together synergistically, sharing internal resources such as staff, products and services like
warehousing that allows STI a base stability through this internal support structure. Although all the
three divisions work well together internally, only approximately 5% of their customers use multiple
areas of the company regularly.
We were first introduced to Sissie Eckstein, a ten year veteran of STI that now manages STI’s
Distribution division.
STI’s Distribution Division
began as a result of procurement difficulties of
products required for use in low volume manufacturing. Today STI provides many local companies
(including their own) with more than 120 various supplies and consumable products that are usually
hard to purchase in smaller quantities. Throughout the upcoming year Sissie and her team will be
implementing a new e-commerce site to add to their list of customer services.
We then traveled down the hall to one of three new
training class rooms.
STI’s Training Division
is
what they are known for around the world more
than anything else. If you have ever required IPC
certification you are most likely familiar with STI
and may have even trained there every two years
for recertification, as so many people do. Pat Scott,
Director of Training Services oversees the functions
of the training classes. STI conducts training for
IPC approved certifications; in fact they even
helped write the curriculum for IPC! They also
conduct NASA level training programs and custom
classes based on company specific training needs.
They can conduct classes either at the STI facility
or travel to other companies using training kits;
Training Classroom
STI Electronics’ new facility located at 261 Palmer Road, Madison, AL
80% of their classes are offsite classes. While STI conducts many hands-on and lecture style
classes, the J-STD-001 and IPC-771/7721 Standards are their most popular of all.
As a Raby family member, David recalls always being treated more strictly than most employees.
Jim Raby required David to become certified, but as a rule Jim did not allow any of his family
members to pass the class on the first attempt. David earned the highest score in his first
certification class, but while others all passed, and true to Jim’s word, David did not pass the class.
Nor in his second class. Halfway through David’s third class Jim said to him “you’ve had enough of
all this” and pulled him out of class… David never did get his actual IPC certification.
Next on our route was the Main Lab, the first of
the
Engineering Services Division
areas we
saw. Once there, we met Marietta Lemieux,
Analytical Lab Manager who was extensively
knowledgeable about analysis and testing. The
Main Lab space, which now requires a lot more
walking than the typical chair-rolling method they
used in their smaller former labs, is equipped
with a plethora of analysis machines including
ion chromatography, infrared spectrometers, XRay
analysis, optical microscopy, and scanning
electron microscopy.
The SEMS (scanning electron microscopes)
room seemed to be their pride and joy, thrilled at
having this high magnification equipment
separate from the rest, and the room barely lit.
Other labs included the wet lab where chemical testing is conducted under a fume hood, and their
environmental testing room which houses a large thermal shock chamber.
After leaving the Lab area, we were then corralled through the warehouse and the training kit room
and into the manufacturing area. STI started out building prototypes and small volume assemblies
for aerospace and military customers. But this area of STI was the most affected with the new
expansion. Today, STI’s 24,000 square feet of ISO 9000 certified manufacturing space is able to
ramp up in all areas of manufacturing in both volume of orders and production capabilities. They now
supply PCB assemblies to commercial customers and can take on higher volume projects.
Wet Lab
Main Lab
Ion Chromatography testing in process
In addition to their standard manufacturing
space, STI also invested in not one but two
clean rooms! The first is 1,000 square feet
of class 1000, ISO Class 6. This room,
while certified as class 1000, operates at a
class 100. The second clean room is 700
square feet of Class 10,000.
So why invest so much during a slow
economic period?
Everyone wants to know the secret of
making it through tough economic times.
The key ingredient is not to disappear from
view. No matter how you do it, one must
stay visible to their customers and potential
customers and must be able to support
their needs even through struggling times.
STI has built this expanded new 54,000
square foot facility on the heels of a highly successful year.
STI’s reputation was not built in a day. It
took years of providing quality products
with service that supported it. About the
product, Mel Scott, Quality Manager,
reiterated the company belief of “When
you build it, if you design it right in the
beginning, the success rate is very good”.
Backing this statement by using
equipment only from manufacturers they
believe in, STI has established a success
rate they can be proud of. Today the new
facility boasts a brand new manufacturing
line including the Juki FX-3 high speed
placement machine, which allows them to
now place the infamous 01005
components, the Juki KE-2080 fine-pitch
mounter, PROMATION conveyors,
Yestech F1 AOI machines, and Heller
reflow ovens.
While much of the 24,000 square feet is still unfurnished, STI built their new facility with that same
belief on how they build their product; right the first time – with success to surely follow. There are
future plans to add a full turnkey production line and testers to fill the empty space… A very big
smile took over the face of Juki President, Bob Black, from the thought of selling three more lines to
STI!
At lunch we were able to spend a little more time with the staff and leaders of STI. This company and
its people are a confident bunch making all the right moves to prepare for their future growth. While
many companies are a bit nervous as we move further into 2009, STI is continuing with their original
plan with high hopes of another record year.
We ended our day with the presentation on Imbedded Component/Die Technology® (IC/DT®) I
mentioned earlier. As the lights were dimming in preparation, Jim Raby introduced us to Casey
Cooper and said to her “Make sure you give away all the secrets within the first 15 minutes”. And
she did! If you want in on the secret too, you can find out next week in the next issue of our Express.
http://www.smtnet.com/library/files/upload/STI_New_facility2.pdf
