THIS HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL manufacturer of advanced LED switches, microwave products, and electromechanical assemblies is travelling up the value-chain while re-defining what OEMs can expect from their suppliers.

A history of succeeding
If past successes are an accurate measure, then Ducommun Technologies is in a category of its own when it comes to the development and manufacture of critical or complex electromechanical assemblies for cockpit and other aerospace applications. Widely acknowledged as the company that can solve technical challenges that other companies shy away from, Ducommun Technologies has earned an unparalleled reputation as the go-to company and currently works with most of the world's leading military, aerospace, space and aviation OEMs as well as airlines and companies that serve them.

The future
The company's past capabilities have been enhanced significantly by the merging of MechTronics and Fort Defiance operations into Ducommun Technologies. MechTronics is well known for its ability to manufacture complex mechanical and electromechanical enclosure products and development of subsystem integration of defence electronics systems and commercial aviation assemblies.

From a customer's perspective, it was a powerful move to combine MechTronics' expertise with Ducommun's unique abilities in designing, engineering and manufacturing highest-reliability illuminated push-button switches and switching assemblies, microwave and RF signal processing components, fractional power motors and resolvers. Ducommun is totally "uncommon" in its ability to support its customers with a truly comprehensive, single source for advanced integrated electromechanical sub-assemblies.

Prototyping: flexibility and speed
The company's differentiation from its competitors starts, appropriately, at the beginning. Because of the company's unique and extensive experience in problem solving, it has developed a highly specialised design, engineering, and prototype capability. Unlike companies that have focused on higher volume, less technically demanding applications, Ducommun is geared to work with its customer engineers in finding an integrated switching or electromechancial solution that is optimum for the job. It is common for Ducommun's engineering staff to play an integral role in the design stage and, using the company's unique prototyping technology, to produce fit-and-form models from CAD drawings within the space of just a couple of weeks.

As Tony Shadbolt, Vice President, noted, "It's not uncommon for first time potential customers to be somewhat incredulous concerning our speed of response. It's understandable, because few manufacturing companies in the world have concentrated so many resources on the initial design and prototyping stage. But we've always felt that having the greatest manufacturing capability in the world means nothing if what you are manufacturing is mediocre. We've simply built our capabilities around that philosophy."

Demanding applications
As part of that philosophy, Ducommun Technologies' has invested consistently in state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities to support its customers' demanding applications. Currently, the company has manufacturing facilities in Carson, California; Phoenix, Arizona and Fort Defiance, Arizona in the US. Combined, the facilities are home to over 450 highly trained, experienced engineers and production specialists working with the latest production technology.

In the Carson facility, the company maintains two class 10,000 clean rooms with Class 100 laminar flow benches; an extensive CNC machine shop; EDM and welding capabilities, and the latest automated design and design-to-prototype tools. Test facilities include thermal vacuum/shock, altitude, humidity, ESS, vibration and high power. The company's quality assurance system is certified to FAA and ISO 9001 standards, and its ongoing commitment to excellence in performance has won the company many honours including the prestigious Silver Level Preferred Supplier Certification awarded by Boeing.

Uncommon financial strength
Another very important asset Ducommun Technologies brings to its customers is uncommon financial strength. As an integral part of Ducommun Incorporated, an exceptionally financially strong company named in Fortune 500's top 200 small companies two years running, Ducommun Technologies has the resources to invest in new programmes and the ability to maintain its technological edge in engineering and manufacturing.

According to Paul Graham, President, "The company is actively leveraging its current leadership position to focus its efforts on more complex electromechanical components, assemblies and sub-assemblies. "We want to concentrate on where we bring our customers most value and, over the past years our customers have indicated that our method of integrating various functions into space and cost-saving modules has made a very real impact on their businesses. Although inherently there is more risk in this approach, we're entrepreneurial by nature and willing to risk resources when a promising opportunity arises."

An uncommon future
By combining its past success with its current capabilities and company focus, Ducommun Technologies is well positioned to widen its horizons, travel up the value-chain and in so doing help its customers develop increasingly technically elegant solutions while reducing their overall costs and optimising their supplier base. As Mr. Shadbolt noted, "The company will continue its leadership role in the technologies with which it has been involved.

"We expect that once our customer base understands our expanded capabilities and how our unique ability to integrate can affect their bottom line, we will see an increasing amount of business at the complex assembly and sub-assembly level. That is where we shine; it is where we separate ourselves from the common."