Made in Washington Program Highlights Washington Manufacturing

admin — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 21:42:14 +0000

Now you can find even more great ControlTek news as well as our contact information in the online Made in Washington directory, part of Impact Washington, a non-profit organization created to help strengthen and provide helpful industry resources for Washington manufacturers.

The Made in Washington program was designed to help promote Washington manufacturers and our products, as well as provide ongoing industry support in the form of industry events and educational opportunities for manufacturers all across the state.

Visit our new Made in Washington listing today and get more information about any of ControlTek's electronic manufacturing services!

ControlTek Answers Your Manufacturing Questions at the 2012 Design-2-Part Show Coming up October 23-24

admin — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 19:11:05 +0000

ControlTek will be exhibiting at this year's 2012 Design-2-Part show taking place in Portland next month at the Portland Expo Center.

Show Details
Dates: October 23-24, 2012
Show Times: Tuesday 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Wednesday 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Location: Oregon Expo Center, 2060 Marine Drive, Portland, OR 97217
Register today for FREE admission to the show and free event parking!
The Design-2-Part show is the biggest design and contract manufacturing show in the Northwest, and this event gives us the opportunity to meet face-to-face with engineers and purchasing personnel from a wide range of industries, to discuss their projects and help answer any questions related to any of ControlTek's electronic manufacturing services, including:

Stop in and see us at this year's event to find out how ControlTek's electronic manufacturing and design engineering services can help support your creative ideas. Whether you have time for a quick hello or you're ready to discuss your next project in detail, ControlTek staff members will be on hand all day long to help assist you.

Visit ControlTek at the Upcoming AmCon Design & Contract Manufacturing Expo!

admin — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 20:22:19 +0000

ControlTek is getting ready to head north to the upcoming AmCon Design & Manufacturing Expo happening April 10-11 in Bellevue, Washington. Stop in and say hello!
The AmCon show is one of the industry's biggest showcase events, bringing together contract manufacturers with regional OEM buyers and engineers looking for contract manufacturing services. Stop in and find out just how ControlTek helps you build your big idea--from tailored services to meet your individual production needs to solving design, manufacture and supply chain challenges.
Exhibiting at shows like AmCon give us an opportunity to meet face-to-face with the engineers, purchasers and production managers who are directly involved in the manufacturing decision making process, as well as an opportunity to meet and visit other members of our industry. We look forward each year to attending the AmCon show.
Be sure to stop in to the ControlTek booth to say hello! This year, we will be in Booth #106. We look forward to seeing you!
Show Details:

Show dates: April 10 & 11, 2012
Show times: April 10 - 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; April 11 - 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Location: Meydenbauer Center; 11100 Northeast 6th Street, Bellevue, WA 98004
Admission to this event is FREE!

ControlTek offers a full suite of electronic manufacturing solutions for the industrial, medical, semiconductor, aerospace, military and consumer product industries, including :

New Equipment Adds Increased Flexibility and Improved Efficiency to ControlTek’s Manufacturing Processes

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:44:27 +0000

Following on the heels of our recent investment in a Juki FX-3 Surface Mount Technology System this year, ControlTek has just added two new Heller 1809 MKIII Reflow Ovens and a 3 chamber Trident LD Automatic Defluxing system to our production facility. The new equipment provides additional speed and flexibility during changeovers as well as enhanced product reliability from contaminant-free manufacturing processes.

The new ovens have increased our reflow soldering capabilities and improved efficiency. The new reflow ovens were added to two surface mount assembly lines at ControlTek for improved standardization between our production lines; Heller’s unique changeover feature improves our ability to provide quicker set-up and greater flexibility during production, helping us serve ControlTek customers with low to medium volume, high mix assembly of circuit boards, cables, box builds, testing and electronic design services.

The new Trident LD Automatic Defluxing system uses an environmentally responsible, water-based defluxing solution with built-in testing technology that ensures our reflow soldering produces reliable and contaminant-free products.

The latest investment follows several other capital equipment purchases made in the past year that demonstrates ControlTek’s ongoing commitment to stay up-to-date with the newest technology available in the electronics contract manufacturing industry.

ControlTek’s full range of electronic manufacturing services have been serving the medical, industrial, semi-conductor, aerospace, military and consumer products industries since 1971.

Bike Thieves Beware! New BikeTrak GPS Security Device is Watching.

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:56:08 +0000

As bicycle commuting soars in the Pacific Northwest and beyond, bike theft continues to rise along with it. More than just a headache for bike owners, the problem also presents huge financial costs for those affected—up to $50 million in losses each year in the United States alone. Start-ups like BikeTrak, Incorporated, may offer bicycle owners a new solution.

The Oregon Entrepreneur’s Network agrees. BikeTrak and CEO Kris Akins just took first place at the OEN Seed Oregon Pub Talk Competition held this month; the annual event provides up to $2 million in start-up capital to a local company with a big plan for the future. This year, that idea came in the form of a GPS-powered security device installed on bicycles that provides safety against theft and assistance in location of stolen items.
The new BikeTrak security device also received praise in the Oregonian this week. The BikeTrak alerts owners when their bike moves out of the immediate area; a stolen bike’s journey can be tracked on GPS via an online link accessed by computer or mobile device, making it easy to hand off to the police to help them locate an owner’s stolen property.
At ControlTek, we're thrilled to see BikeTrak and CEO Kris Akins recognized by the Oregon Entrepreneur's Network. ControlTek has worked with BikeTrak to produce their first generation of bike security units. Getting a start-up idea up and running is a big challenge, and ControlTek is happy to be able to provide the support BikeTrak needs to move its product onto the market.
The company will go on from the Seed Oregon Pub Talk Championship to present as a showcase company at the OEN's Angel Oregon 2012 coming up in April. The Angel Oregon investment conference brings entrepreneurs from all over Oregon and Southwest Washington to present to accredited angel investors for the chance to receive future financial backing.

ControlTek offers a full range of manufacturing services to help take products from concept to market, including engineering, prototyping and other value added services.

Santa Gets Extra Help This Year With ControlTek's Christmas Family Program

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:50:31 +0000

ControlTek employees have been channeling their inner Santas this month as they work together on the Family Christmas Program. The month-long event has been a part of ControlTek's holiday traditions for more than ten years, partnering ControlTek with the Vancouver Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to provide food, clothing, gifts and other supplies for a local family in need during the holiday season.
This year employees are sponsoring a local family that's been hard-hit by the economic downturn; with six kids to provide for, the childrens' parents have experienced difficulty providing the gifts, food and other supplies to help make the holiday season special. Both parents have been the unfortunate victims of Washington's high unemployment rate, but with the help of ControlTek employees, these parents will be able to provide holiday gifts for their six children as well as winter clothing and household supplies necessary to sustain the family during the winter months.
ControlTek Administrative Assistant Rosemarie Kendall is instrumental each year in making the event a success. Rosemarie creates the company’s holiday giving tree with each ornament representing one item from a child’s holiday wish list. Tree decorations will begin to thin out as employees swap tags for gifts left under the tree. Employees will also take part in a food drive that provides food for the holidays as well as additional food staples that will last the family well into the new year; including dry goods and canned food as well as other household items.
Participation in the Christmas Family program continues ControlTek’s longstanding history of community outreach and civic service. As an added bonus, ControlTek matches all employee contributions dollar for dollar. Double the giving means double the holiday surprises for a local family who might otherwise be left out in the cold this year.
This year’s annual giving tree, like all of the trees before it, is set up in the lobby at ControlTek; and, like in other years, we can't wait to see the gift pile grow until we can hardly get make it through the lobby!

Happy Holidays from all of us at ControlTek!

ControlTek is hiring! Learn more about our new job opportunities.

admin — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:59:16 +0000

Are you interested in working at ControlTek? Now is a great time to apply. We've recently added several new current job opportunities at ControlTek to the Careers page of the website.

Positions Now Open Include:

Visit our Careers page today for more information on how to apply.

ConrolTek is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Home Comfort Zones Finds Ideal Manufacturing Partner in ControlTek

admin — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:45:46 +0000

Background

Founded in 2002 in Oregon, Home Comfort Zones (HCZ) is a pioneering energy management company that creates premium temperature control and energy-saving systems.

HCZ’s MyTemp and Emme products dramatically increase comfort and significantly reduce energy cost for homes and businesses.

The MyTemp and Emme products both presented significant design, manufacturing, and supply chain challenges. By working with ControlTek, HCZ was able to bring these products to market with less lead-time and up-front investment than alternatives.

Business Challenges

In 2004, Home Comfort Zones (HCZ) approached ControlTek with an exciting challenge. HCZ had designed MyTemp, a completely unique HVAC temperature control product, and needed a manufacturing partner with extensive capabilities.

MyTemp has three core systems that work together to regulate building temperature room-by-room. When looking for manufacturing expertise, HCZ found many vendors with single capabilities like Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA), box build, or cabling. Few had all the capabilities required to manufacture all three core MyTemp systems.

MyTemp customers expect a high quality product with a very low return rate. A demanding customer base like this required a manufacturing partner with extensive in-house test capabilities.

Most of all, HCZ needed help turning a pioneering design into a successful product while addressing the design, manufacturing, supply chain, and quality challenges that accompany a completely original product idea.

Solutions

HCZ’s MyTemp Increases Comfort and Reduces Energy Costs Up to 40%

HCZ’s MyTemp helps homeowners and businesses reduce heating and cooling costs by up to 40% and dramatically increase comfort levels in every room, even with existing HVAC systems.

MyTemp uses wireless sensors, easily installed pneumatic dampers, and a central touch interface computer control to precisely regulate the temperature of every room in a house. Because MyTemp independently controls the temperature for individual rooms, energy can be used more efficiently to condition occupied rooms, and minimize energy spent on unoccupied rooms.

MyTemp users report significant increases in comfort; drastically reduced hot spots, cold spots, and temperature fluctuations between levels, and reduced energy expenditures.

After HCZ selected ControlTek to manufacture the MyTemp, ControlTek brought to bear multiple in-house disciplines to solve the project’s particular challenges.

Design Expertise and Integrated Manufacturing

Working with ControlTek allowed HCZ to focus on product concept, sales, and marketing in a way they couldn’t have otherwise done. This partnership, combined with ControlTek’s ability to execute an integrated manufacturing plan, resulted in:

HCZ thriving in a very difficult market.
50% lower product cost.
Faster time to market.
Extremely high customer satisfaction for HCZ.
ControlTek worked with HCZ to optimize the MyTemp product design, improving manufacturability and reducing cost. By providing design, PCBA, box build, cabling, and test services under one roof, ControlTek created an integrated manufacturing process that lowered overall cost and simplified HCZ’s management role.

Supply Chain Design

ControlTek used their deep supply chain management experience to source and maintain quality on multiple custom parts required for MyTemp, including overseas suppliers. Experienced ControlTek program managers work directly with both customers and suppliers, enabling more agile supply chain management. By combining overseas on-site QA liaisons and long-term supplier relationships, ControlTek provides a compelling combination of quality, flexibility, and price to customers like HCZ.

Rigorous Testing

After consulting with HCZ to design a testing program that balanced quality and cost, ControlTek provided wireless functionality testing, burn-in testing, and PCB testing for MyTemp. This rigorous testing provided both manufacturing process improvement feedback and product quality assurance.

Results

The close relationship between ControlTek and HCZ is a partnership that allows HCZ to stay ahead of the competition by focusing on product R&D, sales, and distribution issues. According to David Alles, CEO of HCZ, "the most important thing about our relationship with ControlTek is the ability to work with them as a partner in our manufacturing process."

Alles said, "ControlTek used their understanding of design for manufacturability to help us optimize our product design, which helped us reduce the product cost by over 50%. In addition, ControlTek’s agile supply-chain management enabled HCZ to bring a new product to market despite potential disruptions like custom part quality issues and supplier turnover.”

Ongoing Partnership and Expanded Product Lines

Partnering with ControlTek has enabled HCZ to expand its product line. The MyTemp product has been successful in a challenging market. In fact, HCZ has expanded their offering with the Energy and Environmental Management System (Emme), which combines advanced environmental controls and detailed energy monitoring into a single product. As Alles puts it, “We’ve been so pleased with how ControlTek handled the MyTemp project that we’re using even more of their design capabilities for the Emme product.”

Company Information

ControlTek:
www.controltek.com
Phone: 360-896-9375
Email: info@controltek.com

Home Comfort Zones:
www.homecomfortzones.com

Home Comfort Zones Finds Ideal Manufacturing Partner in ControlTek

Our Latest Addition, the Juki FX-3 Surface Mount Technology System

admin — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:47:51 +0000

ControlTek, an electronics contract manufacturer, has invested in the Juki FX-3 high speed surface mount system. The new SMT system brings additional high speed, accuracy and increased capacity to ControlTek’s existing production lines.

The Juki FX-3 technology supports the high accuracy and high repeatability required for high density placement. ControlTek will utilize the new surface mount technology line to realize improvements in process time, asset utilization, reliability, flexibility, and responsiveness to customer product requirements.

"ControlTek has purchased the Juki line to answer growing customer demand for increased capacity. Implementing the additional line means we can continue providing on time delivery of high quality products to our customers," —Sean Neill, VP of Operations.

The SMT line is the second of four major investments in cutting edge capital equipment for ControlTek in the past six months. The EMS Provider demonstrates their commitment to stay on top of the technological demands within the electronics contract manufacturing industry. Certainly, the new equipment will compliment ControlTek’s focus on low to medium volume, high mix assembly of circuit boards, cables, box builds, test & electronic design services.

ControlTek installed the new line and is currently producing customer product with the high accuracy and speed trademarked by Juki. "Juki’s FX-3 high-speed-chip shooter offers great value in a compact footprint. Attaining the highest quality by using state of the art technology, the FX-3 employs linear servomotors for improved accuracy, an optical laser centering system mounted on each head to ensure high repeatability, and a graphical, easy to use interface for quick programming. The FX-3 is a winner when it comes to improving yields and increasing productivity" Geron Ryden, Juki Automation Systems.

ControlTek was founded in 1971 and provides a full suite of electronic manufacturing services, including circuit board assembly, cable assembly, box builds, test services and electronic design. The Vancouver, Washington facility serves a diverse client base in the industrial, medical, semi-conductor, aerospace, military, and consumer products industries. ControlTek believes in providing diligent service to customers via open communication, flexible solutions, and a culture of continuous improvement. ControlTek is an ISO9001:2008, ISO13485:2003, AS9100, ITAR registered firm.

'The Making of the Rē Video" at ControlTek

admin — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 23:35:18 +0000

We recently manufactured the Rē IR Universal Remote Control for a fellow Portland area company, NewKinetix, LLC. The Rē is a plug-in attachment that transforms your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch into a user-friendly, full-featured universal remote control. As a start up company introducing a new consumer electronic manufactured product to the world, NewKinetix and the Rē project presented some fun challenges, in particular, integrating a unique IR component and APPLE specific connectors and interface under a budget and time frame for unfamiliar factors. The Rē has become quite successful since they launched the product in 2010, as NewKinetix has now sold thousands of units!

We always enjoy the process of creating a new product - the challenge of working with prototypes to meet cost and lead time goals, early testing, and getting the supply chain streamlined.

Contact ControlTek and ask how we can help get your idea to market.

We hope you enjoy the video!