Remmele Engineering

Source: Manufacturing Digital

Date :11/04/2008 03:53:45

Looking for a manufacturing partner? Look no further than Remmele Engineering, a diverse multi-talented engineering firm. Exec learns more

Written by Megan Santosus and Produced by Kristin Hurley

As a contract manufacturer, Remmele Engineering Inc., by definition works closely with its customers. Yet for CEO Rich Pogue, Remmele is different in one very important respect: “We seek to be a manufacturing partner,” he says. “We get engaged early in the design cycle well before a design is released.”

That early involvement is critical when it comes to reducing costs – and is therefore a big selling point for Remmele. According to Pogue, about 80 percent of a product’s costs are “designed in,” meaning that the biggest potential for saving money occurs during the design process. Those contract manufacturing companies that interact with customers once a product is designed don’t have as much opportunities to drive costs down. “Customers select us and work with us because they recognize the value we add,” Pogue says.

Remmele Engineering was started in 1949 by Fred L. Remmele as a three-person tool and die company. In March 2007, Remmele was purchased by Goldner Hawn, a Minneapolis-based private equity firm.

Today, Remmele Engineering, which is based in New Brighton, Minn., is a diversified firm. The contract manufacturing division designs and produces engineered, precision-manufactured components for customers in a variety of industries including aerospace, semiconductors, electronics, defense, medical devices and pharmaceuticals.

Among the products Remmele manufactures are integrated structural assemblies (for aircraft manufacturers); wave guides (for radar systems); and orthopedic implants (for the medical industry).

Custom equipment

The custom equipment division of Remmele provides automated services such as process development, integration and design and manufacture of custom manufacturing solutions for customers in such industries as consumer products, drug delivery and in vitro diagnostics. Remmele also offers engineering services such as structural analysis, and thermal design and development.

The company has annual sales of $145 million; 630 employees work at five facilities in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. The company’s core competencies include design for manufacturing, precision machining, metal joining, system integration, supply chain management and program management.

In addition to working with customers early on in the design process, Pogue says that another Remmele differentiator is innovation. The company’s proprietary CoolStream technology is used to incorporate thermal cooling into manufacturing; thermal cooling is a critical way to dissipate the increased heat created by smaller and faster electronics.

Remmele has also developed a mechanical method of metal joining called ConnexSys that can reduce costs and manufacturing time by providing an alternative way (via epoxy or welding) to connect monolithic structures together. (A monolithic structure is machined as a single piece and often joined with others to manufacture a finished product). ConnexSys features a machined snap system that can replace the use of clamps when joining two structures together.

Dependable partner

The aircraft industry is a good example showing how customers rely on Remmele’s expertise in monolithic structures to reduce part counts and assembly manufacturing times. The ConnexSys method was instrumental in the redesign of the nose landing gear door of the F/A-22 stealth aircraft. Remmele (working with Alcoa and the Air Force Research Laboratory) replaced the previous door design that featured a honeycomb core surrounded by carbon and epoxy with an aluminum design.

The aluminum door design is manufactured using Remmele’s ConnexSys method to mechanically snap and then bond the outside skin with an adhesive to a grid on the inner skin.

The ConnexSys method demonstrates how Remmele helps customers design costs out of products. It turns out the aluminum design weighs slightly less per cubic foot than the honeycomb design. According to Pogue, Remmele’s expertise enables the company to help other customers reduce weight, use off-the-shelf cutting tools rather than custom tools, and reduce the part-count in the final manufactured product - all things that can reduce manufacturing costs.

Remmele’s innovation and partnerships with customers prove “that manufacturing in the U.S. is alive and well,” Pogue says. (Remmele has even turned some work away because it has been too busy). Among recent projects, last May Remmele was hired by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to build five aluminum decks for a carrier that will be used for logistics missions to the International Space Station.

Compounded growth expected

Over the next three years, Remmele anticipates a double digit compounded annual growth rate; currently business for the aerospace and defense industries is growing at an annual clip of 16 percent, while the medical device business is growing at 14 percent per year.

“We are looking to aggressively grow the business,” Pogue says, adding that the aerospace/defense and medical device sectors will continue to be chief areas for the company to grow organically. Remmele is also studying the prospect of expanding these businesses into new international markets, particularly China and India.

Growth by acquisition is also part of Remmele’s strategy. In January, Remmele completed its most recent acquisition when it bought El-Tronic Precision Inc., a provider of contract manufacturing and engineering services for the medical device industry.

People challenge

In order to grow, of course, Remmele has to continue to attract and keep highly skilled people. Indeed, Pogue says that the primary challenge to expansion is attracting and retaining engineers and skilled machinists. “The level of interest and the number of people who want to go into manufacturing is decreasing,” Pogue says.

To attract students, Remmele establishes coop programs with universities in Minnesota and neighboring states, and recruitment programs with area trade schools. Once a trade school student with a two-year machinist degree is hired, the training continues. Remmele has an intensive 2 ½ year-long apprenticeship program designed to bring new machinists up to speed on the latest techniques and technologies.

When employees are on board, Remmele strives to keep them by offering competitive wages and comprehensive benefits that include reimbursement for continuing education. Yet Pogue says that wages and benefits can only do so much; the real battle is in attracting employees to manufacturing in the first place.

Nevertheless, Pogue says that Remmele’s recent acquisition by Goldner Hawn puts the company in good shape for the future. A year following the purchase, Pogue says about the Goldner Hawn staff, “they’ve been really great to work with.”

Click here to view the corporate brochure on Remmele Engineering