Customer References - HendryPHONE COMPANIES, OEMS HAVE HENDRY'S NUMBERWritten by P.J. Heller in June 94 When telecommunications companies worldwide need metal products -- from small brackets to racks, frames and large cabinet systems -- they know exactly whom to call: Hendry. That's because the Goleta, Calif., firm boasts availability of more than 16,000 different metal parts. Even more important, it has the capability to modify or customize any one of those parts to meet a customer's specific needs. "Any good size metalworks shop can turn out the same kinds of products we make," admits company president James J. Keenan. "What makes us different is that we have a good understanding of the telephone industry's needs and requirements. Our customers may need products that are stronger, heavier, longer lasting." That has led to such products as patented earthquake-braced sheet metal equipment racks, outdoor cabinets containing small fans and heaters, and a new line of power distribution electronic fuse panels and alarm systems.
Those products are a long way from the wagon wheels and horseshoes that the original Hendry Mechanical Works pounded out in its blacksmith shop. Founded in 1926 by Nicol Hendry in nearby downtown Santa Barbara, the company got into telephone products through a circuitous route. Forced to move because of a road widening project in the 1940s, the company relocated across the street from the Home Telephone Company. Before long, Hendry was producing the heavy frames and racks for Home Telephone. Home later was acquired by Associated Telephone, which subsequently was bought by General Telephone (GTE). Hendry's business grew right along with the phone companies. When Keenan and his wife, Elaine, took over the business in 1976 -- she is a granddaughter of Nicol Hendry -- 99 percent of its work was for GTE. Since then, they have expanded their base to nearly 500 customers, including both telephone companies and OEMs, expanded their work force to more than 200 employees, and shifted production to sheet metal products. Growth has continued at about 20 percent a year. Hendry -- better known by the unofficial moniker of Hendry Telephone Products -- attributes much of that growth to on-time delivery of quality products that, more often than not, are manufactured with extremely short lead times. "Our goal right now is 96 percent on-time delivery with 10 calendar days lead time and eight errors per month," Keenan says, noting that the error count includes paperwork errors which typically account for half of all mistakes. Meeting those goals is no easy task for a company that offers to give customers exactly what they want, whether it's an equipment rack that's 7 feet high or the same rack stretched to 11 1/2 feet high. "In most cases, people will find a product we offer that meets their needs but they want to have it modified," Keenan explains. "So we'll reengineer it." Keenan credits the company's computer-aided design (CAD) system for allowing those changes to be made quickly and easily. "Without a good CAD system, there would be no way to keep up with demand," he insists. Keenan cites Hendry's own need to redesign a product as a case in point. It involved the introduction of the company's new Power3000 power system, which was displayed recently at a trade show in San Diego. "Based on feedback that we received at the show, we completely redesigned the system and had the new version on display four weeks later at another show in New Orleans," Keenan says. The key to this type of success is the 3D solid modeling package used by engineers at Hendry. "One advantage of Hewlett-Packard's SheetAdvisor solid modeling capabilities is that we can take parts and assemble them on the computer and do interference checking," says Keenan, whose background is in electrical engineering and computers. "If a customer says he wants a new product and needs it in two weeks -- from concept to design -- we can assemble it on the computer and check it out,"he adds. "Usually, the first article is the start of the actual production run." CAD operator and system administrator Chris Chapa admits that the move to solid modeling from wire frame was a "real treat." But the biggest "treat" -- from both productivity and quality standpoints -- was an associated software package specifically for the design and manufacture of sheet metal parts.
The HP PE/SheetAdvisor productivity package was so impressive, in fact, that Hendry in 1991 replaced its entire CAD operation -- hardware and software -- with a system from Hewlett-Packard's Mechanical Design Division. That system includes SheetAdvisor for sheet metal design and 3D solid modeling, and HP's ME10 2D design and drafting package. They all run on a dozen networked HP9000 Series 700 engineering workstations (two other workstations, also on the network, are used by technical writers to produce documentation). "Essentially we retired our existing hardware and software and started all over," Keenan says. "We felt there was a significant enough advancement in technology to do that. " Chapa, who researched various CAD packages for Hendry shortly after being hired, is also convinced that the company made the best possible choice. "We didn't have to run any tests to know that we were saving time designing sheet metal parts," Chapa says. "It was obvious." In the past, he recalls, designing a large cabinet would have required three iterations of all the steps involved: designing, cutting, bending, punching and assembling. "We're talking about three iterations for each of those steps," he stresses. "With HP's SheetAdvisor, products like that cabinet go together right the first time." That not only helps Hendry meet short lead times, particularly on customized products, but helps save the company money by requiring fewer prototypes.
A key feature of the package is its ability to alert engineers to fundamental design flaws. It will tell them, for example, if they are going to run into trouble if they punch or stamp too close to a bend. Engineers, however, still have the option to proceed with the operation, Chapa notes. Further streamlining the process, Chapa says, is the ability to create a technology database in the system, storing such things as preferred materials and standard punching and stamping tool shapes and sizes. A custom tool builder allows engineers to customize tool specs. The sophisticated computer modeling then generates the CNC programs, allowing files to be sent electronically to Hendry's shop, which includes a robotic welder, Cincinnati 2500 laser, and an Amada Pega 357 punch. "Whenever we make anything in the shop today, we know it's being made exactly as it was designed on the computer system," Keenan says. |