MILREL.OCT–Struthers-Dunn–pm
Surviving in post-Cold War America
A relay manufacturer's strategy to make good despite a marketplace torn
apart by peace
BY DON VENNELL and BRUCE ARMSTRONG Struthers-Dunn/Hi-G Co. Pitman, NJ
With hard-hitting government spending cutbacks, many manufacturers
dependent on military contracts are struggling to survive in what was once
a lucrative market. Some have folded under the pressure–unable to make it
in an increasingly competitive market. Others, however, have taken up the
Clinton administration's challenge to develop “dual use” technologies in
an effort to flip the odd's in their own favor. Considering Clinton's
allocation of $471 million in federal funds to spur the development of
such technologies, the transition may not be all that painful. One
company with a large stake in whatever occurs with respect to the military
is Struthers-Dunn/Hi-G Company, Pitman, NJ. As a relay manufacturer, we
have had close ties to the military since 1948. Despite this close
relationship, we also have been directly affected by the well-documented
military budget reductions. These effects of these cuts has been
exasperated by a worldwide slump in the building of new commercial
aircraft and accompanying support equipment in testing, maintenance, food
service, and many other areas. This has created a surplus of production
capacity in the relay manufacturing industry, with the ensuing reduction
in prices of mil/aero relays–by an average of 20%. Put in concrete terms:
in 1991, the total North American military relay market was worth $188.9
million. Struthers-Dunn/Hi-G shipped 21.2% of those relays. Since '91, the
military/aerospace relay market is down between 30% and 40%. And that's
expected to continue through 1997. To offset the effects of these
changes, Struthers-Dunn/Hi-G, has devised a four pronged, company wide,
strategy:
* Maintain preeminence as a manufacturer of relays that are Quality
Parts List (QPL) certified. * Streamline operations. * Uncover new
markets for established high-rel switching technologies. * Commit to new
product development
Requirements of a QPL supplier QPL relays must withstand environmental
stresses that include temperature extremes of -70�C to +125�C, shocks of
up to 200 g, and vibrations of 30 g at 10 to 3,000 Hz. Military
specifications to be met include MIL-R-6106, MIL-R-39016, MIL-R-28750,
MIL-R-28776, and MIL-STD-790. The specifications govern every aspect of
the manufacturing process including test and inspection methods,
reliability assurance, and soldering procedures. We are currently working
toward qualifying to the new relay specification, MIL-R-83536. This spec
will replace MIL-R-6106 for all established reliability relays under 25 A.
It will guarantee that the qualifying manufacturer is certified to
MIL-STD-790, can provide traceability of key components and, basically, is
complying fully in terms of delivering a genuine QPL product. Such
qualification requires a large investment of time, money, materials, and
labor on behalf of the manufacturer. With the military budgets drying up,
growth cannot be achieved if all our efforts go into servicing this end of
the market. Also, despite the downward trend in military spending, new
competitors are still entering the relay military/aerospace market. To
combat such trends, we have streamlined functions for efficiency and price
competitiveness. In 1990, we consolidated the administrative, sales and
marketing functions of Struthers-Dunn Inc., of Pitman, NJ and Hi-G, of
South Windsor, CT, into a single entity at the Pitman, NJ plant. This
merger helped us achieve our objective from both a marketing and a
research and development standpoint. Now, from one facility we can supply
military and high-rel relays ranging from miniaturized, low-current (5 A
and under, such as TO-5 relays) traditionally made by Hi-G, as well as the
medium- and high-current (10 to 25 A and higher) relays from
Struthers-Dunn.
Implications for product design The latter two parts of our strategy
will directly affect the methods used to design and implement a product
and where that product will be targeted. The first of these will involve
exploring a broad range of new markets and opportunities for relays and
switching devices originally manufactured to meet military specifications.
Within both the military/aerospace and high-reliability markets, the trend
is toward sleeker, lightweight, more efficient devices that perform better
and faster. Our TO-5 and Minigrid relays are miniature, high performance
relays that are qualified on the QPL list to MIL-R-28776 and MIL-R-39016.
But because of their size and performance, we can also market and sell
them for use in critical high reliability commercial applications, see
fig. 1 Where high power and reliability are critical, such as large
motors and pumps and commercial aircraft, we have the FCA family of
relays. These are available in 10 A to 25 A versions, SPDT to 6PDT. Again,
these QPL relays were originally designed to military specifications.
Secondly, a strong commitment to new product development is essential for
long-term growth and success. To this end, we are committed to developing
at least two new products per quarter while adopting a market driven,
rather than an engineering driven, “let's develop a new product and then
go see where we'll sell it” approach. Product development will be done
around the needs of a specific customer, while paying close attention to
long-term market and industry trends. This will ensure that the customer,
as well as the application, will continue to be active into the next
century. The added resources resulting from the Struthers-Dunn/Hi-G merger
will facilitate this. This intermingling of skills and resources led us
to develop a unique new product to respond to the growing need for
high-power switching devices for applications where lighter, low-level
relays are insufficient to do the job.
Our entry into this market originally developed as part of a contract to
satisfy electrical distribution requirements on the Navy A-12 attack
aircraft. The specifications for the relay included:
* The ability to switch high voltages–in the range of 270 V dc. *
Current sensing, built-in test functions, and logic functions. * Small
size
The third requirement called for a solid-state power controller. However,
such a device is incapable of carrying such high current for long periods
of time. It dissipated too much heat, and space was not provided for
heat-sinking or outside cooling in the aircraft. We changed the design to
incorporate electromechanical relay contacts. What couldn't be changed,
however, was the small package size as the mounting system in the aircraft
had been finalized. The challenge was to develop a device that could meet
both the switching and electrical requirements within the specified
package. Much research, development, and marketing effort resulted in the
ATD (Alternative Technology Device) Series relay, a high voltage, high
performance device that combines electromechanical contacts with
solid-state electronics–a “best of both worlds” relay. Rated at 30 A at
600 Vdc, the relay provides 100 times longer life than conventional
relays–with no bounce, chatter or arcing. Although we have not yet been
the recipient of “dual use” technology funding, we have found that there
is soon to be a growing demand for devices such as the ATD in electric car
and high speed rail applications. These demand a switching device that can
handle up to 600 Vdc. The Department of Transportation and the Federal
Railroad Administration are currently studying the potential for magnetic
levitated trains to improve inter-city transportation in the United
States. If and when the maglev vehicle design is pursued here, the
potential for an ATD relay could be enormous. Developers of the new
military Light Helicopter have also expressed a need for a light, compact,
high power switching device. In addition to the military and commercial
transportation applications, we see a number of other possible uses in a
variety of industrial applications. For example, automatic test equipment
and HVAC/energy management applications require devices with built-in test
functions and current sensing capabilities, with the ability to shut off
automatically when necessary. This means incorporating “smartswitching”
capabilities into the ATD to serve these markets, see fig. 2. Another
recent new product development decision involved producing a device that
already existed but had associated with it a customer-driven need for a
new supplier. Customers had been asking us if we would develop and sell
contactors as a competitive source to alleviate the long delays, service
problems and high prices typical of their sole supplier. Contactors are
heavy-duty devices used for high power-switching applications that serve
the same function as relays, but at ratings of 25 A and over. The
substantial development and manufacturing cost required deterred us from
entering the contactor market. And we weren't sure if taking on a “me-too”
device was a good strategic decision. However, contactors are a natural
progression from our existing line of products and many potential
customers were the same people who were buying our medium power relays. To
satisfy customer demands, we developed a contactor in three different
versions–50 A, 100 A and a 200 A. All meet Military Specification
MS24142.
CAPTION:
Fig. 1. The TO-5 and Minigrid relays are miniature, high performance
relays that are suited to both military as well as high-reliability
commercial applications.
Fig. 2. The ATD relay resulted from military demands for a high
current-carrying capability in a small package. The 30-A/600-V device is
now a prime candidate for the up-coming Intelligent Highway transport
monitoring system.
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