Welcome to c3controls

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Welcome

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Before we get started, let me explain the many ways you can explore our beautiful space. -You can jump to the next stop by clicking on the "Next" button. -Now, if you already know where you want to go, you can select any location by using the list OR by clicking directly on the map. -Lastly, remember that you can explore any particular location in more detail by clicking the 360, Photos, or Video icons. The c3controls campus located in Beaver, Pennsylvania consists of three buildings: Building A – the first building after starting in the Taylor's home, was constructed in 1980. Management, Finance, Human Resources, Commercial Marketing, Sales, Customer First, Information Technology, Fabrication, Engineering, Tooling and Product Marketing are located here. Building B constructed in 2010 is next door, and is home to our Assembly, Shipping and Receiving, Incoming Inspection, Finished Goods Inventory, and Manufacturing and Quality Management departments. Finally, Building C was purchased in 2014 and is used for warehouse space.

Product Marketing

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Our Product Marketing function develops Marketing Requirements Specifications (MRS's) to support our Product Portfolio Develop Plan – including new product lines, product line extensions, and improvements to existing products. The MRS includes everything our Engineering and Manufacturing teams need to develop new products: features, performance specifications, third party certifications, forecasted sales, target costs, and release for sale plan and activities. To develop the most innovative, industry leading products – our product marketing team monitors and evaluates specific customer product and feature requests, product and application standards development, competitors' activities, and other industry trends such as RoHS, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and Industries 4.0. Finally, our Product Marketing team conducts product and application training for our Customer First and Sales teams, assists customers in the selection and application of products, and provides input to our Commercial Marketing team to develop literature, web content, and other sales collateral.

Engineering/R&D

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Our Engineering department consists of Mechanical and Electrical/Electronics Engineers. Their primary role is to develop new, market leading innovative products. Their target is to devote 85% or more of their time to new product development activities. New products are developed in a structured stage gate process. The MRS is the engineers' input – multiple concepts are developed in Stage 1 and designs are finalized in Stage 2. During the first two stages – design platforms are defined, materials selected, prototypes are made with a 3D printer, and designs are validated. Autodesk Inventor and Altium are the primary design tools used by the Engineers. Product designs and assembly are optimized with Manufacturing to ensure target costs and world class quality and delivery will be achieved. After the product design is frozen, engineers design the injection mold tools to fabricate the parts, obtain third party certifications such as Underwriters Laboratories, and validate performance of initial production – prior to release for sale. Finally, Engineers are members of the Quality team, help maintain existing products with Manufacturing, and assist customers with product and application questions.

Tooling

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The Tooling group fabricates the injection mold tools during Stage 4 of the project. Tool designs provided by the Engineers are fabricated with Opticam and HyperMill CAM software. Toolroom technicians utilize mills, grinders, lathes, Wire and RAM EDM machines to convert and transform rough tool steel into polished, precision injection mold tools with tolerances to one one-thousandth of an inch! Our proprietary mud system and u-frame keeps tool costs low, and enables tools to be fabricated quickly - in approximately 100 hours on average! This speeds time to market - and ensures the quality of the component parts that make up each assembly. Mold tool fabrication is truly a c3controls core competency that was developed out of necessity when the company started. Nearly every start-up needs more capital than expected, and that was true of c3controls in 1976. Because there weren't sufficient funds to contract tool fabrication - Glenn Taylor bought a used mill, lathe, and grinder, and taught himself how to fabricate injection mold tools! Because tool fabrication is part of c3controls integrated manufacturing - part fabrication uptime and productivity can be maximized. If an injection mold tool breaks or needs repair - it can be completed right here, and often times can be returned to service in 30 minutes or less if the repair is not too extensive!

Mold/Die Storage

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This room houses what some would call "the crown jewels of c3controls". In this fire-proof room and shelter, over six-hundred injection mold tools are stored. Tools are cataloged by product family, Red for IEC 22mm, Green for 30mm, and so on. Most tools are capable of producing multiple varieties of parts by changing cores and inserts in the tool. Fabrication Technicians are trained and capable of completing nearly all of the changes. The work orders for the fabrication of any part defines the tool by part number, and the core or insert to be used. For complicated changes - the tools are sent to the Toolroom for the core/insert change. "Electronic tool designs" are stored offsite, so in the event of a catastrophe, replacement tools could be fabricated again - and production could resume.

Fabrication Molding

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Most of our products include one or more plastic parts - so the molding department is critical to the cost, quality, performance, and guaranteed same-day shipment of our products. Injection mold tools have been designed for quick and easy mold changeover, less than 10 minutes and by a single Fabrication Technician in most cases. We have standardized on common machines ranging from fifteen ton with a four ounce shot size up to 160 ton and eight ounce shot size capacity. Most tools can be run on machines interchangeably - making production planning and scheduling easy. Machines include precise and accurate process control to ensure part compliance with specification and ultimately world class product quality. For high volume parts, machines can be operated lights-out, 24/7, and monitored remotely to ensure no problems occur. Finally, we utilize standard materials whenever possible, realizing purchasing economies of scale - to control costs and also to ensure superior product performance, we are experts in processing the materials and our Engineers know exactly how the products will perform and that they will withstand the most demanding application environments.

Fabrication Tapping/Stamping/Finishing

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Aluminum, brass, copper, and steel bushings, inserts, and stampings are typically assembled with the thermoplastic parts fabricated in the molding department. A CNC lathe, stamping press, mill, and bench top riveting, tapping, and cutting equipment is yet another facet of our vertically integrated operation - everything is under control with quality, performance, cost, and availability. In addition, control stations, enclosures, and mounting plates can be customized with hub holes and a variety of cover controls, for example 22mm or 30mm pilot devices - specific to your application.

In-House PCBA Production

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Continuing to expand our manufacturing competencies is critical to our future success and ability to develop and introduce more advanced products with electronic design platforms. In 2015, we began making our own printed circuit board assemblies. Before that, we had to source them from third party suppliers. It only took five months from the time we purchased the equipment until we were producing our own printed circuit board assemblies! Our clean room includes the latest stencil, high-speed pick-and place, reflow oven, and test equipment for making printed circuit board assemblies. Today, we control the design, production, availability, cost, and quality enabling us to develop and introduce innovative products with world-class quality. In house production capability also speeds time to market for new products - we can develop and validate a variety of design concepts faster - because we can make prototypes in house.

Assembly Production Management/Planning

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A key to our guaranteed same-day shipping performance is efficient, timely, and effective production management and planning. Our MRP system ensures we have sufficient quantities of raw materials, component piece parts, and sub-assemblies to build stock products for finished goods inventory as well as build-to-order products (items that are not in finished goods) all of which are available for guaranteed same-day shipment - tens of millions of SKUs. Group leaders schedule production and assign work orders to assembly personnel to maximize productivity and ship products the same-day, including customer pick-up orders, next day air orders, and international orders. Whether it is an order for one piece, hundreds, or thousands, our systems, equipment and personnel are flexible and can be adapted over two shifts to respond to meet our customers' shipment expectations!

Assembly Manufacturing Equipment

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Continuous manufacturing improvement and continually expanding our manufacturing competencies has enabled c3controls to control costs, improve quality, and maintain guaranteed same-day shipping performance - all while dramatically expanding our product portfolio. The newest and latest technologies and equipment including laser marking of manufacturing date codes and product markings, robotic application of control station/enclosure gasket materials, ultrasonic welding and heat staking to eliminate costly and cumbersome fasteners, and laser engravers and plotters has enabled c3controls to continue to meet customers' expectations for everyday off-the-shelf products and what many customers and competitors would consider special products - all with ease. We are innovative in what we do and how we do it - technology and equipment makes "what is difficult for most" - easy for c3controls.

Product Assembly

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Product assembly is performed by a highly skilled team that has been cross-trained to assemble our broad portfolio of products from terminal blocks to starters and everything in between. Our Skills and Competency Matrix identifies personnel qualified to assemble each product, and their level of competence - from beginner (requiring coaching) to an expert (capable of training others). Assembly methods include: riveting, soldering, ultrasonic welding, heat staking, fastening with screws, crimping, and snap fits. Cellular manufacturing and lean concepts that eliminate waste, ensure quality, and provide the lowest costs enable orders or to be completed for guaranteed same-day shipment. Assembly cells can be easily configured and optimized for the best assembly process to be used - a dedicated work cell for single pieces or an assembly line for high volume and even thousands of pieces. Assembly cells include everything necessary to fulfill an internal work order or sales order: piece parts, tools, bill of material, work instructions, fixtures and test equipment.

Assembly/Finishing

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A key group in the fulfillment of guaranteed same-day orders is the Finishing team. They assemble build-to-order products (which are non-stock items) on the fly as orders are received. They complete the assembly of push buttons, selector switches, and pilot lights - installing different colors and types of caps and lenses, operating levers, different types, colors and voltages of light modules and lamps including: multi-voltage, LED, incandescent, and neon. Some describe all of these components and sub-assemblies as "Industrial Legos". Another part of Finishing is build-to-order motor control products: changing contactor coils, assembling reversing contactors with interlocks, and creating assembled starters with contactors and overload relays or motor protection circuit breakers. While their daily role in guaranteed same-day shipping and quality is critical - it all really starts with the Marketing Requirement Specification from Product Marketing and the product design from Engineering, way back when the product was conceived! We had to know the ultimate objective before we could design the optimum products.

Shipping/Warehouse

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The final step in the order fulfillment process is shipping. Items are picked from the approximately three thousand items in our finished goods inventory and warehouse. Inventory items are grouped by product family and located by row, rack, and shelf. We practice First-In-First-Out inventory, and item packages include bar codes for easy and fast counting and identification. Build-to-order items are then consolidated with items that were picked from inventory. The entire order including logistics details and all line items are verified and counted for accuracy before packing, shipping, and invoicing. Once the order is shipped - the carrier tracking number is logged. Tracking information is automatically emailed to the customer for UPS shipments, which account for more than 90% of total shipments. From morning to late at night, carriers are collecting shipments from c3controls to ensure our customers receive their orders on time!

Receiving

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Manufacturing world class quality products starts at the beginning, by ensuring compliant parts and materials are used in fabrication and assembly. Purchased parts and raw materials such as aluminum bar stock and thermoplastic resins are received and quarantined on an almost daily basis. While in quarantine, items are inspected to verify their compliance with design specifications. The level of inspection varies by item, and may include electrical tests, dimensional checks, material verification, or simply count and packaging. Upon verification of compliance, the items are moved to their point of use in the fabrication and assembly departments.

Sales

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This is Sales, where our commitment and core value of contributing to the success of our customers is the driving force. Our team promises concierge style service – making doing business with c3controls easy, personalized and responsive while providing technical and application support that is second to none! And since c3controls generally looks like most of our customers in size and revenues, we understand the unique challenges that machinery and electrical equipment builder's face every day. This enables us to anticipate our customers' wants and needs, to excel in communication, to develop specific one-on-one relationships, and to deliver real value that is beneficial ensuring overall long-term success.

Customer First

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Our Customer First team is many customers initial point of contact with c3controls for the placement and fulfillment of orders. Orders can be placed by: telephone, email, fax, verbally, online, and rarely postal mail. The Customer First team enters orders promptly and accurately. Their purpose is simple, to make doing business with c3controls easy, by providing personal and responsive service, and providing technical and application support specific to each and every customer. Service and support that delights our customers and is second to none!

Training Room

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Highly trained and expert professionals are critical to our success and key to helping ensure the success of our customers. Training of all personnel is conducted regularly throughout the entire organization - with a target of every employee receiving a minimum of forty hours of training each year. Training is conducted in many different ways - through lectures, online courses, on-the-job training, and from trade schools, community colleges, and universities. By learning something new every day, we are a better partner to help you succeed!

Commercial Marketing

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Welcome to the Commercial Marketing group where we develop innovative strategies to enhance our customers' success...such as our unique loyalty programs that create real value for our customers and a simple-convenient-easy online shopping experience for ordering, for technical resources and downloadable drawings, our direct to the customer market channel, same-day shipping guarantee and lifetime product warranty. The marketing team also hosts regional technical summits, customer networking experiences, white paper presentations and coordinate local one-to-one technical meetings with our engineering and product marketing teams. All of these programs, and many more, are designed to enhance our customers experience and help build their brands.

Corporate Culture

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Culture is something that sets us apart from all others. Our values and belief systems are integral to everything that happens here at c3controls. These Values Drive our company behaviors, are shared by all members of our team and serve as guidelines in all situations. Living and championing these values everyday allows our customers to know intimately whom we are and what to expect from c3controls: - Integrity in all our dealings - Respect for people - Contributing to the success of our customers - Risk-Taking, innovation and learning - Long-term perspective - 100% accountability / 0 excuses A partnership with c3controls is one that you count on!

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