Litton's Interconnect expands with high-tech gamble

by Kris Ann Hegle

SBJ Contributing Writer

If you took a tour of Litton Interconnect Technologies' new $65-million-plus manufacturing expansion, you might think you had been transported to California's Silicon Valley.

Inside the plant, workers wear nonconductive frocks and hairnets as they manufacture printed circuit boards within a static-proof and dust-free clean room.

Elsewhere workers operate computerized equipment that drills registration holes so minute they can't be seen until the printed circuit board is held up in front of a light.

In this environment, quality is measured to the thousandth of an inch.

Only four years ago, many of these workers were cranking out printed circuit boards that were sold primarily to automobile manufacturers. Volume was higher, and the printed circuit boards were smaller and less difficult to assemble.

These circuit boards also were extremely sensitive to price pressures and overseas competition. By the early 1990s, the company's market share was beginning to erode.

In 1993 and 1994, management decided to refocus and retool the plant so it could begin manufacturing high-performance circuit boards and backpanels. This market was less sensitive to price fluctuations and had fewer competitors.

Corporate officials approved the local management team's decision

In-house employee training efforts were stepped up, and all of the employees underwent certification training to learn their primary job functions. Some of the equipment needed to make larger, multilayer backpanels was purchased.

"It was a fairly risky move," said Ken Cleeton, director of account administration. "Basically, we stopped making low-tech printed circuit boards for the auto industry and started putting out a high-tech product. It could be compared to a McDonald's restaurant trying to become like the Tower Club."

In 1995, parent company Litton Industries Inc. began consolidating some of its divisions, a move that helped make the transition under way in Springfield a little easier. Two Litton divisions located here, Advanced Circuitry and Inter-Pak Electronics, were consolidated to form one operating division. Then, in 1998 Litton's Interconnection Products, located in Glenrothes, Scotland, joined Advanced Circuitry.

"Not only was it difficult for us to manage these names, it was confusing to our customers and suppliers," said Division President Bob Schutz, who announced a new, unified name for the division at the plant's expansion dedication Nov. 3. "As we grow, it is important that we consider ourselves as one company, with one goal. Litton Interconnect Technologies allows us to provide a single, recognizable identity to the marketplace."

Schutz said that while this Litton division may have a new name, its benchmark characteristics prevail: excellent product delivery, unblemished quality and exceptional customer-service performance.

As the company continues to expand in Springfield, Schutz said it also will reach out to its customers for their final systems integration requirements with facilities around the world. These global-reaching facilities will in turn feed backpanel business to the Springfield operations.

"Backpanel production is typically the single-most expensive item in our customer's product, said Robert O'Connell, vice president and general manager of printed circuit board operations.

Many of the backpanels manufactured contain up to 50 layers of printed circuits. These backpanels act as central networks through which thousands of high-speed signals pass. A 50-layer backpanel contains thousands of relay circuits, which are thinner than a strand of human hair.

Precision is crucial. Quality is a must.

Not surprisingly, customers look for backpanel and printed circuit board manufacturers who have a good reputation for reliability and very little downtime. They also look to see which ahead of the development curve.

"Springfield's Litton Interconnect Technologies already has established one of the better records in the industry for product reliability and development," O'Connell said. "We use an industry-recognized statistical process control program and our quality yields consistently run above 96 percent."

The company's reputation for excellence is reflected in its sales. In 1993, sales totaled $52.92 million. To date, sales in calendar year 1999 total $143.89 million. Sales have increased by more than 20 percent each year since 1997.

According to Linda Self, director of marketing and public relations, strong sales and a commitment by employees to maintain high quality helped make the recent plant expansion possible. Self said the company expects to hire between 50 and 75 people each of the next four years, which will allow the company to more than triple the number of backpanels and printed circuit boards being produced.