The Big Business In Very Small Parts
The success of Component Sources International in Westborough is a testament to not only its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, but also to its sales force.
And it’s no wonder, considering the company was started as a sales company 22 years ago by Steve Doody, its current president. In the beginning, Doody was selling specialized, European-made machined parts to companies in the watch industry and other sectors that relied on small, intricate parts, such as connectors or certain military equipment.
After years of selling European parts to the likes of Northrop Grumman and Tyco, CSI began manufacturing in 1994 as part of a joint venture with two of the French companies it had been selling for.
Today, the company has 40 employees, manufacturing, distribution, sales and logistics operations and annual revenues close to $20 million.
On The Hunt
CSI still buys product from Europe, but the exchange rate favors domestic production and products made for the United States military must be made in the United States.
But the products CSI makes range from tiny to very small. It can machine certain materials down to 5/1,000 of an inch and it doesn’t make anything bigger than 1 ¼ inches. So, finding companies that have needs that can be met by CSI is a big part of the business.
“We’re always on the hunt,” Doody said. The company stays abreast of the latest technologies in a wide variety of industries, looking for a place to fit. CSI parts can be found, though maybe not on first glance, or even with the naked eye, in systems used by the aerospace industry, in sensors, in fluid carrying systems, in medical devices, in locks, firearms, green technology and engines.
Doody said having divisions that can handle distribution and logistics allows the company to market itself as a “one source” supplier, which is attractive to larger companies that want to simplify operations by rolling almost all of their suppliers into one. The company also allows customers to place orders only when a part is needed and have orders delivered on very tight deadlines.
“We make hundreds of thousands of these,” Doody said of one part. It’s a component for a top secret piece of military equipment made in New Hampshire. Doody doesn’t know, or can’t talk about, what the end product is, but CSI has to make a lot of them.
Other parts being machined during a recent visit include a tiny steel component about a third the size of a pen being made for a California company working on converting diesel engines to burn natural gas.
Another was a connector for a medical device used in eye surgery. The device uses fiber optics to illuminate the eye during surgery. That piece, too, was about a third the size of a pen and connected the two operating portions of the device, Doody said.
Some parts are much smaller, and each work station in CSI’s 27,000-square-foot manufacturing facility is equipped with a microscope. The quality control department is also equipped with microscopes and measuring devices to ensure that all components meet their specifications.
The company moved to Westborough from Southborough in early 2009 after buying its Flanders Road building for $2.25 million. The previous occupant, American Superconductor moved operations to Devens, clearing the way for CSI to renovate the building. Currently, the building gives the company the ability to expand manufacturing by as much as 35 percent, Doody said.
Got news for our Industrial Strength column? E-mail WBJ Managing Editor Matthew L. Brown at mbrown@wbjournal.com
Watch as Steve Doody, president of Component Sources International, explains some of the parts his company makes:
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