Apogee Selects Metalfx, Plans ISO 9001 Certification
Apr 6, 2004 4:46 PM
Apogee Sound International (www.apogee-sound.com) has selected Metalfx as its lead manufacturing and assembly partner for its full range of professional loudspeaker and electronics products.
With the next ISO audit in May at the Metalfx facilities, the production of Apogee loudspeakers will be included in the Metalfx ISO 9001 certification. Metalfx, located in Willits, California, has more than 150 employees and two production facilities covering over 220,000 square feet. Metalfx’s customers include companies such as Agilent, Ciena, and Hewlett Packard.
“We’re excited to add Apogee to our distinguished client list,” says Gordon Short, president of Metalfx, “and proud to partner with a company respected for quality that is second to none.”
Prior to moving production from Apogee’s Petaluma facility to Metalfx’s facility in Willits, engineers from both companies worked together to enhance Apogee’s build-to-order quality engineering and production processes. Digital documentation of Apogee’s entire build process now forms the foundation of this enhanced manufacturing process and is backstopped by Metalfx’s Statistical Process Control. Traditional pin routers, once the workhorse of Apogee’s wood machining process, have been replaced with Computerized Numerical Control routers, enabling the achievement of consistently higher tolerances and a better-performing product. Apogee’s proprietary painting process has been reengineered and upgraded to include a turnkey trolley system and a heat curing stage, improving the appearance and increasing the durability of all Apogee products.
“These improvements to our engineering and manufacturing process ensure that Apogee’s longstanding reputation of delivering high performance, quality products remains unchanged,” says Grzebik.
Grzebik led training of all engineering and production staff members at Metalfx. He also oversees Metalfx’s materials management, engineering, and production processes, ranging from wood procurement for loudspeaker cabinets to driver modification to final quality assurance testing.
