ASK Products Uses SPC to Achieve Revenue Growth and New Markets

ASK Products, a leading supplier of terminal lugs, splices, straps, cable assemblies and custom-designed grounding connectors, has used Zontec's Synergy 1000™ SPC software quite successfully since 2005.

The requirements of potential OEM customers made it necessary for ASK to inspect, predict and monitor manufacturing performance within the customer's control range. "We needed to be able to control overall length, clearances and roundness, and until we obtained the Zontec software, that was impossible" says ASK CEO Steven Kase.

Since implementing the system, ASK has doubled its capacity and is supplying parts to such well known companies as GE, Emerson, Caterpillar, NAPA Auto Parts, Motorola, AM General and hundreds of other customers in the automotive, utility and military markets

Payback from the software has been demonstrated on many fronts including increased sales, cost reduction, employee morale and defect parts-per-million. As ASK doubled its workforce, they noticed that man hours had increased by only 15-20 percent. "We've not added that much inspection expense; inspection hasn't had to be a scaled cost," notes Kase.

"I would say the primary benefit has been the ability to impress large OEM customers with our process control and process capability. When we show them our overall quality system, they're very complimentary. It has been a very fast and successful initiative," he concludes.