57 County Firms Find Good Company in Nonprofit Group

Any organization that promises to help business owners increase productivity, efficiency and profitability is leaving itself wide open to a slew of requests. Just ask the folks at the Newbury Park office of the California Manufacturing Technology Center.

The nonprofit consulting group, headquartered in Hawthorne, was established in 1993 to consult with small- to medium-size businesses in various areas of operation, including management and business planning, work force development, employee training and quality control.

Of the 57 Ventura County manufacturers served through the local office in 1998, most sought help in developing quality standards set by agencies that include the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the International Organization for Standardization. Other key areas included Y2K concerns, trade with Pacific Rim businesses, workplace modernization and work flow efficiency.

“Companies are finding it’s practically impossible to compete in year 2000 without having a recognized quality system in place,” said David Braunstein, president and chief executive of the statewide group. “Both home and abroad, businesses increasingly are looking for suppliers that meet highly defined standards as an assurance of consistent quality and high-value products.”

Tim Hurley, director of consulting services for the Ventura-Santa Barbara regional office, said he expects quality control certification, Y2K and the lagging economy in the Pacific Rim to continue high on the list of concerns among Ventura County businesses as this year progresses.

With Y2K, he said, help for smaller companies--defined as those with fewer than 500 employees--is fairly easy to provide.

“Smaller manufacturers usually don’t have mainframe computers--they are PC-run, network servers,” Hurley said.

“We have some software that we can provide that they can run and check and see if they have a problem,” he said. “But Y2K is a large overall problem. It also concerns software on their computer. And a lot of machines that they run in the shops have microprocessors on them that have dates, clocks, calendars built in. We can bring in the expertise to help them work through that.”

In addition to helping update a company’s own machinery, the consulting group helps companies ensure the quality and preparedness of their suppliers.

“The terrifying thing about the Y2K problem is that everybody can go around and fix everything, but if one link is not compliant, it’s like a domino effect,” Hurley said. “If you have a failure in the supply chain, it could cause real problems. We help manufacturers work with their suppliers.”

Regarding the Pacific Rim, Hurley said, the group has alliances with the local Small Business Development Center, the Center for International Trade and Development and other business groups involved with the import-export world.

Besides its Ventura County site, the consulting group has regional offices at six other locations throughout the state. The organization receives federal funding through the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership program. Revenue also is raised through services rendered to its clients.

Ventura County clients have included the ZAD Design & Manufacturing futon company of Oxnard; Kinamed, a Newbury Park manufacturer of medical products and orthopedic implants; and Excalibur, USA, an Oxnard maker of window coverings.