Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Associates’ Corner - Astrocom Electronics

Astrocom Electronics began in 1961 with three employees, and today has over 65,000 square feet of design and manufacturing space in its Oneonta facility.

The company produces communications equipment for a worldwide market that includes   space programs, the military, municipal police departments, and private industry. Products include headsets, microphones, earphone and microphone elements, cables, connectors, and switches.

Astrocom management believes that one keystone to the company’s success is its use of lean manufacturing techniques. One result is the ability to quickly modify existing designs and/or drawings in response to customer needs.

Much of the company’s testing equipment has been developed and adapted by Astrocom engineers. This equipment not only checks electronic parameters, but also simulates field environmental conditions, assessing product performance with regard to vibration, blast, shock susceptibility, light reflectivity, and packaging.

Sound chamber facilities allow testing of design theories and checking of attenuation, frequency response, articulation, and other parameters of prototypes and production units. An ozone chamber is used for accelerated aging of rubber assemblies and cord assemblies.

Computer routing design provides for circuit board masters. Subassemblies such as PC boards, plastic components, and rubber molded items can all be done in plant. Metal stamping is also handled in-house.

All drawings become ink originals and circuit board master prints directly from the computer. With on-site facilities, Astrocom engineers are able to investigate theoretical as well as actual characteristics of any suggested design.

In 2008, Astrocom’s management decided to pursue certification to the ISO 9001:2008 standard, and selected AM&T and DLS Quality Technology Associates, Inc. to assist in the process. In August 2009, Astrocom was successful in becoming certified to the ISO 9001:2008 standard.

For more information visit astrocom-electronics.com

See this and other newsletter articles at http://amt-mep.org/files/1213/9695/2088/2014-04.pdf

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