INDUSTRIAL INFO-TAINMENT • Onanon s i : • Feeding the Wolves e h s T su re • Definition of a Good Buyer Is tu • Wire Wisdom - CSA Flame Tests a • Connectivity of Plant Floor Equipment e F • Yazaki Rethinks Wiring for Autonomous Age • 16th Annual Electrical Wire Processing Technology Expo Wiring Harness News NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012 1 MARCH APRIL 2016 Onanon OEM innovator, designer and manufacturer of connectors and cable assemblies By Fred Noer _________________________________ igh tech. Those two words inevitably come to mind when anyone mentions Sili- con Valley in California. With Onanon located in Milpitas, a city of 70,000 people 45 miles south of San Francisco in the northeastern part of Silicon Valley, the same words describe the company. It specializes in designing and manufacturing a wide assortment of cable assemblies and con- nectors using high-tech processes and equipment. The extent of Onanon technology is evident in the production department that has $12 million worth of equip- ment. If it were run at maximum capaci- ty, 10 million pieces could be produced in a day. Average production is 10 million parts per month. Another $200,000 in equipment is in the engineering department. According H to Dennis Johnson, 48, president and CEO, it has more equipment than the mechanical engineering laboratory at Harvard University. The annual capital equipment budget at Onanon is between $600,000 and $750,000, Johnson stated. Expenditures are made not only for production equip- ment but for machines to build equip- ment if none is available commercially. Such investment serves one overarch- ing purpose – provide exceptional value for the 240 active Onanon customers. “We always go above and beyond the call of duty,” Johnson said. “When serving our customers, we do more and give them more than they paid for. It’s all about value. “We differentiate ourselves by look- ing deeper into our customers’ needs,” Johnson said. “We don’t just take a cus- tomer’s spec and build it. We look at their application and take extra steps to make it better and more reliable with- out adding cost. We can do an applica- 16th Annual Electrical Wire Processing Technology Expo ave the date for the 16th Annual Electrical Wire Processing Tech- nology Expo, to be held on Wednesday, May 11 and Thursday, May 12, 2016 at the Wisconsin Center in Mil- waukee, Wisconsin. This Expo is tailored specifically for those in the electrical wire and cable manufacturing indus- tries, processing industries and especial- ly wire harness services. Expo attendees will see the latest S Onanon employee at a cable force testing station. tion-specific design very fast.” Augmenting this approach are con- cepts embraced by Johnson in the book Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne. He also is influenced by Napoleon Hill’s ideas in such books as Think and Grow Rich, The Law of Suc- cess and Good As Gold. The focus on value in products and service has led to $12 million in annual sales. In five years the goal is $24 mil- lion. Five years ago, income was $8 mil- lion. “Profit has been very strong and is increasing dramatically,” Johnson said. “We are super laser-focused on eliminat- ing anything that is not value-add and shedding distractions that slow us down. We’ve made a huge leap as a com- pany. “Our biggest mistake was allowing ourselves to be distracted by customers that did not add value,” Johnson said. “They were high on our radar five years ago, and we used to look at anything and everything.” Thomas Sahakian started Onanon as West Coast Drilling in Milpitas on June 1, 1979, after obtaining funding from friends and family members. The previ- ous three years he ran a division at the now-defunct Sayco Electronics. West Coast Drilling cut and drilled printed circuit boards for PCB manufac- turers. Back then, most of them were located in the United States and not China. Johnson came to Onanon in October 1989 by answering an ad Sahakian placed for a programmer. Johnson did programming and CAD work for Proto Engineering in Sunnyvale, Calif., while studying for his mechanical engineering degree at San Jose (Calif.) State Universi- ty. “I was a natural fit at the company,” Johnson said. “Tom and I quickly found out we both shared the same passions, and both of us had business acumen.” They became 50-50 partners, incorporat- ed in 1989 and changed the name to Onanon, which was suggested by ________________Continued on page 40 electrical wire processing equipment in operation, as well as various compo- nents and services that are used in the manufacture of wiring harnesses. Atten- dees will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with industry experts, and can also attend valuable technical semi- nars focusing on emerging trends and the future of the industry. ________________Continued on page 15 The 16th Annual Electrical Wire Processing Technology Expo, will be held on Wednesday, May 11 and Thursday, May 12, 2016 at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.