Component Products Corporation (CPC) of Mukilteo stands out with its high-quality manufacturing for the aerospace and defense industries, setting a benchmark for others to follow.
By Jennifer Ferrero
Component Products Corp (CPC), a small, privately held company in Mukilteo, Washington, is an aerospace components manufacturer. It is an award-winning Boeing supplier that maintains AS9100 and is working toward its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). With just 12 employees, the company is lean and has its priorities in order.
President Greg Rangel, Quality Manager Krista Nichols, and Vice President Tyler Kowalczik shared their secrets to success. Boeing customer Procurement Agent Banboye S. Mainsah said their work offers “consistent good quality and delivery performance.”
So, what is the secret sauce for a small aerospace operation, and what makes it a great place to work?
Rangel has worked at CPC for close to 30 years. He started right after high school, when he met the founders, John and Janet Stone, at a coffee shop where he worked. He was unsure of his future, and they asked him to look at manufacturing. At that time, he had been exposed to wood shops in high school but didn’t know how things were manufactured. Starting at the company, he said, “It was eye-opening for me.” Rangel takes a wrap-around approach to business and also credits marital and parenting success to his good work in the company.
One key factor contributing to CPC’s success is its unwavering commitment to its mission statement.
Rangel emphasizes the unique mission statement of CPC, which sets it apart from its competitors. “While others strive to be the best supplier, we aspire to be a blessing to our customers, our vendors, and everyone we do business with,” he says. This commitment to making a positive impact in every interaction is what drives CPC’s success.
At CPC, empowering employees is a strategy and a core value. The company believes in giving its workforce the freedom to take ownership of projects and manage their roles. This approach creates an environment where every voice is not only heard but also valued, fostering a sense of respect and trust among the team.
He also spoke about balance and encouraged employees to enjoy their lives and work. “Life is not all about work; they work 7am to 3pm Monday through Friday. I don’t want people to be stressed out here. I don’t want people to hate their job.” His theory encourages continuous improvement and gives people the resources they need.
Rangel’s life balance philosophies are backed by CPC’s quality assurance certifications and functions, such as AS9100 certification (since 2011), ITAR, and CMMC compliance. “We have also won the Boeing performance award 13 times, which speaks to our quality system. I imagine not many people have those awards,” Rangel added.
Quality Manager Krista Nichols speaks about the company from a fresh perspective. Her tenure is one year with CPC, but she has prior roots as a quality manager at a calibration company. She is glad to be at CPC. “I enjoy everything: the people, the teamwork, the collaboration between the office, the shop, and shipping, and the fact that everyone can participate in improvement. If you make a mistake — I’ve made mistakes — others make mistakes, there is a healthy environment to learn from them.”
From a quality perspective, she said, “We, of course, want to get things out the door on time, but ultimately it is about the quality. We need to ensure the tolerances are right, but we also vet and know our vendors, so we get to ensure we pass quality down the entire process.” By knowing the vendors well, she added, they have “higher confidence in quality from when it comes back in the doors. Quality is an important factor here, emphasized from the beginning to the end.”
CPC’s portfolio is deep for a company that has manufactured for over 50 years. Their website, www.cpc-web.com, states, “Most of our business comprises products found in standards catalogs. Examples of such catalogs include Boeing D-590 Standards, NAS Standards, and MIL/MS Standards.” They make plastic spacers, grommets, plastic sealants, rails, electrical brackets, brackets, panels, handles, precision machined components, and stamped components for the commercial aerospace industry.
In today’s world, with bad actors, it isn’t always enough to solve the customer’s problem and provide high-quality production. According to Vice President Tyler Kowalczik, holding a Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) is also mission critical for Department of Defense (DOD) projects. He said requirements were tightened because the DOD found that companies weren’t conducting stringent assessments through self-reporting. “The problem is the DOD found that contractors weren’t assessing themselves fairly or consistently, so the scores were unreliable. Now, they require companies to get a certification, meaning they must undergo a third-party assessment like AS9100 and CMMC — (it is) required to do business with DOD — (this) will be phased into contracts, and the DOD will require it for all contracts.” He said the certification process takes 12-18 months and is intensive, “It is a significant investment in time and money.”
Nichols added, “Tyler has been working on it for three years, and the great advantage will be — security, maturity, compliance, and being ready for defense-based projects; (it’s a) huge project; we’re in a great place to be ready for it.”
Aside from certifications, the company is embracing new technologies as well. Rangel said that two on the horizon include “Automating and AI. We are a high mix with low volume here. Trying to figure out how robotics would work in our environment is challenging.” He said it could be tough for manufacturing leaders to evaluate robotics because employees might see their jobs disappearing. He said his feeling is that current employees will run the future automation, “If we can take our smart people and have them run the co-bots and robots, that would be the upside.”
Like many in the industry, hiring remains difficult. Nichols said, “Many things make it hard to find skilled labor. One of the things I see here is the higher-ups are saying, we want you to take ownership, and they are giving them ownership. One of the most important things we do is (empowering). Employees desire to learn more, upgrade skills, create a space for learning and growing, attract and maintain talent, and develop leadership.” She said they focus on upward mobility and promote from within.
Rangel added that they seek certain attributes in employees: “Honesty, integrity, initiative, and communication skills; we are not the typical machine shop. If there is an issue, they can collaborate with others and throw out ideas — to have communication to take the initiative to see if there is a problem.” Reflecting on their status, he said, “(We are) fortunate with folks we have now, good people.”
Soon, they want to expand further into the defense and space industries. The company is involved in regional trade groups like PNAA and PNDC, which keep it abreast of industry happenings. Rangel said, “I have been a member for years. I didn’t always leverage (the groups) as much, but it has been beneficial to network with people with the same challenges. A lot of times, you get stuck in your bubble. ‘This is what I do.’” He said he attends trade shows to build awareness for the business.
From Boeing’s standpoint, CPC is “a small company whose delivery and quality performance has improved over the years to the extent that CPC has been added to the Boeing Premier Bidder list. Premier Bidder List suppliers are given the first right of refusal for any new business at Boeing. This is a coveted position if you are in the Boeing supply base,” said Mainsah, procurement agent.
For Rangel, Nichols, and Kowalczik, serving the customer and solving their problems demonstrates a balanced day’s work that they enjoy.
Our Motto
Our motto has always been to, “Solve the customer’s problem.” In general, this means we strive to provide our customers with the products they need when they need it, but it also means that we strive to be flexible enough to accommodate unique and urgent customer demands.
Contact Information
Address
11623 Cyrus Way, Mukilteo, WA 98275
Office Hours
9:00am – 5:00pm Monday – Friday
Phone
425-355-6800
Website
