Company brings inspection and testing work in-house

When Robert Garcia, owner of Mobile Technical Systems Inc. (MTSI), decided to bring more quality control in-house, he turned to the New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership for assistance.

"Our in-house quality assurance department required more depth and knowledge of weld analysis and inspection processes to meet the requirements of our new military contracts," said Garcia. "After a careful study, I determined the MEP project managers had the technical expertise or the sources to meet our goals."

A seven-year-old company, MTSI is located in a 6,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Las Cruces, N.M. The company's 15 employees manufacture specialized trailers, vans and shelters, mostly for military applications.

"I needed to have an employee or a couple of my employees certified in two specific areas," Garcia said. "Namely, we needed an employee certified in visual weld inspection and another, or the same person, certified in magnetic particle testing."

These were processes the company outsourced, which cost more and delayed delivery times.

Carol Sanchez, director of the New Mexico MEP, said the organization's project managers are knowledgeable about many different manufacturing applications and processes.

"While each company and each problem is unique, our knowledge of lean manufacturing techniques and the specific strengths of each project manager allow us to deal with almost every situation in a timely and cost-effective manner," Sanchez said.

Garcia would agree.

"I realized MTSI did not have some specific resources government contracts require," he said. "While I had a quality control system in place, I required in-house employees certified in both visual weld inspections and magnetic particle testing and needed to be moving towards ISO (International Standards Organization) certification. Thanks to the New Mexico MEP, I now comply with all those requirements."

While in-house quality assurance has always been of the highest order at MTSI, Garcia said every employee now realizes what quality level the company is shooting for and what it takes to ensure on-time quality-product delivery.

"At present, we are building engine-handling trailers and fuel tank trailers for the Air Force and the trailers are shipped worldwide," Garcia said. "While we paint, assemble and prepare each trailer in-house, we have many of the machined parts manufactured to our specifications by companies in the Las Cruces area.

"By having so much outsourced, we sometimes had problems meeting the delivery dates set forth in our contracts," he added. "By bringing the inspections in-house, we have eliminated late deliveries and have even been early on many of our trailer deliveries."

While some trailers can be assembled in one day, Garcia said hours of work go into preparing for the final assembly.

"Some trailers are more complex than others, of course," he said. "Especially the ones that require hydraulics that allow the trailer to raise and lower itself."

MTSI is in a good situation, contract-wise, Garcia said, because the company has several multi-year contracts.

"We got our first military contract from Camp Pendleton Marine Corp Base in 1997 and our current major contracts with Warner Robins Air Force Base in Georgia in 2001," Garcia said. "We have received contracts each year since then, and our latest contract calls for us to provide trailers for the next five years."

With that type of commitment, Garcia knew it was time to bring more work in-house to ensure quality was consistent and costs were reduced.

"The New Mexico MEP was quite helpful in both those areas," he said. "And, the project managers we worked with were knowledgeable and easy to get along with. I am certainly pleased with the way things turned out."

The New Mexico MEP is an affiliate of the NIST under the U.S. Department of Commerce. The national MEP is a network of manufacturing extension centers that provide business and technical assistance to smaller manufacturers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Through MEP, manufacturers have access to more than 2000 manufacturing and business "coaches" whose job is to help firms make changes that lead to greater productivity, increased profits, and enhanced global competitiveness. For more information on the New Mexico MEP program call .

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