Our A general Contract Manufacturing definition is a process where a company chooses to outsource their manufacturing to a third party organization. Many small companies, start ups, or even large companies choose to enter a contract with a contract manufacturer since it can be far less expensive than handling the manufacturing themselves. Contract Manufacturers have the experience and sound infrastructure to manufacture goods for other companies, which allows the companies to focus their efforts on marketing and selling their products. Contract Manufacturers on the other hand have advanced skill sets and can focus their efforts on optimizing production, lowering costs and managing the intricacies of running a full functioning factory.
Managing processes, ordering parts and coordinating manufacturing duties is an exhausting and expensive process. If your company has outgrown the local fab shops, it might be time for one CM to completely handle your project to completion. For those Program Managers dealing with a handful of suppliers and frustrated with managing different deadlines, wouldn’t you want to leave that headache to one company to oversee? A Contract Manufacturer like PEKO does the hard work for you.
With over 50 years in the industry, we know a thing or two when it comes to Contract Manufacturing. We’ve been offering complete Contract Manufacturing services for premier OEM’s all over the world since our beginning. Whether we’re manufacturing for Machinery, Equipment or Instrumentation OEM’s, our customers put their trust in us for both Design-and-Build and Build-to-Print manufacturing.
With a focus on industry leading OEMs, our engineering and manufacturing teams work together to create a full-service, customized process in our state-of-the-art facilities to replicate your complex equipment.
But what if your project still needs work on during the design phase? Or, what if you only have a spec or a budding idea that you need help putting on paper before your great idea can be manufactured? No problem! Here at PEKO, our engineering team is more than happy, and qualified, to assist you with your design to take you through our Development Curve and then into Production. Once you realize PEKO’s extensive in-house capabilities, you’ll be confident in our ability to keep the cost down and the lead time where it should be: On Time!
Whether you’re a Fortune 500 corporation or a brand-new technology startup, you can count on PEKO to be your Full-Service Contract Manufacturer.
Now more than ever, a common question companies that want to produce and sell Machinery, Equipment, Instruments and other Major Mechanical Assemblies is “How will I make my product?” The investment involved with setting up an entire manufacturing operation is an enormous barrier to making the OEM product in house. Inevitably, “Find the right Contract Manufacturer” is the answer for many companies. But landing on that square is just the beginning.
As soon as we initiate into a contract with a customer, that company has the peace-of-mind knowing that PEKO is fully prepared to take over the management of their major mechanical assembly, regardless of its stage in the manufacturing process. Our full service, wide range of Contract Manufacturing Services offer our OEM customers everything that they need to ensure their equipment is produced, tested and shipped according to their requirements.
Whether your product is going into a first-time build, or you are relocating a legacy product to free up internal resources, PEKO can help. We provide build-to-print turnkey manufacturing services for our customers that are looking for help building their product. PEKO works with your team directly, compiling your existing prints, BOMs and tribal knowledge. Our Program Managers take the time to understand your:
Once we have all product and manufacturing knowledge identified, we develop a manufacturing process that achieves the Quality, Lead Time and Performance that our customers desire.
Our Build-To-Print Turnkey Contract Manufacturing Solution has helped our customers on hundreds of projects. Some OEMs are simply looking to free up internal resources, so that they can focus on their own core competencies. Other’s simply don’t have any manufacturing resources at their disposal. PEKO OEM’s realize the Advantages of Outsourcing entire products and their assemblies so that they can enjoy a dramatic reduction in supply chain management and focus on the most important aspects of their business. Whatever the reason may be, PEKO will create a successful manufacturing plan to build your machinery, equipment and instrumentation in our state-of-the-art facilities.
Not every design or prototype is completely ready for production or even manufacturing, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an answer. PEKO has a fully staffed engineering team to help with design updates. This team specializes in the initial development, but also helps with early-stage production and Design for Manufacture and Assembly, or DFMA. Our engineers have had years of experience:
Our Design-And-Build Commercialization service is the stepping stone for OEM’s who have a design that’s nearly complete but still needs a skilled team to ensure it’s both Validated and Production Ready. Let our team of seasoned machinery designers finish your design and prepare it for the production stage.
Here at PEKO, we have been fortunate enough to work with some of the most stringent industries out there, which have paved the way for our immense qualifications when working with potential clients. We’ve spent over 50 years in the contract manufacturing industry and have had experience with dealing with the unfortunate obstacles that arise in any manufacturing setting. With this past experience in mind, we now have backup plans in place, in case of the inevitable, to ensure a smooth manufacturing cycle for our Original Equipment Manufacturers.
The specific industries that we have had proven success with include:
These industries have some of the most stringent regulations in terms of quality control and can display their own difficulties through each stage of our Development Cycle. PEKO has executed hundreds of product launches across enough diverse industries to have confidence that we can assist you with your concept from raw materials to finished product. Having executed projects within these industries provides us with a leading edge when working with new clients. New clients interested in working with PEKO are reassured in our ability to take on and execute “ground-breaking” projects. We’re fully prepared to be your partner of choice when it comes time to outsource your manufacturing.
Not only have we mastered such rigorous industries, we’ve also obtained a few certifications along the way to ensure that our service offerings are open to a wide variety of customers. Our certifications include:
PEKO is ISO 9001:2000 certified since 1996, ISO 13485:2003 for medical devices, and AS-9100: 2004 for the aerospace industry. Our ITAR registration specifies our compliance when working with companies in the defense industry. PEKO is also compliant with all NIST regulations and guidelines.
While some of these certifications correlate to the specific industry types that we serve, others were obtained so we can cater to any new potential customer base. These specific certifications provide us with the opportunity to work with many different types of OEMs while also maintaining our excellent quality control. Our experience in the Contract Manufacturing Industry has enabled us to be the partner of choice for your next project.
What if you still need some more work or just a bit of assistance with the design? Thankfully, PEKO’s advanced engineers in our NPI department are ready to take on any design challenge to make sure that your machinery is repeatable in production. Since we’ve been around for over 50 years, we’ve had years of proven success with bringing designs to life once they hit production and assembly.
We don’t just assist with designing, here at PEKO, we make sure that your machinery is actually manufacturable, and has the proper planning in place so that it can be ramped up once demand increases, at a moment’s notice. Establishing a design that is manufacturable–containing clearly drawn prints and instructions–is one of the advantages that set us apart from competitors thanks to our experienced, tenure engineering professionals within our New Production Introduction, or NPI, department.
PEKO became incorporated in 1966, by our three founders in Rochester, NY.
Today, we are a vertically integrated, Full-Service Contract Manufacturer. Our aim is to be the Top Contract Manufacturing Company in the USA. We currently operate in over 300,000 square feet of air-conditioned space between our six modern facilities, which are all located within a one-mile radius of one another. Our dedicated staff includes approximately 400 devoted non-union employees. Since we are a debt-free company, and run a three-shift operation, we have the flexibility to meet all our customer demands without fearing any potential encumbrances that can arise within the manufacturing industry.
PEKO has the capability to buy space, machinery and tools at a moment’s notice. This is one of the many pros for our Original Equipment Manufacturers that choose to outsource to us. PEKO also internally employs technology to construct state-of-the-art Contract Manufacturing Services for our top-level programs, which includes capital equipment–for the latest updates on our machines as they arrive be sure to check out our blog! This internal process consists of continually monitoring available construction and design techniques, and conducting competitive bench-marking efforts to maintain our world-class standing in Electromechanical Contract Manufacturing capabilities.
At PEKO, there is a diverse balance between seasoned tenure employees and young eager minds. We constantly re-invest into the success of our employees and their futures. What that means to us is helping employees develop professionally, to meet their fullest potential. When employees come to us with a desire to further their education, we help them financially to make sure that they’re always striving to be the best that they can be. Apart from paying for school tuition, we are constantly searching for local classes available that may be of benefit to them and their career, regardless of what their long-term goals are with the company. We have found this to be extremely advantageous when it comes to serving our customers and OEMs, since we can be certain that we have brought together some of the most trained and best minds in the industry. This ideology is directly reflected in our Human Resource tagline: A Passion for Precision and People. We are also proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer complying with all rules and regulations of the EEOC.
When it comes to PEKO’s customers and clients, our philosophy for our employees transposes into the relationships that we have with our customers as well. The vast majority of our customer base functions as a “partnership” relationship through the development and contract manufacturing stages as we engage in long-term commitments, building a foundation of trust and confidence with each one.
Part of our long history of success is due in part to our expertise in utilizing space. As an expert Contract Manufacturer, we’re extremely flexible when it comes to our capacity. This asset is extremely important when it comes to Contract Manufacturing.
PEKO’s highly-trained and dedicated staff is always monitoring our current space, employee, and resource allocation. As soon as we enter the negotiation stage with a potential client, our Senior Operations team begins assessing the current available machining and space capacity, and will review any adjustments as needed. If all our current machines are tied up with current projects, then we immediately start the hunt for new machines and equipment that will be necessary to meet the demands of our new potential clients. Once a machine is ordered, then our Industrial Engineering team surveys facility floor space to make the proper room adjustments so that everything will fit inside a given facility. After we’ve secured the proper equipment and machines necessary to complete both current and future jobs, then our senior management team begins allocating employees to the new tasks.
At PEKO, we have a customer diversification strategy that designates the proper amount of attention to each customer while manufacturing all our clients’ major mechanical equipment. Our strategy has been demonstrated in PEKO’s ability to monitor both customer and industry concentrations, along with the overall industry trends, in order to allocate resources equitably.
Once projects are complete, or parts that make up a major mechanical assembly are complete, everything is stored in our integrated warehouse in preparation of the next pick. PEKO’s storage facility encompasses 22,000 square feet of warehouse space, which is adjacent to one of our assembly buildings.
Projects that are still in the Research and Development stage, utilize the wide range of capabilities that PEKO has to offer. Our dedicated state-of-the-art facility for New Product Introduction, or NPI, focuses on product development along with Research and Development, or R&D. This is where early-stage, or PEKO’s Proprietary On-boarding, projects begin to expand to eventually involve all aspects of our corporation through our holistic approach.
PEKO’s Proprietary On-boarding consists of a process which includes one of the most critical steps in our operation. PEKO On-boarding will look different for each customer that works with us. In a nutshell, On-boarding is a case-by-case framework based on specific customer’s needs and current state of the project in order to establish a strong foundation of critical parameters to execute their long-term goals. Here’s a few examples:
Whatever stage a customer arrives at PEKO with, our engineers in our NPI department are fully prepared to lay the groundwork for the first phase their project. Since each customer has their own individualized needs and goals, we work hard to specialize their experience with PEKO on an individualized level. Prior to defining a customer’s process, our staff management’s top priority is to fully understand the customer’s needs and long-term objectives to develop milestone goals that will move the project through PEKO’s development cycle and into production.
Because our engineering team works alongside our manufacturing and assembly teams, our holistic approach ensures a seamless transition through PEKO’s Vertical Integration Process, all while providing excellent customer support.
PEKO has completed numerous development projects across every industry that begin with R&D and progress through to the commercialization and realization process. We have then taken these projects to full-blown production volume Contract Manufacturing. Some of the projects we’ve nurtured through these stages include:
These projects all followed our initial development phase that coincided with a product commercialization to include regulatory review, certification and were finally scaled to complete production volumes.
PEKO’s Engineering Development Capabilities focus heavily on the commercialization of a product or process. Our customers typically focus Research and Development, or R&D, recourses on their core science while our engineering provides the execution side of the technology. However, sometimes a customer will come to us with a concept seeking our assistance in Design Engineering. A concept could exist in a 3D model, the back of a cocktail napkin, or even floating inside your head. No matter where that idea currently resides, we want to nurture it into a project with clear definition, milestones, and final goal. PEKO’s engineers are backed by our manufacturing and production teams, so we have the advantage over companies that solely focus on designing.
Once a design is complete, the next step is to prove that the initial concept has both merit and functionality. This stage in the design engineering process involves refinement of the initial concept. Critical parameters will begin to be defined with variables and parameters. It is important to have dedication and focus through this process, as it has proven to reduce design iterations and minimizes the inherent circumstances that come along with the manufacturing process. Even when customers come to PEKO with a fully designed idea, our engineers still go through this refinement process before plans for manufacturing take place. The technology and science of the product will be verified and optimized in this process.
PEKO’s design engineering team always check to make sure that everything on a print is specified before the information is sent off to our machinists and eventually assemblers. This is accomplished through the prototype phase where we finally turn the initial concept into reality. This phase can often require many trial and error testing before we are confident that we have executed the concept to its completion. When we finally have the necessary knowledge to bring the design through the manufacturing process, all the processes in the design and BOM are clearly defined.
Our specific specialties include complete electrical and mechanical design, software, pneumatic, hydraulic, manufacturing, life testing, and DOE, FMEA, FEA, regulatory, etc.
Specific applications for our NPI and Development engineering expertise include:
Our extensive level of design engineering skills and areas of discipline include:
As a manufacturing services provider, PEKO does not have–nor do we desire to have–any products of our own, allowing our customers to benefit from and protect all Intellectual Property, or IP, produced at PEKO. All IP will remain as the property of our customers with Non-Disclosure Agreements, or NDAs, covering all our customer relationships. PEKO customers have the assurance that they’re outsourcing their manufacturing to a company that strictly operates within the United States of America. In the past, PEKO employees have been named as co-inventors on some patents but only per our client’s request.
Unlike a lot of CM’s out there, we do not have any Asian operations that can be highly susceptible to IP theft. Companies that work with PEKO, not only have the peace-of-mind knowing that they are working with a proud, American based company, they don’t fear the many cons that can come along with offshoring their manufacturing. Since PEKO’s a Vertically Integrated Contract Manufacturing Company, clients can also rely on the fact that we do a large amount of work in-house. Because we are less likely to outsource a portion of your project to another company, there are far fewer persons viewing your sensitive, proprietary information.
We also take extra internal measures to keep a company’s IP safe within our facilities as well. Depending on the level of security needed to keep your information protected, we can offer secured assembly areas that are closed off and separate from the rest of our assembly space. PEKO has a strict photography policy in place. All our facility entrances are card entry for employees only, while visitors are required to sign in and out with our main receptionist. Visitors are also designated a bright yellow lanyard so that they can be easily identified while inside our buildings, and are briefed on PEKOs strict no photography regulation. When a shipment arrives, truck drivers are not authorized to enter our facilities, rather must wait until our shipping and receiving personnel can assist with unloading our shipments. Because we work heavily in the Defense Industry, and are ITAR certified, our strict rules and guidelines add reassurance to OEM’s who are considering PEKO for the assembly of their instrumentation.
PEKO employees are required each year to take a cyber-security training led by our IT department that coincides with a written test. In this training employees are briefed on the important of keeping information safe and best practices when it comes to email and sharing of information. Our IT department is confident in the security of our server and any has the ability to allow limited employee access to information that needs additional security.
Here at PEKO, we encourage customers to walk before they run. Before a piece of equipment can move to the production line, some prototyping and qualification builds are mandatory. Even when a design is well into its “mature stage,” in most cases there are still particularities of the build that must be performed and documented a few times to ensure that repeatability can be accomplished in the future. At this stage, high-level toolmakers and electricians are involved with both the on-boarding and production teams so that high-quality builds can be ensured in perpetuity.
Machinery, Equipment, Instruments and other high-tech assemblies typically share an attribute of electrical components. Sensors, PLC’s, power supplies, vision systems, and other components are exceedingly common in such systems. Contract Manufacturer’s for these types of builds must absolutely have a team of electricians, techs and engineers that can ensure your product is brought to life properly in both the prototype and production phases. At PEKO, we are fortunate enough to have skilled, seasoned workers in all those disciplines.
You have a great idea or concept that you’re excited to have hit the market, but do you have the following:
If you answered no to any of these, it may not make sense to invest all your company’s money in building and staffing a full-functioning manufacturing plant. OEMs who choose to work with PEKO have the luxury of spending their time and money in more important aspects of their business models.
When customers engage with PEKO to utilize our assembly services, there is an initial onboarding process regardless of the maturity of the design. Decades of assembly experience have taught us how critical it is that a design’s prints, BOM and work order instructions are exactly perfect. The process for making one machine varies drastically when making hundreds of that same machine, to ensure its exact repeatability, every time. At PEKO, we don’t just make sure that your machine will be assembled perfectly in our facilities, we make sure that the documentation will allow any one to create an exact replica of a build should a customer chose to assemble elsewhere one day. Our core competency as a Contract Manufacturer is Assembly and Integration.
For the companies that don’t have the space or capacity to implement a full assembly line for their major mechanical equipment, PEKO is their One-Stop-Shop. If you have a great product that’s ready for commercialization, it might not make sense for you to build and manage an entire factory, which is where we come in. With all the problems that can arise in manufacturing, leave the “dirty work” to us–a company that has had over 50 years to master the Contract Manufacturing Industry. With over 50 years in the Manufacturing Industry, PEKO plans for manufacturing obstacles before they arise, and still execute our tasks to meet our OEM’s timely deadlines.
PEKO maintains our Full Assembly and Test Capability with our highly competent technicians. We consider this to be a key area of expertise. We are defining and executing to detailed acceptance criteria daily. These acceptance plans are mutually developed with our customers to define what each party’s expectation of “good” means, early in the project. This definition provides clear goals necessary to execute. We also track our qualified technicians through a competency matrix to ensure proper skill sets are achieved and maintained.
When an assembly, or sub-assembly, requires a stricter and climate-controlled environment, PEKO’s separate cleanroom assembly areas are the perfect fit. Customized clean rooms are available on a per contract basis.
We’ve come to realize the importance of in-house component fabrication capabilities and that they are typically involved in the manufacturing of machinery, equipment, instruments and other major mechanical assemblies. PEKO’s in-house component manufacturing benefits our customers by allowing us to have an excellent control over cost, quality and lead time when things are needed at the assembly line. PEKO proudly stands by our ability to do the following, in-house:
Currently, PEKO employs approximately 16 on staff welders, and we are currently working to further expand our welding capabilities which include:
These capabilities are all utilized in our fabrication of frames, cabinets, enclosures and other parts involved in PEKO’s manufacture of machinery and equipment.
Occasionally, a new OEM will seek us to utilize our ability to weld their complex frames and cabinets, without realizing our Full Turnkey Production and Assembly strengths. Usually, PEKO can take over the management of an OEMs entire project and completely finish the assembly of the frame or cabinet. When working with PEKO, you can enjoy the comfort while we manage your project in its entirety. It is much easier for our clients to work with PEKO as their sole supplier rather than managing multiple suppliers for one assembly.
We have recently dedicated an entire building for the sole purpose of catering to our welding division and its intended growth. In this new welding location, we will have the capacity to test and certify new welders as we on-board them into our pristine Contract Manufacturing Company. We have two in-house Certified Welding Inspectors, and multiple certified Welding Procedure Specifications for various material, types, and positions.
Our extensive in-house sheet metal fabrication division consists of the following:
PEKO’s Sheet Metal Division also offers an automated powder paint line that includes paint booths and a line. Recently, due to a high demand, we added a second paint booth to our Sheet Metal Department that operates for larger items that are unable to pass through our semi-automated powder coat line. Over time, we’ve realized that Paint can be a problem for everyone. Hours upon hours spent careful planning and coordinating to get to the final steps of an assembly can be altered by complications with paint which can make or break a deadline. By integrating in-house paint services, PEKO’s lead time and markup issues are avoided at a time it matters most. If there are issues within our painting division, we can instantly make the adjustments necessary so that deadlines are met.
PEKO’s CNC Mill and Lathe machines are scattered throughout three of our six facilities. For decades, PEKO has mastered the ability to machine highly complex component parts that are used in to build our assemblies and sub-assemblies. Managing our own machine shop has paved the way for our evolution as a Contract Manufacturing Business. We continue to reinvest in the machines on our floor and have recently added new and larger machines to our operations to ensure that our lead time is as quick as possible when it comes to manufacturing and assembling highly-complex parts for our major mechanical assemblies. (
PEKO continues to differentiate from traditional machine shops in our ability to machine hard-to-make parts. PEKO Precision Products is the source for parts with:
Since all these attributes are managed in-house by PEKO, we are confident in our ability to execute these demanding parts, every time. Feeding our Contract Manufacturing needs, typical volumes range from prototype quantities to dozens per batch. Combined with our robust Quality System, Manufacturing Engineering and Program Management, PEKO is a strong force for repetitive build of tight tolerance and intricate feature parts. We invite a challenge on those nasty parts that traditional shops can’t seem to get right when building a major mechanical assembly for OEMs. For more information on our CNC machining capabilities, please visit our Precision Parts page.
Our Project Management approach is a customer service-oriented feature that ensures visibility and accountability at all levels within our manufacturing organization. It is one of our strongest attributes. We provide a Program Manager for each program to provide a single point of contact for our customers throughout the duration of the project.
Program Managers, or PMs, provide leadership for each program, with access to all PEKO’s resources through senior management on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Each program is reviewed at least once per month and measured to drive success through planning and design. Daily senior management reviews are available and are attended by PEKO’s dedicated Program Managers to properly allocate resources within PEKO at key points in the project. If any problems arise over the course of the program, our escalation plan establishes how significant problems and decisions should be addressed to keep the program on track which provides clear visibility for both organizations.
Because we provide a Program Manager for each program, there is a single point of contact for our customers throughout the duration of their project. This designated point of contact allows for simple, and easy communications. This is because, here at PEKO, we understand how critical Program Management is for a Contract Manufacturer’s success.
Our Program Managers oversee Cost, Quality and Delivery. This PM is a single point of contact for customer interface and is responsible for managing all the individual specifications and requirements inherent to the program. This means when a client of ours calls our company to check on the status of their program, they will always be put in contact with their allocated PM. PEKO clients never have to worry that they’ll be transferred across the switchboard or into different departments to receive an answer to their inquiry. A single point of contact saves time and energy for both parties.
PEKO Program Managers work alongside PEKO’s upper management to determine the appropriate internal, or potential external, resources needed to constitute the program team. These dedicated resource personnel report directly to the PEKO Project Manager when addressing their related activities for the duration of the program. Daily senior management reviews are available and are attended by the Program Managers to properly allocate resources within PEKO at key points in the project. At PEKO, we understand that communication is everything when handling the management of your program to its completions.
PEKO’s Quality Systems are one of the most important functions within our capabilities. We are surveyed and audited over 20 times per year and continue to review and improve practices to ensure world-class standards are achieved across all programs. PEKO’s quality management system utilizes the process approach from early product design and development, through program management and our manufacturing processes. The Quality System is set up to satisfy and comply with a wide variety of customer and regulatory requirements from the diverse industries we work within. Program teams are assigned by function and are dependent upon the type of industry. This allows for the utilization of specific team members with the knowledge and expertise unique to industry-specific requirements. Our certifications include:
At PEKO, we’re always working with an OEM to “define good.” This Contract Manufacturing philosophy describes our ability to take a sophisticated machinery or equipment, and formally agree upon all the attributes that must be satisfied before the product can be shipped. Program stakeholders from both the OEM and CM are involved in this critical portion of the onboarding process.
Our quality performance metrics are determined by senior management and are then identified within each quality manual process map. Dependent on the process and pre-determined intervals (i.e. quarterly, monthly), process owners collect this data and forward completed reports to the management representative for review by senior management team members during monthly management reviews.
PEKO utilizes a Defective Material Report, or DMR, database to record and track all “suspect” and nonconforming product identified by operators, technicians, and quality staff. Any product that does not meet our stringent standards is clearly identified with a red tag and moved to our designated controlled areas and into a DMR cage within 24 hours of identification. All products in these areas are monitored and inventoried three times per week and a DMR Log is distributed throughout the organization. Engineering and Material Review Board, or MRB, members meet once per week to review, disposition and determine whether any corrective action is required for the red-tagged product. Customer returns are also subject to these same controls, under our pristine Quality System.
