With its expertise in making cable assemblies and wire harnesses, among other products, American company Cypress Industries has now added India to its manufacturing operations to be able to service its customers better

Cypress Industries was founded in Austin, Texas by individuals with a shared vision of creating a different, and better, kind of manufacturing business. The company is a vertically integrated contract manufacturer specializing in custom cable assemblies, custom wire harnesses, plastic injection mould making, custom plastic injection moulding as well as metal castings. "Our vertical integration provides us a unique perspective into many different manufacturing techniques that enhances our core competence of assisting customers with design for manufacturability and value engineering," says Tom Lonsdale, CEO of Cypress Industries and acting chairman of the Austin Regional Manufacturers Association.

Elaborating about the company's operations in the US, China and now India, Lonsdale states that they "support the needs of a diversified customer base including OEMs, contract manufacturers, telecom companies, industrial machinery companies, P.O.S. companies, gaming equipment companies as well as medical and military manufacturers." Cypress Industries offers a full range of value-added services including product design, prototyping, manufacturing, testing, and after-sales support. It started product design for customers needing assistance with designing for manufacturability, design completion, and making modifications to existing designs.

"We often receive incomplete product drawings or drawings requiring revisions prior to manufacturing the project properly. In order to expedite our clients' time to market we have broadened our product offering to include description of product design timeline, product design development, and the corresponding product design cost estimate generation," Lonsdale informs. The company has its domain expertise in basic to mid-level design projects for electronic, plastic, and metal products, parts and assemblies. Additionally, Cypress engages in, but is not limited to, aluminum and die casting product design evaluation.

The company has traditionally manufactured the preponderance of its product in China. "Through the years we have found there to be value in maintaining both domestic and China manufacturing capabilities. Our experience shows deciding whether to manufacture either domestically or offshore strictly depends upon the unique needs of each customer," Lonsdale says. An obvious benefit to manufacturing in China is the opportunity to drastically reduce production costs. "For electronic and metal products our customers have experienced 40-80 per cent manufacturing cost savings depending on labour requirements. In addition, our plastics customers typically experience up to 50 per cent production cost reductions by choosing to produce products offshore depending again on labour requirements," he adds.

Now, as a further step to geographical expansion, Cypress Industries has set up a new manufacturing facility in Noida in India, the first wholly owned overseas subsidiary of an Austin-based cable or wire harness manufacturer. The new manufacturing facility is the result of two years of planning, and will provide customers with high-volume, high-complexity production options while opening new markets overseas. The new ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001-certified facility mirrors the existing manufacturing space in Austin, with a team of designers and engineers that develop production solutions covering an extremely diverse set of products, including equipment for industrial and rugged operations; oil and gas extraction and exploration; solar equipment; automotive manufacturing; and agricultural machinery.

Schematics and production protocols can be developed in the US and executed in India, but the process may also be reversed, allowing customers on both continents to design and produce materials in whatever fashion minimizes costs and expedites logistics. The enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems already in use at the Austin location will be completely duplicated in the new India facility, enabling engineers in both locations to monitor and evaluate the entire production run and collaborate seamlessly. Says Lonsdale: "We see this as an opportunity for companies here and abroad. We are pursuing new clients in South America and Europe, and we have already been fielding inquiries from new customers in India. We are making it possible for mid-size companies, both in the US and overseas, to access a highly skilled workforce that can produce complex products in high volume."

Commanding the new facility will be V Shekhar, a name well known to anyone in the Indian cable and wire harness industry. His experience includes overseeing more than 2,000 employees at one of the largest export and domestic cable assembly companies in India. "We will be increasing Cypress' output by more than ten times, to 5,00,000 pieces per month, while maintaining the standards that the Austin facility already applies to complex projects. But I am most excited about the collaboration between my team in India and the people I have met in Austin. Cypress will be the preeminent cable and harness manufacturer in the region, and make it possible for many more local companies to compete on a global basis," states Shekhar.

Lonsdale sees this new facility as another reason why Austin is becoming a focus for manufacturing activity. "We are expecting a growth rate of around 45 per cent for 2013 to 2014 - more than double the rate from 2011 to 2012 - as a result of this expansion. But that's not just good for us; it's good for the entire area. Manufacturing now accounts for 20 per cent of Austin's gross metro product, surpassing every other industry. As we continue to provide great value for the dollar, more and more industries are taking notice, and choosing Austin as the right place to do business," he says.

Contact Details:

Cypress Industries, Plot No. 12, Udyog Kendra-II, Ecotech-III, Greater Noida, Gautam Budh Nagar, UP, India - 201 308. Tel.: 0120-2397514. E-mail: vshekhar@cypressindustries.com. Website: www.cypressindustries.com.