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Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts
A pioneer in automated assembly, Bridgeport's Bodine retools for a new century
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Business New Haven
1/11/1999
By: Sharon Cohen
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It always amazes Richard (Flip) Bodine Jr., chairman of Bodine Assembly & Test Systems in Bridgeport, how quickly educators and politicians downplay manufacturing in favor of the growing service industry. They've got it backwards, he says.
“Manufacturing has long accounted for a huge portion of the United States' growth, and will continue to do so,” Bodine proclaims. “Many of us manufacturers out here are still building the wealth of this country.”
A third-generation family-owned business with 1997 revenues of $30 million and 190 employees, Bodine builds high-speed automatic assembly and test systems for high-production manufacturers of small parts. Joining Richard are his cousin William E. Bodine, vice chairman and CEO, and brother David Bodine, the firm's president.
Although automotive manufacturers such as General Motors and Ford have been longtime clients, Bodine machines assemble products ranging from intravenous catheters to fuel injectors for corporations including Lucent Technologies, Champion Ignition Products and Johnson & Johnson. Companies use Bodine technology in 23 countries worldwide.
The Bodine Co. was founded in 1933 during the Depression. Alfred (Bo) VanSant Bodine, Richard Bodine's grandfather, was purchasing companies at auction and reselling them at a profit. A farsighted accountant convinced Bodine to keep the Anderson Die Machine Co. The organization produced a small die-type tapping and screw inserting machine serving growing electrical companies as General Electric, Bryant Electric and Hubbell.
By the late 1930s and early '40s, Bodine had expanded his market far beyond the electronics industry. Like many Bridgeport manufacturers, his company grew through World War II and the Korean War. “Bridgeport became one of America's biggest industrial manufacturing sites,” says Bodine.
Still, it was not until 1961 that Bodine hit $1 million in gross annual revenues. By then, the company's focus had begun to change from single-purpose metal cutting machinery to automatic assembly with the advent of numerically controlled technology. Computerization may have been an infant, “but the handwriting was on the wall,” explains Bodine.
The company developed a completely modular linear automated assembly system, the Model 64, with a repetitive use of common parts. This modular approach allowed - and still allows today - for easy customization of new units and retooling with product line changes. Customers demanded high productivity and quality. The Model 64 could dramatically increase assembly capacity and build products with consistent quality.
Indeed, automated assembly changed the face of American manufacturing, says Donald Hegland, editor of the 40-year-old trade magazine Assembly. “Nearly every product we use, from the alarm clock to the automobile, is assembled from piece parts.”
Yet the assembly equipment business presented its own obstacles. During the 1970s, “We survived a number of challenges from unexpected places,” recalls Bodine. “Fortune magazine predicted that robots would run all manufacturing by the end of the next decade. Robots are good at painting and welding cars, but they don't build cars. People do. And robots can't put spark plugs together at 60 a minute, but our equipment can,” says Bodine.
What he calls the “tough '70s” brought another challenge along with the flagging economy. “Big guys” such as GE, IBM and Westinghouse decided to become suppliers of automated factory assembly.
“After little time - but time enough to worry us - they found their move wasn't lucrative,” Bodine says. “It took too much highly specialized, dedicated engineering resources to make a reliable product.” This reliability, Bodine adds, has been the company's hallmark. The first Model 64 assembly system, shipped in 1965, is still operating three shifts a day, five days a week.
An era of growth followed. Many businesses thrive today, adds Bodine, because they invested significantly in manufacturing assembly in the '80s. Low interest rates and several years of a bull market continue to fuel the manufacturing industry. There's enormous opportunity to get capital and build technology, which bodes well for assembly businesses.
One thing that's kept Bodine successful is a diversified customer base. As the auto industry slows down, others gear up. In the 1970s, companies needed assembly equipment for consumer disposables such as videocassettes. And in the '90s, telecommunications - especially with the growth of the Internet - require Bodine's machines for connectors and terminal blocks.
“We are the big comeback kids,” says Bodine about U.S. manufacturers. “We've made massive gains in the last decade and have the most productive workforce and strongest economy in the world.” He expects this trend to continue now that U.S. firms have successfully defended their pre-eminence - in computers and software. Such growth necessitates automation, which manufactures the highest quality product at the lowest cost.
Typically, observes Assembly's Hegland, most successful assembly equipment companies are not multinational conglomerates. Rather they are dedicated mid-sized firms, many family-owned such as Bodine. “In total, these companies are probably smaller in revenues than one Fortune 500 company,” he says. “But they're indispensable to today's manufacturing.”
Many manufacturers have left Bridgeport for lest costly environs or shut down completely. Bodine once thought about moving, and even discussed the possibility with his employees. His family's deep attachment to the area made him look for other options. With the support of the West End Community Development Corp., which received state funding, the company purchased the adjoining property to build a 30,000-square-foot addition.
“Manufacturing has historically represented Bridgeport's largest tax base,” says Tito Molina, president and executive director of the Park City's West End Community Development Corp., “the majority represented by large multinational corporations.”
Although manufacturing still generates substantial tax revenue, smaller family-owned manufacturers appear to represent the wave of Bridgeport's future. The city's municipal development plan encourages manufacturing expansion by such firms. In addition to Bodine, explains Molina, other family-owned concerns are investing in the community as well. Chaves Bakery is completing a 60,000-square-foot facility. Jason Roberts, which manufactures concrete resurfacing products, will build a new 15,000-square-foot building in conjunction with its move from Milford to Bridgeport.
For Bodine, the purchase allows the company to expand its production capacity and continue as a Bridgeport supporter. The city, says Bodine, is at its best since the “roarin' '50s.” For decades the company has backed community causes, presently making major contributions to the Central Connecticut YMCA and Family Services-Woodfield fundraising campaigns, as well as a sizable donation to the Discovery Museum. Next year Bodine is slated to serve as Bridgeport's United Way campaign chair.
Bodine appreciates the support that state and local leadership has been giving to manufacturing. An continuing challenge, however, is finding the talent to fill the new jobs. He often recruits in other states and has asked numerous officials to place greater emphasis on technical education in the state.
“There's still a lot of solid manufacturing in Connecticut that demands a well-educated, skilled workforce,” he stresses. “We offer some of the most exciting, solid-paying jobs in the state - if not all America.”
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