As a major supplier to global leaders in a variety of markets, C & K operates on the premise that a creative, well-educated engineering team is vital to its success.
And never has that philosophy rung truer than now, as C & K has become part of ITT Industries, Cannon. When ITT acquired C C K in June, it not only made us part of the biggest switch manufacturing company in the world, it also reinforced our investment in engineering excellence and talent.
We are well known for offering the most complete range of quality switch and interface solutions. Since the acquisition, we are in an improved position due to the complementary talents and capabilities within ITT.
Engineers have a variety of options for professional growth. We know how important it is to offer our engineers a variety of continuing education opportunities. And we do this in several ways. For example, in our manufacturing facility in Costa Rica, engineers complete a year-long training course in which they learn the basics of supply chain management, execution and control of operations, and strategic management and planning of resources.
All of our engineers in the U.S. attend a four-day course on electrical contacts, under the sponsorship of the IEEE Components and Manufacturing Technology Society. They also receive on-going training on the technology tools they use, such as PTC's Pro/E CAD/CAM/CAE software. We also help aspiring and newly graduated engineers. For the past six years we have participated in co-op intern programs with two Boston area schools—Northeastern University and Mass. Bay Community College. And in Europe, apprentices and college students serve as interns at our offices in France and Germany.
Now that we are part of ITT, our engineers have additional opportunities for professional growth. Examples of two programs that are targeted specifically to encourage innovation among engineers are the Patent Awards program and the Taguchi program.
Through the Patent Awards program, engineers are awarded bonuses when patent applications are submitted and issued. Through the Taguchi program, our engineers have an opportunity to present results of major projects using the Taguchi Design of Experiments methodology. Dr. Genichi Taguchi is a renowned expert in statistical analysis and the creator of the methodology. An annual two-day symposium is held where the papers, recognized as the best in the industry, are presented. Just recently, Dr. Sylvain Rochon of the company's France location was awarded the best case study at the annual symposium of the American Supplier Institute (ASI), which is the clearinghouse for Taguchi Methods and Robust Engineering. Dr. Rochon's paper, "New Ultraminiature KMS Tact Switch Optimization Using Taguchi's Parameter Design Method," was rated the best in five categories of evaluation among the 22 papers presented.
ITT industries, Cannon is committed to supporting academic and professional programs that encourage engineering excellence and innovation, and we're proud to be a three- year sponsor of the Design News Engineering Education Foundation.
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