SANTA ROSA – Datum Technologies has completed the ISO certification process and is ready to expand its market into aerospace and defense, said co-owner and President Richard Hunt.
The small but highly regarded maker of precision components for test and measurement systems saw an uptick in orders even before it completed the grueling preparation and audit process that precedes the ISO approval.
Owners Analisa and Richard Hunt added a modified second shift, three new machines and additional staff to support a 33 percent bump in capacity last year. The company also expanded its plant on O’Hair Court in Santa Rosa by 20 percent.
The Hunts and their nine-employee staff have been working on the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) certification for well over a year, Mr. Hunt said.
“Now we can go after the big boys like Boeing and Lockheed and large medical suppliers,” he said.
The ISO process involves considerable quality documentation and switching operations to best practices and can take years to complete.
“It was somewhat accelerated for us because our previous company, Aspen Precision, was ISO certified,” said Mr. Hunt.
When the economy went south in 2002 he and his wife were forced to close Aspen, but opened Datum Technologies soon after.
“Without the ISO approval we could no longer supply our aerospace and defense customers. But now we’re working on a newsletter and fliers and as soon as our certification arrives in the mail we’ll be hitting the road to reintroduce ourselves,” he said.
To obtain the certification Datum Technologies worked with ISOCert Solutions in Petaluma, an affiliate of private manufacturing alliance 101MFG, which encourages its members to become certified. The Hunts also used the services of ABS Quality Evaluatios, Inc of Houston, Texas, the registrar that will be issuing the certification.
“We’ll most likely be hiring again as our capacity grows to meet the new demand,” said Mr. Hunt. As chairman of the California Tooling and Machining Apprenticeship Association, he doesn’t anticipate any trouble filling new positions.
For more information visit www.datumtech-cnc.com.
