[caption id="attachment_36645" align="alignleft" width="360" caption="Longtime employee Patricia Magdaleno and DJ Grey owner and President Marla Grey assemble a cable system at the Healdsburg facility."][/caption]
HEALDSBURG -- DJ Grey, winner of the Supplier category, is a small company with a big reputation in the electronics manufacturing industry.
The maker of custom cables, harness assemblies and box components was recently named the Best Quality Supplier among Outstanding Suppliers by Parker Hannifin Corporation, no minor distinction, since Parker Hannifin has hundreds of suppliers.
DJ Grey Company
Address: 455 Allan Ct., Healdsburg 95448
Phone: 707-431-2779
Website: www.djgreycable.com
Employees: 14
“We were thrilled because so many of their suppliers are much larger,” said Marla Grey, owner, president and CEO of the 14–employee company
DJ Grey Co. is finding its custom cable assemblies in demand as local high-tech and med-tech companies get back into gear.
“When you’re in a hurry to launch a new project, using a local supplier with whom you’re already familiar is often smarter than trying to jump-start operations with an overseas contractor,” said Ms. Grey.
DJ Grey’s 200 customers include high-profile players like JDS Uniphase’s Flex Products, General Dynamics, Idex Health (formerly Rheodyne and Innovadyne) and Parker Hannifin (formerly CompuMotor).
They all use electronic control systems and need custom cables, internal wire harnesses, junction boxes, control chassis and cabinets.
DJ Grey doesn’t do the systems design, but supplies the design for manufacturing and works with a company’s engineers to determine the best and most cost-effective way to build each system.
“They think, ‘Well, DJ Grey did a good job on our past prototypes, so they’ll do a good job on building a new unit in volume,’ and we do,” she said.
Started as a mom-and-pop shop in 1978 and incorporated in 1993, DJ Grey has been a part of the shifting tech scene in the North Bay since the heyday of the computer revolution.
“People have this idea that when Agilent and Medtronic outsourced their manufacturing that the local manufacturing scene was over,” said Ms. Grey. “That’s not true. It’s always been thriving in this area, but we tend to be low-key and insular.”
She herself was as unaware of many local manufacturers and welcomed the advent of 101MFG, a recently formed trade group.
“I’ve found suppliers and customers right here in the North Bay that I wouldn’t have otherwise,” she said.
And others, in turn, have found DJ Grey, a company that “consistently provides defect-free product from limited documentation and drawings,” according to Jim Gannon, Parker Hannifin’s Rohnert Park divisional quality assurance manager.
“Great quality. You could count the returns from me on one hand over the last 10 years,” he said.
