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www.HartfordBusiness.com February 22, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 3 Stanadyne's Windsor R&D site key to expanding its global sales By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com W indsor's Stanadyne LLC recently muscled its way into a lucrative contract with a major automaker to which it will deliver emissions-friendly fuel pumps for 3.8 million passenger vehicles. Stanadyne, citing a confidentiality pact, won't say who that automaker is — although a few obvi- ous clues point to one U.S. giant in particular. However, on a recent walkthrough of its sprawling research and development build- ing — one of three on its 52-acre, Deerfield Avenue headquarters campus — the process it used to secure such a lucrative deal is more than an open secret. At one station, a pair of engineers use an electron microscope to gauge precisely the acceptable volume of metal debris before it interferes with quality production of tiny, precision parts for on- and off-road vehicles made as far away as China and India. At other stations, technicians test the functionality of different metals, and measure components to tolerances smaller than the width of hair. At one of a dozen test rigs running round the clock, seven days a week, a worker monitors the performance and reliability of die- sel and gasoline fuel pumps and fuel injectors for passenger vehicles and farm tractors. Amid all that, Stanadyne does very little manufacturing in Windsor these days. Those chores are relegated to any of five Stanadyne production facilities, all outside Connecticut, in North Carolina, and overseas, in China, India and Italy. This spring, the company is opening a Dubai plant, to supply pumps to Pakistani trac- tor maker, Millat Ltd. Instead, Stanadyne's R&D works function more like a corporate test kitchen, where engineers and technicians, working in super- clean rooms and well-equipped test stations, devise and calibrate its highly toleranced methods for manufacturing and assembling fuel-system components. In the world of manufacturing, the concept is known as integrated-product development — IPD for short. Observers say it's a format that permits manufacturers like Stanadyne to fully leverage their engineering/technical inno- vations sourced in Connecticut and elsewhere, without the labor and operating expense of actually producing components in a relatively high-cost region of the country. "This process brings together key function- al areas to simultaneously develop a product, the process for manufacturing and support processes,'' according to Stanadyne spokes- woman Kerry King. "It includes many activities happening in parallel; including sourcing of sup- pliers and materials, engineering and design, manufacturing, operations, performance, qual- ity and reliability testing, and others.'' In short, said John A. Pinson, Stanadyne's president and chief technology officer, "it allows for us to do product development much quicker … rather than doing it in our Continued www.kelsercorp.com/cybercrime www.kelsercorp.com 111 Roberts St, Suite D East Hartford, CT 06108 860 610 2200 Patients trust you with their medical records. Secure them. Stanadyne Fact Sheet Executive Officers: David Galuska, CEO John A. Pinson, President, Chief Technology Officer Stephen S. Langin, CFO Locations: America — Windsor, Conn., Jacksonville, N.C. Near East — Chennai, India Far East — Changshu, China Europe — Brescia, Italy Number of Employees: 1,300 S O U R C E : S T A N A D Y N E Markets Served: Automotive & Transportation 49% Construction 12% Agriculture 16% Power Generation 13% Aftermarket 10% (Clockwise) Stanadyne engineer Angie Cheung (foreground) uses a microscope to examine a fuel-pump component; a technician inspects a welding station; a fuel pump. P H O T O S | C O N T R I B U T E D