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Enterprise Trident keeps in form by making forms for jets

SAN MARCOS , “Tools,” the forms around which plastic parts are made, weigh down a big crate in the warehouse of Trident Products, Inc.

The tools have just arrived from the Boeing Co., and here they could be considered a sign of renewal.

Trident manufactures lightweight parts from plastics or composite material. The company turns out sunshades, ducts, magazine racks, and a thousand-odd pieces that go into aircraft cabins and other interior spaces.

Trident had made a niche for itself by making parts for three jet models: the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and MD-90, and the Boeing 737.

Then, as 1999 began, orders fell off.

The company made $4.5 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 1999, then $3 million the next year.

One problem was that Seattle-based Boeing had merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, and the combined company stopped making the MD-80 and MD-90 airliners.

Work on the time-honored 737 proved to be no more stable. Boeing recently reengineered the plane to create a “next generation” model. Trident made parts for an earlier model, which Boeing calls the “classic” and which it no longer builds.

“We had to do some scrambling,” recalls R. Roger Bodemer, Trident’s president.

Trident cut expenses, paring employees from 65 in mid-1999 to fewer than 40. It went after new work in the slot machine and medical device fields.

To keep the door open to Boeing work, it updated internal processes to meet the Seattle giant’s quality standards.

The odds were great, but Boeing was impressed.

The airplane builder in December awarded Trident a contract for post-production spare parts for virtually its entire commercial fleet.

“The award means Trident survived Boeing’s intense efforts in recent years to consolidate its vendor base,” wrote Roger Renstrom in Plastics News, a weekly trade paper out of Akron, Ohio.

Boeing spokeswoman Vicki Ray says she does not know whether the company’s supplier ranks are decreasing. She says the company tries to reduce the number of suppliers that come in the wake of mergers, and is “always trying to right-size our supplier base” to match anticipated deliveries.

Bodemer estimates the Boeing contract will bring his company $1.25 million to $1.5 million per year for up to seven years.

His San Marcos company has fattened up a little, growing to more than 50 employees. Bodemer estimates sales will reach $4.5 million when the current fiscal year ends in June, and says the company has come out of its slump with a wider customer base.

The company now builds parts for the gaming industry. They range from slot machine decorations to parts for the machine that sits in the lobbies of coffee shops, where a player maneuvers a mechanical claw to retrieve a stuffed toy.

Trident makes its products using two processes.

In thermoforming, a machine takes sheet plastic that becomes pliable when heated (“like a noodle when you drop it in water,” Bodemer says), retrieves it from an oven and presses it around a form.

A second, different process takes composite material , a cousin to fiberglass , and shapes it around a mold in a vacuum bag.

Some, but not all work, is automated. Bodemer points out a set of wing de-icing ducts that includes staples among its hand finishing.

Though Trident produces a couple thousand items, production quantities are small, Bodemer notes.

“If we see a hundred of something, that’s a lot,” he says. Quantities are not large enough to warrant automation, he says.

No Room For Error

On top of the typical concerns of any company leader, Bodemer says he must adhere to just-in-time shipping schedules and keep quality up.

“There isn’t a lot of margin for error,” he says. ” There are two or three competitors out there, just waiting for you to make a mistake.”

Trident was among 100 vendors recognized by Boeing in October for producing a quality product.

In general, the aircraft maker looks for “flawless” products delivered on time, says Boeing’s Ray. She added the company expects its suppliers to continually improve technology and processes.

Defects are “very minimal” on Trident’s work, says Jerry Lundy, procurement manager for aerospace at McCormick Selph, Inc. of Hollister.

Trident makes something akin to a window gasket for the northern California company; it goes on military aircraft like the Apache helicopter, B-1B bomber and C-17 transport plane. McCormick Selph packs those parts with explosives to create a “window cutting assembly.” Once installed, the product helps crews fracture the windows in case of emergency.

McCormick Selph is one of the customers Trident picked up during its post-McDonnell Douglas contracting push. Lundy says the San Marcos company’s engineering staff has been an asset, suggesting changes to cut product costs.

Founded In 1986

Trident Products started business in 1986 as Trident Plastics, Inc. Bodemer joined the company in 1991.

In 1993, a Wisconsin-based maker of aircraft seats, ERDA Inc., bought a controlling interest in Trident.

Trident moved from Carlsbad to San Marcos three years ago. Bodemer says the new location gave him access to a good work force.

ERDA sold its companies last year to DeCrane Aircraft Holdings Inc. of El Segundo , but did not make Trident part of the deal. DeCrane already had operations duplicating Trident’s work, says Bodemer.

On July 1, 2000, ERDA spun Trident off to its shareholders. Now Bodemer and former ERDA Chairman David E. Brandt hold the majority interest. The private company has about 100 shareholders in all.

Bodemer says he is content working in California , though he acknowledges the electricity crisis is a concern. Trident’s power bill has recently tripled.

“We don’t have the margins to sustain that indefinitely,” he says.

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