Name: SMK Electronica, S.A. de C.V. 

Address: 1 Calle Tercera #800 Fracc. La Cienega  

City: Tijuana  State: B.C., Mexico

Phone Number: 01152-664-689-2292   

General Manager:  Mario Hachijin

Products: Electronics  

Employees: 490  Year Founded: 1988 

            SMK Electrónica, S.A. de C.V. is part of the SMK Electronics Corporation U.S.A. , which was founded in 1973 by parent company SMK Corporation of Japan .

            Since that time, the company has seen tremendous growth in the areas of manufacturing, R&D and customer support. Today, SMK Electronics Corporation U.S.A. is a leading electronics manufacturing company in North America recognized for quality, customer service and competitive pricing.

            As a worldwide electromechanical component and assembly manufacturing company, SMK focuses its operations on high technology products with superior quality. With manufacturing and sales sites worldwide, it offers an extensive product line, regional manufacturing and R&D for custom projects.

            SMK has two plants in Tijuana . The plants have tremendous manufacturing diversity with machinery and personnel to handle operations such as automated surface mounting, injection molding, auto insertion, wave soldering, silk screening, screw and painting robots, ultrasonic welding, laser marking and final assembly.

            Great emphasis is placed on quality control in all areas within SMK. Statistical analysis is stringently carried out to ensure its products meet or exceed quality requirements. SMK has the expertise and technical ability to conduct quality assurance tests to include both mechanical and electrical tests, as well as life and environmental tests.

            SMK has extensive knowledge and in-house tools to develop custom products. With tools such as 3D CAD, lead times for prototype development are greatly reduced. In-house design capabilities include:

            •Mechanical

            •Electrical

            •Software development

            •Tooling

            •Testing

            SMK Electrónica, S.A. de C.V. serves many major maquilas in the Tijuana area, including Bose, Denso, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi , IBM. Panasonic, Kyocera, Motorola, Sony and Toshiba. Products include:

            •Remote controls

            •Control panels

            •Keyboards

            •Antennae

            •Membrane switches

            •AC chargers

            •Pin jacks

            •CRT sockets

            •AC switches

            •POS terminals

            Production processes include hand spray painting, clean room, 13 injection molding machines, SMT and hand assembly.

            “The reason we are here ( Tijuana ) is because we can offer quick delivery and quick turnaround,” says vice president Ramiro Santillán. “The people of Tijuana are very experienced. Electronics for them is their expertise.”

Production technology

            In order to establish the production technology standards of SMK and to foster the development of its production engineers, SMK conducts a variety of education and training programs, and performs follow-up activities that closely examine production facilities from a management perspective.

            Its production technology standard is called SPI (SMK Productive Innovation). Comprising activities that seek to innovate production to facilitate the creation of the shape of the products of tomorrow, this standard is implemented in each of SMK’s divisions. Behind these activities lies the basic concept of “Majime,” which literally means “to tighten or close the gap.” Applying this philosophy to eliminate the gap between processes and to bring people and information as well as people and things closer together, SMK promotes the development of a new production system that seeks the ultimate reduction of waste.

Quality assurance

            Providing customers with products that never fail to deliver reliability and satisfaction is the major fundamental of quality.

            In order to maintain that quality standard, every process of SMK falls under two systems. One is the site quality assurance system performed by the quality control department established in each of its plants worldwide. The other is the total corporate quality assurance system that provides comprehensive management of the quality assurance systems of all group divisions.

            The fundamental concept behind SMK quality assurance is ensuring that only products that fully satisfy the customer proceed to the next process. It is this approach that makes systematic quality assurance possible.

            Strict quality assurance begins in the development and design stage where the planning and first steps toward realization take place. In repeated design reviews, all concerned departments are brought together to evaluate the design from every angle. Reliability is examined from the perspective of not only the performance requirements of its customers, but also performed by simulation of the circumstances under which the product is expected to perform.

            Only after passing this rigorous examination process are the design drawings ready to be provided to the factory where all quality requirements are manufactured into its products. It is the establishment of this total quality assurance program from design stage to shipment that allows SMK products to achieve their high quality.

Research and development

            Three major themes set the direction of its research and development efforts that focus on the next generation of products. The first is the development of products that will cultivate new fields of business. By fully utilizing ideas and capabilities of the specialists gathered from various fields, it is challenging new business frontiers that transcend the traditional business framework of SMK.

            The second theme is development of products that integrate the unique know-how possessed by SMK. Development of products that feature highly advanced and integrated functions will be realized by synergistically combining the know-how SMK has cultivated to date.

            The third challenge for R&D is to obtain a grasp of both the technological trends in the electronics industry and the needs of the market as early as possible, and then to apply this information and insight in the practical development of new products.