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NATE was Great!

Tower and Antenna Grounding Comments Off

Feb 232010

Sales Manager Charlene Miller and Storm’s OEM Sales representative Joe Radecki are ready to greet customers at the NATE show, held at Disney’s Coronado Convention Center.

Storm Copper Components’ owners and several sales and marketing representatives attended the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) trade show in Orlando, and as far as the staff were concerned, NATE was great!

Traffic to the Storm booth was very strong as attendees discovered they could get a free copper peace sign by stopping by the Storm Copper booth. They were also very enthusiastic about the discount card they received for dropping their business card in the distinctive copper box, made by Storm’s creative shop.

Storm President, Carol Howard and Sales Manager Charlene Miller rated the show a great success based on the feedback they received from talking to many prospective customers. “This was our second year attending NATE. We met a lot of new potential customers and got reacquainted with many existing customers that came by to see what we are doing that’s new,” Miller said.

The hole pattern on Storm's busbars make it easy to position connections at a 45-degree angle.

“We don’t often get feedback from those who are on the front line, installing the components Storm builds, so it was very enlightening to hear what Jeremy Buckles had to say about our busbars,” said Dan Kitts, Storm’s co-owner.

Buckles and a co-worker stopped by after giving his presentation to say how much he liked Storm’s busbars because the hole pattern makes it very simple to comply with specifications of some of the more rigid cell phone companies. According to Buckles, Risk Management Supervisor for Com-Tec, sometimes busbars have to be mounted vertically, and the code requires a 45-degree connection. With the hole pattern on Storm’s busbars the connections line up perfectly and are simple to install due to the generous size and spacing.

The large copper peace sign hanging in the booth was a real traffic stopper, as people who recalled the symbol from the 60’s stopped by to pick up one as a memento. One man asked with a smile, “Will this get me in to Woodstock?”

NATE is an annual event designed to educate industry professionals, update attendees on safety concerns and give the various companies involved in supplying products a chance to display their products and services. While the show moves around the country, attendance this year could have been strong due to the Disney resort location. It gave everyone a chance to take care of business, and spend a little time in the Magic Kingdom. While the weather was a little cooler than normal for February in Florida, Storm staff members enjoyed the work and play before heading back to Tennessee.

Tin, Silver, Nickel and Lead Plating - Cost-Saving Advantages From Storm Copper

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Feb 222010

Known for streamlined fabrication of copper electrical connectors, Storm Copper Components reminds OEM’s and systems installers to take advantage of another of its cost-saving production capabilities: tin, silver, nickel and lead plating, done in-house at Storm’s east Tennessee production facility.

All too often electrical parts manufacturers have to send out copper connectors to outside vendors for plating or coating, a lengthy process that requires excess packaging, additional freight costs, lost time and risks that commonly occur in shipping. When the plated copper components are returned for testing before delivery, even the slightest scratch in the plated surface can lead to rejection and delays to the customer.

Storm’s electroplating options for copper electrical connectors include bright tin plating, matte tin, nickel, silver, various tin/lead alloys and pure lead. Storm Copper offers this diverse offering of plating options to meet the many varied requirements dictated by a wide variety of industry applications.

For example, tin is a common plating metal most often specified applications like power sub-stations, tower grounding, and high-voltage connections. Tin plating is fairly inexpensive, protects copper from outside environmental degradation that damages connections, masks copper from thieves by destroying its value to recyclers.

Storm’s electroplating process incorporates an electrolyte bath where electrical connectors such as copper bus bars are fully immersed to produce a uniform coating over edges and the rounded surfaces of bus bar holes and bends. For better-quality, Storm uses a trace amount of lead in its tin plating process to prevent the occurrence of tiny crystalline structures called “whiskers” than are electrically conductive and can be broken off during installation, increasing the potential of electrical hazards.

Silver plating is popular in the switchgear industry because it is very good on surface-to-surface conductivity. Because of its high cost, silver is generally limited to application on contact points where two components are joined together.

In applications where lead-acid or wet cell batteries are used, caustic materials or vapors can degrade electrical battery connectors, lead is the preferred plating because it is impervious to sulfuric acid.

No matter what environment or application, Storm offers a clear edge to OEM’s and systems installers through its cost- and time-saving capability to plate tin, silver, nickel and lead in house.

Storm Copper Components is committed to meeting its customer’s requirements by providing innovative, cost-effective solutions and by focusing on continual improvement of all our products, processes, and services. For 20 years, the company has specialized in the manufacture of custom electrical connectors for the wireless, telecommunications, power and alternative energy markets, serving OEM’s, electrical contractors and system installers.

For more information, or to schedule an interview with Dan Kitts, please call Dave Krikorian at 1-800-334-2177 or email dkrikorian@stormcopper.com.

Through Value Engineering, Storm Copper Keeps Costs in Check

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Feb 122010

Decatur, Tennessee (February 12, 2010) – Storm Copper Components, a leading manufacturer of copper electrical connectors in North America, attributes much of its recent growth to a concept called “Value Engineering,” a method of cost-efficient production forged by raw material and component shortages in World War II. With a constant eye on quality improvement, Storm’s systematic approach to value engineering has streamlined the process of fabricating copper electrical components, and reduced the overall costs of high end connectors such as bus bar.

Storm’s value engineering process is focused on keeping costs in check by stocking copper bar or copper sheeting that most closely matches design specifications. Storm Copper co-owner, Dan Kitts, points out a critical factor; “Many OEMs round up in size when purchasing copper busbar, but often the next standard size is more than is required, increasing the cost unnecessarily. Although it may sound obvious, the number one factor in keeping busbar pricing low is often overlooked: only use as much copper metal as is necessary for the required ampacity.”

“Recently Storm Copper surpassed the threshold of 300 unique profiles of copper bar and copper sheet, which means in most cases we have exact size of copper metal required for an order already sitting on a shelf,” Kitts said. Also among the one million pounds of copper metal inventory Storm maintains is an extensive selection of metric copper. Storm Copper has amassed the largest inventory of metric sized copper bar stock in North America, to pass on its cost-efficient value engineering to OEMs in Europe, Canada and other parts of the world.

Another way to control costs and lead-time through value engineering is using an off the shelf bus-bar thicknesses. An OEM’s desire for optimal thickness should not require a special mill run to produce the required size of copper metal bus bar. By utilizing readily available busbar thicknesses, Storm is able to provide quick lead times and avoid the costs of producing a unique busbar profile from the copper mill.

Other key cost-saving value engineering factors stem from punching vs. milling holes. Telling a customer when a hole’s location is too close to a formed or bent area of the bus bar where a punched hole can be deformed, or recommending a copper bus bar design with a wider hole tolerance; these are cost-effective ways to save the expense of milling.

For more information, or to schedule an interview with co-owner Dan Kitts, please call Dave Krikorian at 1-800-334-2177 or email dkrikorian@stormcopper.com.

Storm Copper’s Free PDF Download – A Guide to Flexible Electric Connectors

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Feb 092010

Storm Copper Components, a leading manufacturer of copper electrical connectors, is pleased to announce the creation of yet another product guide designed to assist OEMs, electrical engineers and system installers at solving operational and design issues. A A Guide to Flexible Electric Connectors is now available free as a one-click download in PDF format at the Storm Copper website.

In straightforward terms, A Guide to Flexible Electric Connectors explains how flexible electrical connectors, also called flex braid or flexible jumpers, can solve high-voltage connectivity problems created by vibration from generators, turbines and transformers. In addition to the causes and effects of vibration, the guide simplifies the process of selecting the proper flexible copper electrical connector by offering flex braid specifications and helpful purchasing tips.

After working with electrical engineers for many years, Storm Copper has learned the ins and outs of the copper flex braid selection process. This experience has led Storm to understand that most engineers know how flexible connectors solve the problem of vibration, yet many remain challenged by factors relevant to selecting the best flex-braid connector for a specific application. These factors include physical design features such as connector hole patterns, length, ampacity, strand patterns of copper flex braids and the subtle difference between flat and round copper braid.

One of several product guides from Storm Copper, this new guide to flexible braided connectors discusses all of the considerations required for copper flex braid selection, including a brief explanation of the manufacturing process that provides insight into Storm Copper’s quality engineering. Information about the advantages of tin-plating is also included along with the issue of matching metals to prevent galvanic corrosion.

A handy specifications chart – provided on the last page of the guide – works as a key to simplify copper flex braid selection by displaying significant variables in a spreadsheet format, where comparison of capacity and other characteristics is much easier to visualize.

To access the free PDF download of the product guide, visit the Storm Copper Components website landing page for Flexible Electrical Connectors. The link also appears on this month’s (February) issues of the PQ Newsbeat electronic newsletter.

Click this link for your free download of A Guide to Flexible Electric Connectors.

For more information, or to schedule an interview with co-owner Dan Kitts, please call Dave Krikorian at 1-800-334-2177 or email dkrikorian@stormcopper.com.

Storm Copper Expands its Facilities and Ability to Meet Customer Needs

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Feb 032010

Instead of a traditional ribbon cutting ceremony, Storm Copper Components, a leading fabricator of copper electrical connectors, will mark the opening of their new production facility by cutting a new doorway to join the additional 18,000 square feet to their existing manufacturing plant in eastern Tennessee.

The new doorway provides access to Storm's future.

The new manufacturing space will enable Storm Copper to expand into three new fabrication processes to meet the needs of present and future OEM customers. The financial commitment to expand our manufacturing facility to this size was a serious decision at a time when the economy is down, but co-owner Dan Kitts says Storm’s management philosophy is focused on expanding existing business potential with an eye on the future.

“This new facility will enable us to broaden our capabilities to meet customer needs in three new areas, electrostatic powder coating, laminated busbars and the production of extended length busbars. But, we’ve always liked the idea of having room to grow. When a customer comes to us with a request for a new electrical connector requiring a process that needing additional space, we won’t have to wait for brick and mortar construction. With available space we can add a piece of machinery or a process very quickly,” Kitts said.

Electrostatic powder coating is another way to insulate a copper busbar for electrical efficiency and safety factors, and one of five insulation options for laminated bus bar now offered by Storm.

The addition of busbar laminating machinery broadens Storm’s production capability in multilayer copper electrical connectors, creating a significant opportunity for OEM customers in industries ranging from Power Generation, Alternative Energy, Telecom, Motor Control, Transportation and Defense.

Storm Copper also views this addition as an opportunity to add advanced capabilities. The company’s new CNC (computer numerical controlled) punching and precision cutting machine stands at the forefront of these improvements. Once programmed, this machine will robotically punch multiple holes the entire length of the busbar and cut it to exact length, all from the same long bar of conveyor-fed copper, shortening productions times.

For 20 years, Storm Copper Components has specialized in the manufacture of custom electrical connectors for the wireless, telecommunications, power and alternative energy markets, serving OEM’s, electrical contractors and system installers.

For more information, or to schedule an interview with Dan Kitts, please call Dave Krikorian at 423-506-4178 or email dkrikorian@stormcopper.com.

Storm Copper Aims at the Global Marketplace with Metric Copper Parts

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Jan 262010

Storm Copper maintains a huge inventory of metric copper bar stock.

Storm Copper Components, a leading fabricator of copper electrical connectors in North America, takes aim at original equipment manufacturing companies in Europe and elsewhere by expanding its tooling and copper inventory to include metric copper bar, sheet and tooling. Though Storm has produced copper electrical connectors for OEM’s in metric-dimensioned copper for over a decade, the company believes that expanding its inventory and metric capabilities is the best way to invest in the future.

To meet this challenge, Storm Copper has amassed the largest inventory of metric sized copper bar stock in North America. This huge inventory gives tremendous flexibility to turn around metric copper connectors in a cost and time efficient manner.

“Storm has tons of metric copper on its shelves, 25-30 different profiles of copper bar stock that we can draw from to enable us to save our customers money as well as time. This means we can help OEMs cut cost by giving them the option of using the correct size of copper bar stock, and not forcing them to pay for excess copper,” according Storm Co-Owner, Dan Kitts.

He explained, “1/4 x 4” is available from many sources, and comes close to 6 mm x 100 mm, but 100 mm is just a little less than 4”. When you consider that labor generally runs 10% of a product’s cost and materials around 58%, using stock that is wider, thicker or longer than necessary can mean charging for excess copper, an unnecessary cost penalty from Storm’s point of view.”

In addition to Storm’s massive inventory of raw metric dimensioned copper bar and sheet, the company is equipped with the machinery and tooling necessary to drill, punch and notch copper bar stock to exacting metric tolerances. And by having the resources in place, there is no need for OEM’s to encounter a metric surcharge.

Storm Copper Components is dedicated to the quality fabrication of Busbar, Laminated Busbars and Copper Ground Busbars to the exact specifications of OEM customers.

Many of Storm’s customers are OEM’s who already produce equipment designed around European metric standards. The transition from metric dimensioned components to American standards can also pose additional challenges in retesting and certifying equipment. This can add dramatically to the cost of moving a European designed power system to North American production facilities.

For more information, or to schedule an interview with Dan Kitts, please call Dave Krikorian at 423-506-4178 or email dkrikorian@stormcopper.com.

Storm Copper Takes Great Strides in Quality Improvement

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Jan 182010

Storm Copper Components, a leading manufacturer of copper electrical connectors, became ISO 9001-2008 certified on January 4, 2010. This achievement is the culmination of a yearlong quality improvement process that began with the deployment of stronger management-system policies and procedures at Storm’s manufacturing center in eastern Tennessee.

Throughout the International Standardization Organization (ISO) compliance process, Storm determined customer expectations and created an enhanced communications network, covering product information, inquiries, contracts, orders, feedback and complaints. According to Storm Quality Manager, Darren Ricks, “A very complex and expensive process was broken down into a simple, straightforward statement: ‘Say what you do, and do what you say.’”
Ricks was the point man throughout Storm’s efforts to achieve ISO certification and other quality improvements. He now oversees seven internal auditors who have been trained to make sure that Storm Copper’s custom copper parts manufacturing process adheres to a rigid set of formal quality standards and highly structured procedures that cover every aspect of customer interaction from conception and quote to production and shipping.

Storm Copper employees participate in Six Sigma training.

Worldwide, the ISO 9001-2008 certification is one of the most accepted standards of quality management. An ISO certificate gives customers a sense of confidence in Storm Copper, while it enables Storm to nail down and formalize a solid system of quality improvements.

With the ISO documentation and quality training, Storm’s customer service staff has become even more capable at fielding questions on copper ground bars and other electrical connectors. “Their goal is to exceed expectations by making sure that detailed product information, tolerances, specifications and materials are clearly communicated in every quote, as this relates directly to manufacturing parts and connectors on time and with fewer errors,” Ricks added.

Storm Copper was recently awarded an Incumbent Worker Training (IWT) grant from the Tennessee Department of Labor to fund quality training in areas of technology, customer service, and continuous improvement areas such as Six Sigma methodology. Key members of Storm’s staff will be trained in Geometric Distance & Tolerances (GD&T) and equipped to read detailed blueprints and follow the exact engineering specifications.

Storm has also improved its consistency with Nuclear Audits and its ability to identify and trace sources of raw materials. Whenever a potential customer visits the plant, Storm’s quality team members walk them through a hypothetical order process and show every detail of how Storm processes an order, from quote to packaging.

For more information, or to schedule an interview with Dan Kitts, please call Dave Krikorian at 423-506-4178 or email dkrikorian@stormcopper.com.

Tags: quality improvement, storm copper, ISO, customer, electrical connectors

Problem Solved, Happy Customer and a Fulfilling Day at Storm

Do It Yourself, Problem Solved Comments Off

Dec 162009

Charlene Miller,

Charlene Miller, Online Sales Manager

I just wanted to let you know what a pleasure it is dealing with Storm Copper. It’s, unfortunately, unusual these days to call a company, speak immediately to a human being who is interested in helping you and actually does help you. The few companies doing that really stand out. Storm Copper is one of those companies.

Our involvement several months ago started with my wife having an idea to use a copper sheet as a backsplash that could hide a circuit breaker box and could slide in and out allowing access to the box. She called Storm Copper and met Tina Hicks. Tina went out of her way to help including sending several samples of different patterns on the sheeting. She was impressed with the service as well as the friendly attitude. She commented to me at the time what a positive experience she had in her conversation with Tina and how she did everything she said she would and quickly.

We ended up buying a sheet which looked great until I sprayed on the protective coating. I will spare you the details but I spoke to Tina, explained the problem and the procedure I followed per Storm Copper instructions and sent some pictures. The short story is that the sheet was replaced pre-sprayed at no cost to me. I installed it behind the sink and it looks great. Not only was the outcome perfect but the whole process was a pleasant one thanks to Tina.

Although Tina is the most memorable, I did have occasion to speak to some other Storm Copper people prior to placing the original order and they were also easy to deal with and very pleasant. My compliments to whoever does the hiring as well as the environment that exists to encourage people to make the customer truly feel like a customer.

If you ever need a testimonial to what a great company Storm Copper is, feel free to contact me.

Take care,

Ron S.

Storm Currents News-Blog

NATE was Great!

Tin, Silver, Nickel and Lead Plating - Cost-Saving Advantages From Storm Copper

Through Value Engineering, Storm Copper Keeps Costs in Check

Storm Copper’s Free PDF Download – A Guide to Flexible Electric Connectors

Storm Copper Expands its Facilities and Ability to Meet Customer Needs

Storm Copper Aims at the Global Marketplace with Metric Copper Parts

Storm Copper Takes Great Strides in Quality Improvement

Problem Solved, Happy Customer and a Fulfilling Day at Storm

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