Happy New Year!
Reflecting on the Past and Planning for the Future
As we move into our 16th year of business, we are filled with optimism for the future. A business that started as two friends working in a garage has grown to a team of over 200 people in four locations. This growth has been driven by our culture centered around continuous improvement. We always assess past performance to inform how we plan for the future of our business in the world of composites.
People
Our people are our most important asset, which is why we always seek to improve our workplace culture and benefits for Rock West employee-owners. It seems to be working because our San Diego and Salt Lake City locations were named to the 2022 Top Work Places by our local newspapers for the second year in a row! Last year we began building an employee wellness center, which should be completed this year, and our benefits have been expanded based on feedback from our annual survey of benefit preferences. If you want to be a part of a motivated, engaged, and fun group of people, join our team!
Business Markets
Last year we grew revenue over 60%! We made inroads in new markets and reorganized our business development and program management teams around these markets, improving focus on niche requirements and engineering needs as we move forward. You can read more about our Market focus on our recently updated website.
Facilities & Capabilities
We continue to grow and expand our capabilities. Last year we added an additional 5-axis machine to support the manufacture of larger substrates for space hardware, and we built a custom thermal chamber 50-feet long for thermal cycling long narrow substrates. Also, we added new precision assembly tables, a filament winder, a laser tracker for quality assurance, a laser ply placement system and new software for our CNC ply cutting. This year we’ll be adding a large platen press for oversize plate cures, another 6-spindle filament winder, more precision inspection equipment, and another CNC 3-axis router. We’ll also be expanding our Mexico operations. Our plans are adaptable based on the needs of our customers as we move into 2023.
Laser Ply Placement
Infrastructure
When a company grows this rapidly, its infrastructure has to be updated to keep up with the organization’s needs. This year was an optimal time to upgrade many information systems we use to run our business. We are already noticing the gains of changing to more powerful platforms and anticipate the efficiencies becoming more pronounced as 2023 continues. Saving time and keeping smooth operations helps keep our overhead rates competitive and ensures we continue to provide great value to our customers.
Moving Forward…
We hope your 2022 was wonderful and wish you the happiest of years in 2023! We look forward to working with you!!
