1999 ACE AWARDS

CATEGORY #6

Project Of The Year (Under $1 Million)

Subcontractor

PROJECT

Celestica Colorado Office/Manufacturing Facility

OWNER

Celestica Canada Inc.

GENERAL CONTRACTOR

DPR Construction Inc.

ARCHITECT

Young & Wright Architects Inc.

ENGINEER

Carinci Burt Rogers Engineers Inc.

SUBMITTED BY

Ludvik Electric Co.

On A Fast Track To Production At Celestica

It's no secret that competition in the world of electronics manufacturing—personal computers, telecommunications equipment and anything with a circuit board inside—is nothing short of fierce. Prices continue to free-fall to such a degree that some products that once sold for thousands are now going for a few hundred dollars—or less! This intense battle for sales and market share is putting tremendous pressure on OEMs to lower costs and maximize efficiency.

Celestica Inc. is one company with a solution. It's called contract electronics manufacturing, or CEM for short, whereby outside contractors like Celestica handle manufacturing and assembly tasks for OEMs while they focus their efforts on design, marketing and product support. Celestica's customers include Hewlett-Packard, Apple Computer, IBM, Lucent Technologies, Digital Equipment and Gateway—an impressive list to say the least. A global leader in this new and rapidly emerging CEM business model, Celestica recently moved its Colorado operations into a new, state-of-the-art, 209,000-square-foot facility in Ft. Collins.

Ludvik Electric performed the "fit-up" phase of the electrical installation. The project consisted of: 1) power distribution and data systems for 117,300 square feet of manufacturing area which included seven separate production lines; 2) lighting and power systems for 33,000 square feet of warehouse area and 58,700 square feet of office space; and 3) a CCTV security system for the entire facility.

The project could seem routine until you consider the challenges that confronted Ludvik in this new CEM environment and how each was overcome.

• Each of the seven production lines was customized for a specific Celestica customer, requiring different power and data needs. Each line entailed a unique combination of cable tray, conduit, panduit, wire mold and circuit configurations to accommodate robotics, solder ovens, test stations and other high-tech manufacturing and assembly paraphernalia. A rolling 3-week schedule was implemented by Ludvik to insure that required materials for each line were available and on site as needed.

• The installation was on an extremely fast track, with Ludvik having to complete its work in less than four months. Celestica was moving from an existing facility into the new one. Any deviation from their planned manufacturing downtime would have meant a catastrophic setback for Celestica customers. In spite of a regional manpower shortage, Ludvik was able to assemble a peak crew of 60 journeymen. Five 10-hour shifts were scheduled at the beginning of the project, six 10's were scheduled as the work neared completion to insure that the job was completed on time.

• The production lines were installed sequentially. As each line was completed, a specific customer began operations. This created an unusual situation where construction and production were occurring simultaneously—now under a semi-cleanroom protocol. In addition to donning gowns, Ludvik had to insure that the work site was clean and free of static electricity, affecting the handling and operation of everything from tools to scissor lifts used to install conduit in ceilings as high as 45' above the floor. In addition to their regular construction safety training, Ludvik personnel were also trained in process safety management for a better understanding of the production operations going on in close proximity to their own work, including the use of various chemicals, ovens and robotic equipment. While Ludvik personnel spent approximately 30,400 man-hours on the project, there were no lost time injuries.

• Special materials required on the project included such devices as 200% neutral bus plugs to provide more stable power to production line equipment. These plugs required 6- to 8-week order lead times. To guarantee that these and other items would be available when needed, a JIT, next-day-delivery materials procurement and handling program was initiated by Ludvik, headed by a full time supervisor.

• Typical of the computer industry, the technology changes literally by the week. The result was a dynamic environment as customer equipment and process needs evolved, even as the installation was in progress. Throughout the installation, a complete set of current drawings was never available. During the installation of individual production lines, equipment literally became obsolete overnight and had to be removed and replaced with the up-to-the-moment technology. Despite the myriad of change orders, Ludvik's scheduling and materials procurement programs kept the installation on track and on time throughout.

• The core-and-shell portion of the electrical work was being performed by a separate electrical company, resulting in overlapping installations and complicating project coordination. Coordination meetings proved essential for Ludvik in the efficient and timely electrical installation for the individual production lines. Composite CAD drawings were used to determine exactly where and when various electrical, mechanical, fire, security and architectural items were to be installed. Regular weekly coordination meetings of all subcontractor foremen were supplemented with daily 8:00 am meetings to address specific design and installation issues.

The seven production lines included in the base scope of the project were completed on time and on budget and Celestica's customers all began operations on schedule. Ludvik has been retained to install three additional production lines. And, under a maintenance agreement with Celestica, Ludvik will continue to update and modify existing lines as customer needs change—all in a facility that could balloon to 600,000 square in the not-too-distant future.

Overcoming a fast-track schedule and the unusual construction/production environment at Celestica's new facility, Ludvik brought their customers' production lines online, on time, every time!