Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 22, 1993 TAG: 9308200068
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
It'll do the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill this year.
No, it's not the Harlem Globetrotters or The Rolling Stones.
It's Christiansburg-based Hubbell Lighting.
That's right, the lights that illuminate those famous sports arenas were made in Christiansburg.
Tucked behind a hill off Roanoke Street, Hubbell employs more than 500 workers. Yet, despite its large work force and big-name contracts, Hubbell maintains a low profile in the New River Valley.
"A lot of people don't even know we are here," said plant spokeswoman Nancy Burke.
It was a rare occasion last month when news reporters were invited to the Hubbell plant for the celebration of the plant's recent ISO 9002 registration.
ISO 9000 is an international series of quality standards set by the Industry Organization for Standardization in Switzerland, which represents 93 countries. The United States is represented by the American National Standards Institute.
Frank Lauderdale, director of continuing education at Central Virginia Community College, said ISO certification is a necessity for companies that want to continue exporting to Europe.
"ISO is here to stay," he said. "If a company wants to export, then sooner or later they are going to have to become certified."
Fewer than 2,000 U.S. companies - about 25 in Virginia - have been registered to the ISO 9000 series, which requires a company to document its production process and write a specific quality manual.
"It assures a customer of having a quality product," Lauderdale said. Glenn Grunewald, vice president and general manager of Hubbell, said the lighting division began the ISO registration process in May 1992 and received certification in June.
"There are a lot of companies in the lighting business and we all do basically the same thing," he said. "This is our way of standing out." He said he doesn't know of any Hubbell competitors that have achieved ISO certification.
Before certification was granted, an auditor from Quality Management Institute, a division of Canadian Standards Association, visited Hubbell's plant and verified that procedures are followed in 18 areas including design, process control, purchasing, service and inspection and testing.
Hubbell Lighting, a subsidiary of Connecticut-based Hubbell Inc., has doubled its sales to $200 million since 1989, Grunewald said, and the company is confident that the ISO certification will help continue that trend.
Grunewald said Hubbell increased sales during the recession by buying two new companies and expanding its product lines.
"We've broadened the market we can compete in," he said.
The company was formed in the early 1970s when Hubbell bought the Christiansburg plant and a lighting company in Los Angeles.
Until 1989, Hubbell Lighting specialized in sports lighting and commercial floodlighting. Since then, plants have been purchased in Martin, Tenn., and Moultrie, Ga. The company now offers every type of commercial lighting except aircraft and airport runway lights.
Grunewald said the ISO certification is an extension of a total quality management program Hubbell started in 1991.
"As a result of the TQM, we were well-prepared for the rigors and demands of the ISO registration process," he said.
About 15 percent of Hubbell's sales are international, and Grunewald says that number will rise as European companies start demanding ISO registration on their purchase orders.
Jan. 1 was the "official" date when U.S. companies exporting to Europe were supposed to be in compliance with ISO standards. Only two product categories - construction products and telecommunications equipment - now require ISO certification.
Hubbell's export sales aren't restricted to the European Community.
At a conference earlier this year, Cathleen Magennis, the state's secretary of economic development, touted Hubbell as a Virginia company that has been successful in trading with Central America.
The company, which set up a marketing staff in Mexico this year, had more than $800,000 in Central American sales last year.
Grunewald said the careful documentation of Hubbell's production process required for ISO certification has increased the company's efficiency and gotten workers more involved in the overall production process.
"We have gotten a whole lot more productive," he said. "It also helps all the employees understand more about the whole business. They can't just show up and do what they do and hit the road."
by CNB