Tate Technology Inc., a Spokane contract manufacturer of electronics, says that after surviving a long slowdown in the high-tech industry, it now expects to double its revenues next year, thanks partly to a new irrigation product its making.


The 14-year-old company, which primarily assembles circuit boards under contract for electronics manufacturers, is starting to bounce back after being hit hard by the technology bust in 2000, says Lee Tate, its president and founder.


None of us predicted that the recession would last as long as it has or be as deep as it has been, in the electronics industry, Tate says. All of the manufacturing base in Spokane is now seeing a surge in interest that we havent seen in seven years, and thats a great sign for parts suppliers.


Tate Technology, which employed 165 people and had $8 million in revenues in 2000, now has 23 workers and expects to finish this year with revenues of $2.1 million, Tate says.


Despite the companys struggles in the past few years, Tate says hes proud that Tate Technology stayed solvent during the tough times, which he says wasnt the case for some of its competitors here. Seven years ago, the company competed with nine other contract electronics manufacturers in Spokane and North Idaho; today it competes with just four, he says. Tate credits the companys survival to preserving its capital and waiting until the industry recovered a bit, rather than spending money looking for new business during the slump.


We stayed healthy by ramping down, not spending money trying to grow a company in a marketplace that had no growth, Tate says. Were in the seventh year of that recession, and were seeing enough progress that we think its the right time to stay out there and invest.


The new product that Tate expects will boost the companys revenues is an instrument that repairs polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes. The device was invented by Richland, Wash., dentist Jim Huffman, who was tired of replacing broken pipes in the irrigation system at his cherry orchard, Tate says. Huffman brought his idea to Tate, who, along with two engineers, helped him develop a product that separates a piece of pipe from a joint by melting the glue that bonds the two pieces together. Doing so allows for a damaged piece of pipe to be removed and replaced while keeping the rest of the system intact. Without that technology, larger sections, and even an entire pipe run or assembly, often must be replaced to fix just one pipe, he says.


The inventors took their product, called Come Un Glued, to the International Irrigation Trade Show in San Antonio, Tex., last month and won first place, Tate says. They started selling the product this month, and already have secured orders for more than 1,000 devices. The complete system, which includes components for working on small, medium, and large pipes, costs $4,000, but individual units also are available at lower prices.


Tate, Huffman, and the two engineers, Gordon Gruel and Jeff Brodhead, are forming a company here called Debonding Systems LLC to sell the devices, and will market them to commercial plumbers mostly, Tate says. Tate Technology will make the circuit boards used in the devices and assemble the finished product, he says. Debonding Systems likely will employ about five people, and Tate Technology expects to hire up to 10 more employees to help manufacture the new product, he says.


About 85 percent of Tate Technologys production is making circuit-boards, he says. Tate Technology also assembles entire electronic products for some customers, and a small part of its business involves making cosmetic products, he says.


The company also expects that larger orders from several of its customers will help increase its sales next year, Tate says. One fast-growing customer, Buchs/Aarau, Switzerland-based Swisslog, which has its North American headquarters in Denver, has been increasing orders for circuit-board assemblies, he says. He says hes also being approached by companies, particularly in Western Washington, that are launching new products and need suppliers, are having delivery or quality problems with their current suppliers, or are experiencing rising sales and need to expand their supplier network.


At Tate Technologys peak in 2000, 60 percent of its employees worked on projects for Liberty Lake-based Telect Inc., one of Tates largest customers at the time. The telecommunications equipment maker experienced a sharp drop-off in orders in 2000, however, which affected many of its parts suppliers, including Tate Technology, Tate says.


Tate says the company has learned from its experiences with Telect and now has a more diversified customer base, with a number of clients on the West Side and across the U.S. Some of its customers here include Itron Inc., Kim Hotstart Manufacturing Co., and ReliOn Inc.


Its a lot healthier to not be so tied to one customer, Tate says. Were now poised for more stability during the downswings.


Tate Technology has been hurt when some of its customers have bought more of their components outside the U.S., especially in China, but Tate says he prefers that they outsource if it means they stay in business. Furthermore, Tate Technology buys some of its materials from other countries as well, so Tate says he cant blame his customers for outsourcing when he does it, too.


Its far better to outsource smartly than try to do it all yourself and lose your business, Tate says. We can temporarily delay the transition, but we cant stop it, so we should try to make it work to our advantage.


Thinking long term also caused Tate to buy recently a 60,000-square-foot building that lies just southeast of a two-story, 39,000-square-foot building, at 3102 E. Trent, which he also owns and where Tate Technology occupies 11,000 square feet of space on the main floor. The building that Tate bought will be vacated when the current lessee, Allpack Container East LLC, moves to the former Honeywell building in Cheney this winter.


Tate says he bought the building for two reasons. First, he has been approached by companies interested in leasing office space in his current building, which houses seven other businesses in addition to Tate Technology, but hasnt had enough space to accommodate them. Second, he expects that to make room for a new pedestrian walkway that will connect to the Centennial Trail as part of the new north-south freeway project, his current building will need to be demolished, and he wanted to make sure both Tate Technology and the other businesses there would have nearby space available when they have to move. Also, he expects that once the freeway is built, the area will become a prime commercial area.


Tate Technology has operated in its current space since 1995. Tate, who started the company in 1994 and has a background in engineering management, previously worked at companies such as Spokane-based Key Tronic Corp., Texas Instruments Inc., and Sperry Corp.


Contact Emily Brandler at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyb@spokanejournal.com.