TURBOCAM Receives Top Supplier Award from Cummins as Partnership Stands Strong

Story by Callie Patteson

BARRINGTON, NH — Recently, Cummins Inc. recognized New Hampshire based manufacturer TURBOCAM with a supplier award for the second year in a row.

Cummins recognized TURBOCAM Automated Production Systems (TAPS) with the Distinguished 2022 North America Supplier of the Year Direct Sourcing Award.

The honor was announced during the 2022 North American and Global Supplier Excellence Awards on January 25. In 2021, TAPS took home the Global Best of the Best – Quality Award.

Cummins is a global power technology leader headquartered in Columbus, Indiana. Working with various suppliers, the company designs, manufactures and distributes a variety of products including turbochargers, fuel systems, batteries, and more.

The repeated recognition from Cummins was warmly welcomed by employees across the company, with several saying it is testament to the hard work done by TURBOCAM employees day in and day out.

“We just do our best to serve our customer…and look after their needs,” strategic business manager Shayne Ikeda said, noting how TURBOCAM’s integrity and trust with customers leads to strong performance.

“It’s several people that have all pulled together,” operations manager Stefanie O’Connor added, calling the “ownership and commitment” that our employees have shown to meet demand and exceed expectations “incredible.”

She pointed to several other factors where TURBOCAM has excelled that have contributed to receiving the award, including on-time delivery, quality, and alignment with Cummins’ core values.

“Now when I see that on time delivery – we are striving and we’re shooting for that continually,” Ms. O’Connor said.

“It’s definitely an honor getting [this award] but we’ve also worked very hard in receiving it.”

TURBOCAM’S GLOBAL FOOTPRINT

Since the early 2000s, TURBOCAM has manufactured high volume turbocharger components for trucks and heavy vehicles including aluminum impellers and nozzle rings for Cummins and other customers at plants in Barrington, New Hampshire; Santana de Mures, Romania; Fareham, England; and Goa, India.

More than 1.2 million components and assemblies are produced worldwide every year.

In 2022 alone, TAPS manufactured and shipped approximately 850,000 aluminum impellers globally and approximately 540,000 nozzle rings.

While the majority of these impellers are manufactured in New Hampshire, many are also produced in the UK. Meanwhile, the majority of nozzle rings are manufactured in India and Romania, with roughly 60% being produced at the Goa plant.

TURBOCAM credits these strategically placed locations to support customer relationships and further its role in the global supply chain.

CREATING OPPORTUNITY AND JOBS

Even if TAPS employees working in impeller manufacturing start with little to no machining knowledge, it doesn’t take long for people to climb up in ranks.

When starting with TAPS, machinists are exposed to additional training and certification to produce components with more difficult materials – if they have the motivation to do so.

“A lot of our employees come off the street without any kind of machining or a lot of manufacturing knowledge. And then from there, they get trained up to where they’re making world class parts,” Mr. Ikeda said.

“So, there’s a lot of growth and I think a lot of the guys, the people that work here, have a lot of pride in doing that.”

To further employee growth and development, TURBOCAM President and founder Marian Noronha has said, he hopes to sit down with individual employees who are looking to work further with stable and long-term customers and to help them “understand what they could be doing to take the risk and make the investments themselves [in their training and development],” noting that it will allow the company to continue to “work really well” with customers.

“We can build inventory and stabilize our work, knowing that things aren’t going to change,” he continued. “And therefore, we can invest in technology and training equipment to make products and everyone wins from it.”