The roots of Cygnet Stamping and Fabricating, Inc., Glendale, California were planted in 1974 by Ernest (Ernie) Swan — a man who saw change as an opportunity to improve. With $5,000 in life’s savings, Swan left a manufacturer’s rep agency to start his own rep firm, Secana, in 1967. His new firm had rep contracts that sold miniature sandblasters and the services of short-run metal stamping, and plastic injection moldings. Soon after, Mike and Jawn, two of Swan’s three sons, joined the growing company and the micro sandblasting job shop activity was spun out into a sister company – Crystal Mark, Incorporated. (Another sister company exists- CrystalMark Dental Systems, Inc.- a dental air abrasion company.)
Crystal Mark, in addition to the micro sandblasting business, began stocking components and fabricating custom consoles, cabinets and enclosures from standard fittings, as opposed to expensive sheet metal fabrication equipment. A third sister company — Cygnet Metal Stamping — was started with two employees and three punch presses in the back of the Swan companies’ office headquarters.
In 1980 all three corporations were humming along. The three brothers were each presidents of a company, while Ernie was Chairman of the Board of all three. Then in 1980, Ernie Swan had a heart attack and died suddenly. A big, robust, fun- loving man, it was a shock to the Swans that Ernie would no longer physically be with them. They knew, however, that he had accomplished many of his goals, and his influence and spirit would always be present in their lives.
The Swan family has always maximized the outcomes of change by keeping an open mind to each new venture. When Cygnet Stamping and Fabricating found a void in its operations that only the best and most versatile equipment could fill, President Marko Swan kept an open mind to define the roles this new equipment would play and the manufacturers that would be approached during the search. The idea is to offer an orchestrated set of service to meet all of the customers’ needs from stamping and fabricating to assembly, welding and finishing.
Cygnet’s niche is to provide its diverse customer base with high quality, low-cost alternatives for short runs and prototype parts. In its early days, Cygnet functioned without the use of progressive dies and relied on the capabilities of its Bridgeport Mill, a tool room lathe, a drill press, foot shear, 60-ton Bliss, 45-ton Niagara, and an 18-ton Bliss punch press.
Cygnet realized that its equipment wasn’t meeting its customer’s needs according to Marko Swan. ‘We had a few customers who kept sending us blueprints to quote that required additional fabrication parts. Some of what we were seeing would be perfect work for our company. Because we didn’t have the capabilities, we would recommend another company and or farm out the project. We began to run into quality and delivery problems. In response to this need Cygnet tooled up, and began completing prototypes and short run fabrication jobs, in house.
Cygnet uses lead times as one of its benchmarks of customer service and satisfaction. If lead times grow too long, the company evaluates its need for improved technology or new equipment to improve or increase its capacity.
This equipment would be used for short-run production and prototypes to serve Cygnet’s customers in the medical, automotive aftermarket, health and fitness, aerospace and electronic control industries.
The issues that Swan identified as critical included hit rates, accuracy, ease of set up, quality, flexibility and the ability to handle a wide range of materials including aluminum, stainless, titanium, cold rolled steel, copper, brass and plastics.
At this time, Cygnet Metal Stamping changed their name to Cygnet Stamping and Fabricating because of the added fabrication of custom enclosures. Cygnet wanted to be known not only as a stamping company, but also as a fabricator.
A core business value to this day Cygnet reinvests its profits to cover capital expenditures, such as equipment replacements and upgrades. “We are fortunate that we have a base of very good, loyal customers,” explains Swan. “Our customers have grown into bigger companies that are more competitive in the marketplace. They put demands on us that keep us on our toes in terms of price, quality and delivery.” As the company’s services came to be more in demand, lead times again began growing too long, Cygnet added Laser cutting to its capabilities vastly cutting down lead times and improving capabilities.
The Company’s comprehensive services include blanking, piercing and forming sheet metal: secondary operations include tapping, countersinking, reaming, welding, milling, turning, assembly, hardware installation, riveting, part marking and spot welding. Cygnet offers finishing capabilities such as deburring, graining, buffing, screen printing, painting and plating.