The downturn of the American oil industry in the 1980s left the owners of Clegg Industries with little choice regarding the future of their business - adapt or give up. The company got its start transporting mobile homes in 1970 and was given new life in the mid-1980s when it started building specialty vehicles for the US government and private industry. "We have found a good market because not everyone can do what we do," says Leisha Dioguardi, Clegg secretary-treasurer and daughter of John and Judy Clegg the company's owners.
The company now averages $3.5 million annually in sales and is backlogged with work through the middle of 1998. Clegg's production facility is a 40,000 sq-ft building plus an office that sits on 6.6-acres near Victoria, Texas. Ending a record year in 1997, Clegg soon will be hiring more plant workers to handle increased production.
Guy Dioguardi, Clegg special project manager, attributes the company's success to its ability to react and adapt to changing economic circumstances. The company's conversion from mobile home services and sales to manufacturing specialty vehicles exemplifies this ability. "We started off very small with one engineer and one person typing proposals," says Leisha Dioguardi. Contracting Jobs
Although a builder of all kinds of specialty vehicles, Clegg's most frequent jobs are mobile communication centers and mobile labs. Jobs are contracted through competitive bidding and are often found in the Commerce Business Daily (CBD). "The CBD is a listing of government classified ads," says Guy Dioguardi. "We scan the motor vehicles and structures section of the CBD to look for jobs that are of interest to us." Job contacts are made also through technical publications.
Clegg's designs, although not always complex, do require the skills of an engineer, according to Dioguardi. A team of three or four handles the task of getting a vehicle from the concept stage to a finished design. "We do all the design work and all the drawing in-house in order to stay on top of business," says Dioguardi.
Dioguardi notes that building specialty vehicles can present unique challenges. Customers sometimes come to Clegg with a list of equipment they want a vehicle to have and an idea of what they want the vehicle to do. It is Dioguardi's job to show customers what the vehicle will look like on paper before any work is done. Dioguardi uses Auto-CAD software to prepare drawings and specifications for customers to preview a vehicle. "Most of our engineering here is relatively straightforward," says Dioguardi.
Specialty Vehicles
Clegg currently has several jobs in the works. In September of 1996 Clegg began refurbishing three Mobile Examination Centers (MECs) for the Department of Health and Human Services. The MECs are used to gather random samples of American health figures to calculate nationwide averages for the National Health And Nutrition Education Survey (NHANES). One MEC consists of four trailers that can be connected together by removable walkways. Updates will include complete remodeling of the interior and exterior of each unit. When finished the trailers will contain laboratory and examination rooms with full heating, air-conditioning, and restroom facilities. The MECs will enable health department personnel to test blood pressure, cholesterol, and lung volume. MECs also will have examination rooms to test sample persons' eyesight and hearing of individuals, and examine teeth. Clegg completed the first MEC in July of 1997 and is working with the Department of Health and Human Services on the arrangement of equipment and floorplans of the second and third units.
Other current projects at Clegg include mobile post offices for the US Postal Service and communications vehicles for the US Army.
The US Postal Service has ordered 50 mobile post offices for use in congested metropolitan areas where convenience and easier access will bring it more postal business.
The mobile post offices will be built on 158" wheelbase Chevrolet cutaway chassis. The custom built bodies will have insulated walls and ceiling. An on-board generator powers a 120-volt AC electrical system. The aluminum body will be custom designed at Clegg and will be welded to 1.5" square tubing for a seamless finish. The body will have a custom fiberglass aerodynamic device at the transition. Each mobile post office is fitted with a heater and has two hydraulically operated canopies that act as rain covers when open above the teller windows.
Clegg is working in conjunction with Arrow Components on the framework of the cabinets. Arrow will build the cabinets with extruded frames and ship them to Clegg where they will be installed with countertops, flooring, and walls.
"The Postal Service wants these vehicles interior to look the same way in the field as any site-built location does," says Dioguardi. "The textures, materials, and finishes are the same as would be installed in a regular post office." Dioguardi expects to have completed the pilot unit by February of 1998 and then has 180 days to complete the rest of the order.
This is the second order of mobile post offices that Clegg has built. The first 50 mobile units were built on diesel-powered Chevrolet chassis and used Utilimaster bodies.
Clegg recently completed the first of three mobile communications centers for the Army. Destined for Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, these vehicles will be used to monitor troop and artillery activities during war-game operations. The first Freightliner truck was fitted with a front drive axle at Tulsa Truck Manufacturing Inc in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Upon arrival at Clegg, the 6x6 truck with a Supreme body received full insulation against radio frequency interference (RFI), electromagnetic interference (EMI), as well as sound deadening insulation. To achieve full RFI and EMI insulation Clegg fitted the walls of the body with double-sided aluminum Celotex and then lined the inside of the body with Kemply resin bonded wood from Kemlite. The ceiling was fitted with .125 inch aluminum sheet to keep the interior condensate free. All interior seams were then covered with aluminum tape. All incoming phone and power lines were fitted with RF filters. To ensure full radio and electromagnetic insulation, doors were sealed with rubber strips covered with woven copper gasketing and all contact surfaces were polished smooth.
Clegg fitted the truck with two extra fuel tanks, increasing its capacity from 100 gallons to about 220 gallons. A 40-kilowatt diesel generator was installed with its own fuel tank. "Because of the huge amount of electronic equipment the truck needed a large power source," says Dioguardi.
"Mobile communication centers and mobile labs have become very popular," says Dioguardi. "With the use of large transport planes, both government and private agencies are able to have a lab or communication center wherever they need it for roughly one-quarter to one-third the cost of a site-built lab." Dioguardi explains that these units provide freedom from design restrictions and other problems inherent with a site-built location, and the unit can be moved wherever it is needed.
Building Quality Products Mechanical drawings with dimensions and tolerances are made for any product that Clegg manufactures. "We work in teams of two or three, giving everybody a chance to check and double-check each other," says Dioguardi. Clegg's production manager, Eric Ross, oversees manufacturing to ensure that products are built to correct specification. Dioguardi and Ross are responsible for final product inspections to be sure that products meet quality requirements.
Clegg's production standards focus primarily on qualitative measures. "The main quality aspect is that surfaces are finished properly," says Dioguardi. "Our final inspections focus primarily on fit and finish; that is, the whole product must be trimmed, sanded, cleaned, and painted."
Clegg offers a 12-month warranty against manufacturing faults and workmanship. Dioguardi notes that the company has had few warranty problems. "Most difficulties in custom work are visual problems," he says. "It's very difficult for customers to visualize a completed installation when the product has never been built before." On the rare occasions that customers don't like the final preparation of a vehicle, Clegg will make appropriate changes until the customer is satisfied. "It's usually pretty simple to take care of," says Dioguardi. "It's rarely a problem of poor quality. Sometimes a customer just doesn't like the way something looks."
Family Business With John and Judy Clegg at the helm as vice-president and president, the company qualifies as a woman-owned small business. Currently, Clegg employs about 25 plant and 10 office workers including seven family members. The company is moving into its second generation of family employees as Leisha and Guy Dioguardi hold executive positions. "We each play a key role in running the business," says Leisha Dioguardi. Travis McLarty, his wife Natalie Clegg McLarty, and JB Clegg also hold key positions in the corporation.
The plant is divided into separate shops for welding and fabricating, painting, and cabinetry. "Our claim to fame as an OEM are our cabinet and welding shops," says Guy Dioguardi. "Our cabinets are really what set us apart." Clegg has the ability to custom build natural or laminated wood cabinets to fit almost any vehicle. Charles Young, a Clegg employee for more than 10 years, and a cabinetmaker for 21 years, helps Clegg produce quality woodwork.
Clegg's paint shop has a 60'x 18'x 16' paint booth with an air supply filtered through oil and water separators. All welding and fabricating is done on one side of the plant while paint and cabinet work is on the other side at opposing ends.
Clegg's ability to engineer, design, and build one-off specialty vehicles has earned it contracts with the Army, Navy, Air Force and NASA. The company has come full circle from adapting to survive to thriving on the changes and growing into a successful manufacturer.