CHICO, CA.—WREX Products Inc., a second-generation plastic injection molder, a zinc and aluminum die caster, and a powder coater with a broad palette as well as clear conversion coating, offers its processes in full ISO 9001:2015 certification and ISO 13485:2016 certification.
WREX’s manufacturing expertise is based on quality manufacturing principles adopted by founder Wrex Howard, who opened WREX in 1960 to produce custom die-cast products with the ability to make and repair molds, a specialty it maintains. It expanded into long and short-run precision injection molding on numerous machines, as well as powder coating.
Wrex’s business model was based on the W. Edwards Deming 14 principles of quality and continuous improvement and, since late 1990, on meeting ISO certification requirements. Mr. Howard took an up-close look at the entire operation to identify specific areas of strength and potential gaps. WREX looks at how it receives raw materials and reviews the whole operation through finished goods–including all support functions. To keep improving, it runs a complete health check of the operations, providing observations and recommendations for improvement. Resulting deliverables include a supplier scorecard, Pareto charts by assessment section, audit results per question, specific improvement recommendations, and a complete executive briefing at the end of each weekly management review meeting. WREX uses this information to help management staff and shop floor operators improve processes and performance.
Following Wrex Howard’s death in 2023, Wrex’s daughter, Julie Howard, became President, and Paul Rye became Chief Executive Officer. Austin Shipley is the new Sales and Marketing Representative, followed by a motivated, well-trained quality and safety staff in all departments. Paul Rye took lessons learned from Wrex and modernized an efficient ERP system that unlocked the full potential of a manufacturing fabrication business: Balance Cost and Quality – Manage Supply Chain Disruptions – Overcome Worker Shortages – Maintain Profitability – Meet Compliance – Scale for Growth.
WREX Products manufactures custom plastic and metal die-casting parts to meet the demands of today’s engineers. It focuses on product development and moves quickly. It efficiently delivers precision parts on time, from one-off prototypes to high-volume production.
They have served over 600 individual customers and have completed over 1,300 projects. Customers range from small businesses to multi-billion-dollar corporations. Turnkey product fabrications that are packaged and ready to ship. A few customers include Bently Nevada, IGT, Lam Research, Balanced Body, BIO-RAD, Polycorp, METRIX, and ZEISS.
WREX Products’ Quality Assurance department conducts on-site product testing and inspections, as well as 3D/GD&T measurement capabilities. It has a wide range of precision measuring tools, a probe-assisted CCM, and gage calibration in-house. Its parts are traceable to NIST STANDARDS. It offers quality assurance document control through IQMS and FAI reports.
WREX holds a California FDB Medical Device manufacturing license, and is a member of the North America Die Casting Association.