Richard Stein, president of Norwalk-based Cooke Vacuum Products, plans to do
research and development as a service for companies.

Tough times spur innovations

Norwalk manufacturer branches into service

By B. Z. KHASRU

Who says recession dampens entrepreneurial spirits? Tough times can foster innovations for entrepreneurs who think like Richard Stein.

The 57-year-old physicist runs Norwalk-based Cooke Vacuum Products, which makes equipment for research and production in such fields as fiber optics, computers and microwaves.

Cooke Vacuum is a small, profitable company, but plagued by stagnation. Because it is a custom manufacturer, which does not allow the company to mass market its products, Cooke's expansion possibilities are limited.

So, Stein is seeking to pump new life into the company by venturing into the service business. Currently, 50 percent of its business comes from universities and the rest from industrial companies .....

"The other thing is to go into service, for example," he said. "Many companies have given up their development organizations. They are afraid of doing research and development themselves. Even larger companies have reduced their in-house research and development. So we are planning to do this as a service. Because of my .... background as a scientist, I think I can manage it."

Accidental entrepreneur

Stein, who holds a bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorate from the Polytechnic Institute of New York, became an entrepreneur by chance.

In 1994, he bought Cooke Vacuum from former Norwalk Mayor Frank Cooke, who founded the enterprise in 1959 and operated it as an outsource contractor for giant companies, including IBM Co....

A huge market

To jump-start Cooke's growth, Stein is moving to take a bite of the electronics market, the largest industry in the United States.

"Literally, there are tens of thousands of companies," he said. "We have about 5,000 of our machines working in universities. So it's a fairly widespread user base."

Stein's decision to move into service is based on his analysis of trends in U.S. corporations. Bottom-line conscious companies these days are shying away from research and development because of hard economic conditions. And that has created an outsourcing need much greater than there was a few years ago, said Stein.

"That's the American way now, not to make anything," he said. "They just want to buy and sell it."

Industry specialists share Stein's optimism about his company's new initiative. ...(An IBM technologist)...sees a need for the service.

In fact, a deal between Big Blue and Cooke along this line is in the works. Cooke would build a tool to enable IBM scientists unlayer computer chips (for defect analysis).

"We are in some capital negotiations with Richard," he said. "It could happen" in three to six months but there is "no guarantee."

He has worked with Stein since the mid-1990s to design semiconductor tools. "Richard specializes in a niche market, producing what the customers want," he said. "Richard accommodates what the customers needs, whereas other companies cannot do that."

Richard Poole, principal physics engineer at Goodrich Optical and Space Systems in Danbury, which has been Cooke's client, gives the Norwalk company top grades for its quality work.

"Cooke has a very good reputation," said Poole.

He also sees good prospects for Cooke's new plan because companies like Goodrich depend "on people like" Stein. "People who make standard equipment don't want to be bothered with this," Poole said. "Cooke's business is to satisfy the needs for research at universities and other custom industries. I think it would be good for him to get into it."

Recently, Goodrich bought an ion miller, a tool used in the semiconductor industry as part of an acquisition. Goodrich scientists discovered the tool had some defects in it. First, they tried to fix them on their own, but finally sent it to Cooke.

"It was a very expensive piece of equipment," Poole said. "We fooled around with it little bit. We did not see the problem. It was not our cup of tea."

In its new field, Cooke has no competition in Connecticut but nationwide faces many giants, such as Applied Materials. Still, Stein expects to do well because of the huge market...