One Of the fun things about this job is that you get to see the behind-the-scenes work of manufacturers who create the great products we use in our hobby. I recently got the opportunity to visit the Castle Creations factory in Olathe, KS. Now, I have to admit that I was thinking that speed controls are a small item that would not need such a large factory; boy, was I wrong! The Castle operation is large—I mean, really large. The manufacturing plant covers over 70,000 square feet
and Castle has 70 people employed on the manufacturing floor, with
over 100 people at that location including office personnel.
Where Quality
is King Behind the scenes at Castle Creations—one of the industry’s leading speed control manufacturers
by JOhn Reid
THE BREAKDOWN
uSa/KaNSaS
n Populates all electronic circuit
boards
n Performs a great deal of the
more difficult hand work, such as
soldering wires and capacitors to
the controllers.
n Does all engineering and design
work for the ESC circuit boards
and electric motors.
n Supplies all tech support and
warranty service staff are based
in Kansas
Castle has a facility in Mexico with
a 10,000 square foot assembly
plant and 60 employees working
two shifts to assemble the less-complicated controllers.
chiNa
Castle has started is very own
motor manufacturing operation
in China. The entire output of this
factory is dedicated to meeting
Castle’s orders for motors so
Castle can ensure that only the
highest quality components and
procedures are used. Too many
subcontractors simply cut corners—these guys can’t do that.
One of the 11 engineers on staff at Castle works on a circuit. Castle’s
purchasing volumes frequently allow Castle to work directly with the
component manufacturers during their chip design process to optimize
components for brushless motor control applications.
Castle uses
a number of
electronic dynos
to test the
efficiency of its
motors, as well as
to keep an eye on
everything else
coming to market
to make sure that
theirs are al ways
several steps
ahead of the
competition.
Castle has
several
mechanical
engineers
who design
the plastic
parts and
machinery
used to build
controllers
and motors.
