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RKL TECHNOLOGIES INC.
RKL Technologies Inc. day shift team members.
Article & Photos by Sean Buur
MRAKING PARTS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE
KL Technologies Inc. is a contract machine devices, the industry they knew best. Soon the garage shop in Corona, Ca. supplying precision was too small and they outgrew unit buildings. In 1996 machined parts for medical, aerospace and they purchased their current 17,200 sq.ft. manufacturing
general industrial sectors. Opened in 1983, they offer headquarters in Corona, CA. Today, with 25 employees,
100 years of manufacturing experience to customers such as: Medtronic Inc, Edwards Lifesciences Inc, The Boeing Company, The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and many other well-known medical, aerospace, and defense OEMs. From prototype to production there is not much this ISO13485, AS9100, ISO9001 certified and “Made in California” registered business can’t do.
ORIGINS
Co-founders Roy Hornstein and Kerry Von Clark first met at American Medical Optics in 1981, but it wasn’t until a few years later that the engineer and machinist partnered on a garage-based business. “I have a degree in mechanical engineering and am a licensed PE in the state of California,” tells RKL President Roy Hornstein. “As an engineer in the early 80’s I was working on projects that ranged from orange juice and coffee at Proctor and Gamble corporation to contact lenses and implantables at Allergan Inc. Kerry came to me one day and said ‘you’re an engineer and I can make things. I’ve got a mill in my garage so let’s start a business.’ And that’s what we did. Kerry is our VP of Operations and truly is a fantastic machinist.” Roy and Kerry’s initial efforts originally targeted medical
two shifts, and through a pandemic, RKL continues to support the industries they know so well.
ARMY STRONG
Nighttime reconnaissance missions didn’t set up Business Development Manager, Kip Sullivan, and Quality Assurance Manager, Torry Lamp, for careers in manufacturing, but it did give them plenty of time to think about their futures. Torry and Kip met in basic training before being shipped off to Iraq together. Long nights on guard duty left them with plenty of time to brainstorm future endeavors. Admittedly, Subway franchise, or fishing charter were the most likely contenders, but after five years in the Army and getting their Bachelors in Marketing from Cal State Fullerton together they knew the opportunity to work in a non-combat environment would present itself. “We’ve been a great team since 2004,” touts Torry. “We bring out the best in each other. I’ve been at RKL now for 3.5 years and Kip came on board shortly after. We always knew we would partner on something; we just didn’t know it would be in manufacturing, and we didn’t know how much job satisfaction was possible in manufacturing.” “I’ve always had a love of math, geometry, and technology,” tells Kip. “When Torry was