Due to the support of our fantastic clients and employees (thanks to all of you), JTT has been “forced” to relocate to a bigger and better facility.
It’s been a journey. When we started in 2013, JTT was only a bench in John’s garage. 2016 was the year we moved to JTT’s first facility—a shed! It was only a year before we burst out of the shed and moved to our first “real” office, where we stayed until moving into our awesome new building in 2022. The new facility gives us ample room to grow, and space to improve our production efficiency (making things is hard when you are cramped!). We are looking forward to being here for a while. But, then again, who knows? ![]() "AMRS was in need of a redesign to 2 essential PC boards to our premier products. We contacted Dale at Joshua Tree Technologies and found exactly what we were looking for; knowledge, experience and expertise in engineering board design and re-layout. What impressed me most was their willing effort to advise us in the improvement of our products. The efficiency and responsiveness of their engineers in getting the proto-types together was truly awesome! All the while JTT took special care to make sure we received timely communication regarding the project status and gave us adequate opportunity to input. The results have been extremely amazing and we count this decision to work with JTT engineering one of the best made in our corporation." Bill Van Wagoner COO - AMRS Thanks to ETV for their nice article about JTT... Joshua Tree Technologies: Small Town, Big Technology
By Julie Johansen, ETV News Many have to leave Carbon and Emery counties to find employment after they graduate from high school or receive a degree from a college or university. Dale Curtis was no different. Graduating from Emery High, Curtis attended the University of Utah and received his BSEE (Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering). He was interested in the musical field and, after a few stops at other companies, became the Senior Vice President of Research and Development of the Fender Musical Company. Realizing he had climbed to the top, he asked himself “What’s next?” Curtis said he needed to be challenged, so he worked throughout his career in engineering management with several large companies, always with the desire to be back in Emery County where he grew up. Knowing he was not the type to work a physically taxing job, the challenges of employment back home were great. But, in 2010, he made the decision to move back. Upon returning home, Curtis became the general manager for the IEC Division of Intermountain Electronics, a division he founded and helped grow into a multi-million dollar enterprise. He and his team developed a full catalog of world class products and set a new standard of excellence in the market. Now, he is now the President and Co-Founder of Joshua Tree Technologies, LLC. His brother, John Curtis, is also a co-founder of the new business. John is highly experienced in software design for cellular technology, aerospace communications and several other fields. John graduated from Brigham Young University, also with his BSEE. He is tri-lingual, speaking Spanish, Portuguese and English. With the high-speed internet services available in Emery County, John is able to live primarily in Arizona, even though Joshua Tree Technologies is headquartered in Castle Dale. Similarly, while a core few of JTT’s 20 engineers, technicians and designers are located in Castle Dale, most live elsewhere in Utah, Arizona and California; however, they are able to collaborate through the internet. Joshua Tree Technologies could be located nearly anywhere, but its headquarters is found at 70 South 100 East in Castle Dale. It provides research and development services, including product development, technical support and technical management consulting. Their engineers are accomplished veterans who have expertise in electronics, software and mechanical design, all of which are needed to design a wide variety of products. In addition to research and development, Joshua Tree Technologies has a small, state-of-the-art electronics factory in Castle Dale where they do custom manufacturing, including circuit board assembly. In their office, they have converted a conference room into an automated circuit board lab to produce these high technology products. Having both automated and manual assembly techniques allows JTT to specialize in efficient, low-to-mid volume production. This means that while they can build hundreds, or even thousands, of electronic products in a production run, they can still produce even very small quantities for less without sacrificing quality. While attending a local SMTA symposium a few months ago--just before Covid 19 cancelled everything-- I found myself in a conversation with a “high-up” from a large contract PCB assembly operation.
When I told him we focus on small to medium production runs, he said something remarkable. His exact words: “We make all our money on the little jobs.” This verifies what I learned over many years as a product developer: Most CMs are geared for big orders, and they penalize smaller orders with much higher prices. It also confirmed something I previously only suspected: We all know it is more costly to produce products in small quantities, but they charge more than the increase in cost justifies. Why? Because they can—as long as the rest of the CM's do the same. We pride ourselves on being the CM that does not do the same. JTT Assembly was founded on the principle of providing good value, even at small quantities. Whether we are making 1, 10, 1000, or more, our prices are based on actual costs, not what we think we can get. Most of our clients are small or medium sized companies with modest production needs. It may be old fashioned, but we actually like our clients and want them to succeed. This is why we do our jobs, and why we do them the way we do. Don’t expect us to change. Dale Curtis Joshua Tree Technologies SHARE
![]() JTT Assembly News: Announcing the launch of our new pick-and-place operation in the JTT Assembly facility in Castle Dale, Utah. This addition will significantly increase JTT's efficiency and capacity for surface mount (SMT) PCB assembly. Now, we can now offer even better value to our contract manufacturing clients! Although still committed to low/mid volume production (at extremely competitive pricing!), JTT can now provide the exceptional value our clients count on at higher quantities than before possible. If you are looking for onshore production without the punitive prices other CMs demand for lower quantities, you owe it to yourself to request a quote from JTT Assembly. You’ll be surprised with what we can do in the USA!
Not your typical 9-5 engineering job:
Joshua Tree Technology is looking for few exceptional engineers to work:
Interested parties are invited to send a cover letter/resume to JTT at: Contact_JTT@joshuatreetechnologies.com Please visit our website to learn more about us: JoshuaTreeTechnologies.com JTT Assembly Solder Standards and Comparison to IPC-A-610 Class 3
The IPC-A-610 standard provides rules for through-hole and surface mount PCB solder joints, which have been widely accepted throughout the electronics industry. This standard defines three classes, numbered 1 through 3, that are to be applied depending on the level of reliability required. So why three classes? Although it may seem logical to always require Class 3, this level of quality can be expensive to obtain, and the extra reliability may be over-kill in some applications. IPC-A-610 differentiates between the three classes in this way: Class 1 is meant for PCBs used in general-purpose applications. In these PCBs, reliability is important, but so is cost, and Class 1 strikes a balance between cost and reliability that makes sense for products such as inexpensive consumer electronics. At the other end of the spectrum, Class 3 is meant for applications requiring the high reliability, and where cost is much less of an issue. Class 2 (of course) falls between the other classes. JTT Assembly treats every PCB it assembles as though it is destined for a very high-reliability application. In fact, our standards meet, and often exceed the requirements of IPC-A-610 Class 3, as shown below. Following are JTT Assembly’s standards for through-hole and SMT solder joints: New: Automated wire cutting, stripping, terminating JTT Assembly is happy to announce that our new automated wire preparation line is now operational. With new equipment and our fully trained assembly technicians, we can produce cut, stripped, and terminated wire much faster (5-10x!) than in the past.
And, even more important, the consistency, quality and accuracy of all these operations is even better than it was before. This automation, along with JTT Assembly’s low overhead costs and reliable quality, translates to even more value for our customers of wireset and cable assemblies. And, as always, all of JTT Assembly’s work is done in the USA! |
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