We could carry on and on about our 90-plus product lines, a catalog of more than 40,000 CARDONE parts, and the 7 categories we service. But that wouldn’t begin to get at the heart of what makes our company run. The engine that propels us forward is fueled by one driving force: the pursuit of excellence in all that we do.
“We are on a mission to be the best remanufacturer in the world. It’s who we are. And when it comes to excellence, three basic values help steer every decision we make: quality, performance, and integrity.”
Quality is priority one of professional automotive technicians who repair vehicles and work to keep people on the road. The parts they install must function perfectly or else they jeopardize the technician’s reputation and any chance at repeat business.
And while you won’t find our name emblazoned on the hood of a race car or shouted in advertisements on television, we have become one of the most recognized brands in the industry. That’s simply because the unquestioned quality of CARDONE parts has resulted in our reputation for being the best. Our relentless commitment to quality is perhaps the foremost factor that enables CARDONE to compete on a global scale and with corporations that dwarf us in size.
Being recognized also means that CARDONE is able to hire incredibly smart and talented individuals from some of the top engineering programs in the country to join our team.
We believe the quality of our products and services is the most important issue to our customers: Therefore, quality is one of the foundations of our corporate culture.
“We will produce products and services that meet customer requirements every time, on time. We will continually improve products and processes as the path to excellence.”
Performing with excellence gives us the best opportunity to have a positive influence on our customers. In addition to focusing on key areas of cost, delivery, availability, and quality, we perform with precision and speed. This performance is important to the people we serve, and it creates intensity and passion in our work.
The Cardone circle of excellence
Integrity comes standard at CARDONE. Just one example is found all the way back in 1983, when a trucking company’s tractor-trailer loaded with our products tipped over on the highway.
As soon as we received word of the incident, we packed and shipped a duplicate order to our customer that same day and sent a crew out to help retrieve the spilled cargo. All of the salvaged products were unpacked and sent through the entire remanufacturing process again to make certain each part was fully functional.
Since the packaging was hardly damaged, someone asked our founder why he hadn’t simply loaded those boxes onto another truck to send them on.
“We couldn’t take that chance,” Cardone Sr. said. “Even though our customer may not have known the car parts had been through an accident, we knew it, and God knew it. The only way we could be certain each part was perfect was if we remanufactured and tested each one.”
Integrity is as important to us today. When a customer opens our boxes, we know they expect perfect parts from us.
In 1934, CARDONE founder Michael Cardone Sr. was a young man working at a local garage. One evening, a salesman at the garage handed Cardone a blackened, greasy car part about as big as an apple. He recognized it as a well-worn windshield wiper motor.
The salesman asked, “Do you think you can fix this?” Mr. Cardone studied the motor for a moment and replied, “If they manufactured it, then it can be remanufactured.”
“I visit a lot of garages and service stations,” the salesman said.” They all have lots of these defective wiper motors. They would be happy for me to take them off their hands for nothing or for just a few pennies.” Then the salesman proposed that the two of them rebuild those old wiper motors and resell them.
That evening, Cardone went home and disassembled the old wiper unit. He laid out all the individual parts and studied them. After determining how the motor worked, he searched for the part that seemed to be getting the most wear. It was easy to spot.
It was the leather paddle, which, in responding to intermittent air pressure, actuated the wiper blades. He punched out the rivets holding the paddle, removed it, found a piece of stronger and better leather, made a new paddle, and riveted it back in. Then he cleaned and polished each part and reassembled the wiper motor. It looked brand new.
The next morning Cardone was fully prepared to show the salesman what he had done, but a nagging question kept him from doing so. “What will he think of me as a mechanic if this motor doesn’t work when he puts it back on his car? How can I be certain it will work properly?”
Cardone went to one of the cars in the garage and replaced its good wiper motor with his remanufactured motor. He started the engine, switched the lever, and nothing happened.
He removed the wiper motor and set it on the table next to the good one. Then he took both of them apart, comparing each component. This time he found a gasket that needed replacing. He replaced it and tried his test again. Still nothing.
A third time he disassembled the motor and discovered dirt clogging the air inlet valve. He cleaned the valve and tested his rebuilt motor yet again. Success.
It was in that early business experience that Cardone first realized that his name, family reputation, and future business depended upon the quality and performance of the products he produced and his integrity to make sure they worked perfectly.
ISO is an international quality standard with certification awarded by the International Standards Organization. ISO is a stamp of quality and excellence. Customers of ISO-certified companies know they can trust the quality of their products and the excellence of the business.
What this ensures is that every part sent out of our ISO-compliant factory has been remanufactured with the highest quality processes. And it ensures end-users receive a product that is not only dependable but that is also built to last as long or longer than the original unit. CARDONE is one of only 25,000 companies in the United States to earn ISO 9001 certification,* alongside Ferrari and Rolls Royce.
ISO 14001 is an environmental management system. This certification states our commitment to environmental soundness. It consists of a series of guidelines CARDONE will follow, in an effort to operate above and beyond normal government requirements.
Our ISO 14001 certification means we produce our units with strict environmental policies in mind. Every time you purchase or sell CARDONE remanufactured parts, you are helping to protect the environment. CARDONE has remained ISO 14001 certified since January 2001.
Based on ISO 9001:2008, TS16949 is a global automotive quality system that meets the requirements established by automotive companies around the world. It ensures that the automotive components CARDONE manufactures are built under the quality systems requirements established by the global automotive industry.
TS16949 is an internationally accepted standard that reduces registration and system maintenance by eliminating multiple registrations to multiple automotive quality systems, a distinct advantage in the global automotive market.
CARDONE Industries became the first remanufacturer in the United States to achieve this most stringent certification, and we have been certified to ISO/TS16949 since February 2003. It means you will receive top-quality parts on time, every time.
Customers of TS16949 certified companies know they can trust the quality of their products and the excellence of the business. TS16949 standard raises the bar and ensures that all parts have improved product and process quality, global procurement confidence and consistent quality and increased efficiency.
*ISO Survey, 2010
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Unless otherwise attributed, all images are Copyright © CARDONE Industries.
Content sourced from the CARDONE Industries archives, team members, and the book
Business with Soul by Michael Cardone Jr. unless otherwise noted.
