Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Maggie Benson’s Journey: The Journey Was Worth It

Editor’s note: Indium Corporation’s Ron Lasky wraps up this series of columns about Maggie Benson, a fictional character, to demonstrate continuous improvement and education in SMT assembly.

Maggie Benson was in an expansive mood. It had been almost three years since her grandfather asked her to take over Benson Electronics. By using Lean techniques, cost modeling the assembly process, and implementing continuous improvement, the company made significant profitability improvements.

The acquisition of several companies went smoothly for the most part. With the same improvement techniques applied to these acquired companies, they also yielded impressive results.

All these efforts resulted in Benson Electronics having sales more than five times what they were when she and her husband John took over, and, better yet, profitability increased eightfold.

She was most satisfied with the growth in some key personnel, such as Chuck Tower. Chuck was now essentially running one of Benson Electronics' facilities. Chuck did a great job implementing Lean techniques wherever he worked in the growing number of Benson facilities.

Maggie was also grateful that the workers appreciated the many educational opportunities they were offered. From GEDs to graduate degrees, Benson’s financial contributions to the company’s employee education program had paid off in improved job performance and company loyalty. In the past two years, only a handful of the hundreds of employees have resigned.

Maggie let out a happy sigh as she thought of these successes. Then Sue March and Andy Connors came to mind. Both came to Benson Electronics right out of high school, as neither really had a “life plan.” However, after a short time, they became model employees. It was clear that both were very sharp, so Maggie encouraged them to attend night school at the local community college. Currently, they are enrolled at Ivy University as part-time juniors.

Maggie’s eyes drifted to her copy of Elon Musk that Professor Patty Coleman gave her. Suddenly, her phone rang, jarring her into the present, and she answered the call.

“Benson Electronics, Maggie speaking,” she said. “How may I help you?”

“Maggie, it’s Patty Coleman,” said the voice on the other end.

“Professor Patty, what’s up?” Maggie asked.

“Sue and Andy will need a senior honors project, and I was hoping you would be their industry mentor,” Patty answered.

Having been a student of Ivy U, Maggie knew all about the honors program.

“Sure, what do you have in mind?” Maggie asked.

“I would like to have them investigate the realities of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), especially where it has been implemented and how it is working,” Patty said. “I have to admit to being a bit of a skeptic.”

Maggie also felt that I4.0 was a little more hype than reality, so she immediately thought this project was worthwhile, and exclaimed, “I think that is a great idea.”

They chatted a bit about the details, and then Patty added, “Have you had a chance to read the Elon Musk biography, especially about ‘The Algorithm’ and ‘The Idiot Index’?” Patty asked.

“I just finished that part,” Maggie replied.

“I think these concepts, if implemented, will have a profound impact on profits, more so than I4.0,” Patty opined.

“I agree, I don’t see that I4.0 is that focused on getting cost out like ‘The Algorithm’ and ‘The Idiot Index’ are,” Maggie continued.

“Without these tools, SpaceX and Tesla would not have survived,” Patty added.

“So, let’s have Andy and Sue investigate ‘The Algorithm’ and ‘The Idiot Index’ vis a vis I4.0,” Maggie suggested.

“That was my thought exactly,” Patty summed up.

Will you implement “The Algorithm” and “The Idiot Index” in your business?

Dr. Ron note: “The Algorithm” and “The Idiot Index” are profound and should be cost-cutting tools in all companies. These concepts seem to be neglected in reviews of the Musk biography.

This column originally appeared in the February 2024 issue of SMT007 Magazine.