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Evolutionary Solutions: Providing World-Class Service

Editor's Note: This column originally appeared in the October 2012 issue of SMT Magazine.

Achieving world-class service status is similar to repeatedly jumping the high jump as the bar is moved higher and higher. EMS providers want to achieve world-class status early and consistently in their businesses. And, as soon as it is reached, expectations and standards are raised and companies continue to strive to achieve the new level. This is a good thing as OEM customers and end customers win with the manufacture and receipt of an exceptional product.  Webster’s Dictionary defines world-class as being “of the highest caliber in the world.” But how do you measure and determine world-class? Here’s how my company strives to achieve world-class status. Spell it Out W: Work smart and hard, but, if you have to choose, work smart. You must become more than just a hard-working company. You have to plan, develop employee skills, and encourage discipline in the daily activities. This translates into consistent, quality outputs within your organization. And, ultimately, this translates into serving your end customer.  An example of working smarter rather than harder is encouraging continual improvement at all levels. If an idea can save even five seconds on a repetitive process, it has value. During a review of just one of our set-up processes we used a technique known as spaghetti diagramming to map the original process flow. After reviewing the spaghetti (can you picture the mess?) diagram, the team was able to improve the process, eliminating waste and cutting the set-up time in half. O: Overcome obstacles because challenges are part of every success. Overcoming obstacles is truly exhilarating and feeds the core of the organization. Overcoming also strengthens the mental muscles of your team, making them better prepared for the next obstacle. A common obstacle in electronics manufacturing is delayed raw materials. Production schedules are planned based on expectation that materials will arrive on or before the scheduled due date. When a date slips or is pushed out, the balance of the processes steps are pushed and, ultimately, the delivery date to the customer is in jeopardy. This challenge is overcome in any number of ways including finding an alternate supplier for the raw material or finding an alternate part altogether. To counter any negative impact, production planners can build a cushion in to the schedule for future jobs impacted by the raw material issue. R: Rely on your production team to build in quality. Customers want to have complete trust in you and your team and not pay the added costs of waste and inefficiency resulting from micromanaging instead of leadership. Strong leadership sets the expectation to build in quality through solid training, consistency, and good process controls. Not only is it a bad idea to micromanage production with labor instead of using process controls, but it is almost impossible. So many variables exist in electronics manufacturing that it is imperative for employees to be empowered and take the actions that build quality in, rather than inspecting quality in to the product. Manufacturing leaders get this and set up their plants with this end in mind. L: Listen to customers’ objectives. This may seem obvious, but many suppliers listen to customers’ immediate needs at the expense of long-term objectives and needs and without consideration to other customers’ needs. This is dangerous, at best, and often fatal to the organization. Clear communication about customer priorities is vital to long-term success. EMS providers should understand this, set up communication processes and use such processes consistently. Managing the balance between being responsive to changes while protecting the production schedule is tricky, and good EMS providers have become expert at such communication. Frequent changes (to same-day and same-week delivery requirements) add chaos to the production schedule and have an impact on all EMS customer deliveries. Periodic changes to delivery requirements are natural and EMS providers can and should respond with responsiveness and quality service. EMS providers who can protect production schedules for some time frame (optimally at least three to five days) will better be able to serve all customers for the long run. D: Do it right the first time. We have all heard the saying: “If you don’t have time to do it right the first time, you won’t have time to do it a second or third time.” This is especially true in manufacturing, where short lead times are the norm and expectations are for better and faster products. Rework is a perfect example of the truth of this principle. By rushing the manufacturing steps and failing to build quality in, you get the opportunity to do it again (at significant cost in terms of time and dollars). Instead, it makes sense to take care and build the product correctly the first time.  Another example is the erroneous decision that there is not enough time to scan a board as it moves through each process step or work center. Of course, this never speeds up the process because at some point, someone has to go back and scan the board through each work center to ensure it can be shipped to the customer. These examples illustrate what can occur when it is the employee’s desire to serve the customer quickly via shortcuts. However, making the decision to follow the process and do it right the first time is always the best bet and results in the best service to the customer.  C: Communicate well, internally and externally. No amount of planning and execution will yield perfect results. And when the situation is less than optimal or the original expectations cannot be achieved, communication will be the difference maker in the relationship outcome. Over-communication is always better than the alternative. Internally, communication about a quality issue may be delivered by production, engineering, and quality to a manager. Although duplication, this over-communication can ensure that the manager has a full picture of the situation and that it is addressed appropriately and in a timely manner. Over-communicating externally may be necessary when there is a delay or another obstacle in manufacturing or delivery. Over-communication is not only about the information, but also about the relationship whether internal or external. L: Lead the pack in terms of equipment, people, and processes. Never stop studying the latest and greatest and then making decisions that reflect this education.  Partnering with industry leaders and understanding current and future trends is critical. Some examples of leading the pack include investing in the newest technology. Installation of improved equipment can make a difference. Another example is the elimination of test labels and using an automated record of test rather than using labor to apply labels to the board. Advanced product quality planning (APQP) is another example of leading the pack. EMS providers who invest in understanding and using APQP to achieve product and process standardization and improvement go a long way to meeting end-customer objectives. A: Ask often, “What can we do better?” and then do it. Make this question a part of the culture for all employees and empower them to take action on the ideas this question generates. Have an attitude of abundance with what is possible. Good EMS providers ask the above question often, even daily. To provide a visual picture of what this might mean, consider these examples. The first example is the implementation of a board laser etching process for efficiency and accuracy. Instead of applying a physical label to each board, we use an automated machine that laser-etches a two-dimensional bar code on each board so it can be traced through the manufacturing process. Another example is to apply assembly and vendor information via silk screening on the raw board rather than using physical labels which are labor intensive and expensive. S: Set your standards high. The process of going from average to exceptional is really not that difficult. Often, it is far worse in your mind than in reality. And it is worse to stay the same and repeatedly deal with the same issues over and over. Written expectations and procedures are a minimum requirement for a good EMS provider seeking to provide world-class service. However, without a culture of character and accountability these written documents may serve only to collect dust. Senior management teams must set the bar very high and consistently enforce the standards. Often this means that the EMS provider’s standards are higher than the customer’s standards. Our quality targets are expected to be 233 defective parts per million (dppm) or 5 sigma, which is significantly higher than customer expectations of 750 to 3,000 dppm. S: Say what you do and do what you say. Have documented procedures, train regularly, and follow them to the letter. When improvements happen, update the procedures.  Internally, the culture of an organization will be extremely important to the results delivered by that organization. It is also helpful to employ external audits to confirm certifications and gain perspective about processes and controls. External audits serve to encourage the right things and discourage the wrong things. When the audit reports, “Management system and objectives: Recent customer surveys indicate high level of customer satisfaction and on-time delivery,” it is a good indication that the right people and systems are in place to ensure success. Success No matter how you spell out your mission, EMS providers and OEMs alike all want the same thing--success. As an example, my company’s mission is to be relentless in creating successful partnerships with customers, employees, vendors, shareholders, and the communities in which it does business. With this kind of mission, a committed team, and a desire to achieve world-class service, world-class EMS companies provide win/win solutions to the OEMs they serve. Karla Osorno is business development officer for EE Technologies, Inc., an EMS provider delivering complete engineering and manufacturing services with locations in Nevada and Mexico. With education and more than 20 years’ experience in finance and operations, Osorno drives completion of projects in marketing, business development, operations, and process improvement. Her passions are to educate and empower others to make changes and a daily difference in the world. Contact Osorno here.