Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1000349
56 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2018 Feature by Sandy Kolp FIRSTRONIC The term CFT (cross-functional team) is used widely in the EMS industry to define the program team that interfaces with each customer. Normally, that term translates to customer-focused team and is a small group comprised of a program manager, customer engineer and buyer/planner. Firstronic's management team felt customers needed the breadth of a traditional cross-functional team approach, defining their CFT model as a much larger group, which includes a tactically- focused program manager, a strategically- focused account director, a buyer, a product engineer, a process engineer, a test engineer, a quality engineer, a production supervisor or lead person, and a customer service represen- tative focused on materials and scheduling. The goal was to create a team that was broad- based enough to govern all the necessary outputs associated with each customer. Many of the company's programs involve produc- tion in multiple regions of the world, so the division of labor among a program manager and an account director ensures an internal tactical focus via the program manager, while the account director focuses on strategic and commercial issues and has accountability for global program performance. The power of this approach was evident in the company's transition to the latest revision of the automotive quality standard IATF 16949. The International Standards Organization (ISO) was previously the governing body for ISO/TS 16949, and the current IATF 16949:2016 revi- sion passes that responsibility to the Interna- tional Automotive Task Force (IATF). Under