Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1259453
26 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2020 understand with sub-elements to it that can be trained easier." Their quality went up be- cause previously, they couldn't even give you the number of any of the procedures, let alone know what was in the procedures. You can make this overly complicated. But from an au- dit standpoint, it looks like you've done well, but you haven't. Johnson: That's a good point. Be efficient and effective, but don't micromanage. Korf: These days, lots of good software is be- ing developed for the "factory of the future," the fourth generation of factories. We see a lot more automation. The human has to under- stand less. Like any system that gets automat- ed, now your operators and engineers need to be at a little bit higher level. They need to be able to understand the data, including good versus bad data, to ensure the automated sys- tems are reacting effectively. There are very good examples of this both as a sub-process and in entire factories in our industry all over the world that have done a very good job of using data. They have made it cost-effective to maintain a good TQM system. Johnson: Do you see investing in a better un- derstanding of their processes and analyzing the data to find improvements as a cost of do- ing business at a fabricator? Is this something they need to do to survive? Korf: I would suggest that every person that runs the business does this already in some shape or form. If you let everything run wild, you're going to be out of business fast. Every- one's doing something to ensure their quality and that they have a good quality system. That means it produces less scrap, rework, and re- turns. Everyone has this in some form. It's a matter of how intelligent and widespread is it, and what's the real bang for the buck with whatever they have installed. If you look at higher level businesses, they do more of it better and see a real financial result. I tell people, "Everything we do in a company is to make money. If the company doesn't make money, you don't have a com- pany." That's always the bottom line. If you're working on something that doesn't save or make money, you're working on the wrong thing. That's how you have to look at all these things. Am I spending my money and getting the biggest effect on the bottom line? This indi- rectly shows that your customers are happy al- so because they want to continue buying from you; that's a subliminal message. Everyone has TQM in some form or fash- ion by default. It's a matter of how much they do, how well they do it, and the lower your scrap is in a process means that your process is tuned better. Generally, it indicates you can get a little bit higher technology or a lit- tle bit higher throughput out of the process. This indirectly allows you to grab more busi- ness because you're now confident you can do a higher technology without having to spend capital funds to buy equipment you don't cur- rently have. They teach you in the theory of constraints that production that gets thrown away is wasted capacity. You never get it back. That's how you have to think about it. If I build something and scrap it, I can no longer make that money back because I threw away the panels that I spent money on. I now have to spend more money to get that same amount of revenue back. Johnson: I guess it all boils down to the fact that everybody does this. It's a matter of how good you are at doing it. Korf: Correct. As you know, in board fabrica- tion, the process is so complicated. The chem- istries and all the equipment need to be tuned right to effectively build something. This is not a trivial product to build; it's relatively compli- cated. You have to have some level of controls, or you're not going to be in this business. Johnson: Does Deming's original work or in- spiration still have a place, or has TQM moved beyond that? Korf: That's a good question. If you look at the function, purpose, and goals, those have never