Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1447212
60 SMT007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2022 Matties: Is your goal to reduce overall cost while getting these products out, or is it just to get the products out and do whatever it takes? Ghalili: e most important is to get the product out. We cannot afford to lose components in the line not because of the cost, but just because we cannot get it. So even though we reduce cost by being leaner, the focus is getting parts out. Matties: In today's market, I would think that the customer is willing to pay the increase in price to get the finished product. Ghalili: Exactly. You can always pass on the cost. Matties: In the meantime, your strategies of virtual, technical, operations, and engi- neering support will help keep your costs down in this climate, which should give you an advantage. People are getting creative and doing things in a way they had never consid- ered before because they didn't have the pres- sure to think creatively in their approach. Ghalili: In some ways, this has helped us rethink our strategies and how to do things. And as I said, one thing for sure COVID has done is remove all borders and boundaries. To be suc- cessful we need to reach outside of our bound- aries to get support for our operation. Matties: Do you have any final advice for the industry? Ghalili: ink outside the box and think glob- ally as you look at your operation. You may have an operation only in the U.S., but you need to see how you can leverage people glob- ally to run your operation in the U.S. Matties: A good solution for your sharing resources and getting the job done. Johnson: It's interesting that just as there's a lot of talk and discussion about making the supply chain less global and single source, right along with that is a shi in thinking to embrace globalizing labor and engineering expertise. Just as one is shiing back to be more mul- tichannel, the other one is becoming more global. Matties: Everyone is reconsidering their sup- ply chain and looking for local sources and they don't necessarily want to depend on ship- ping that's hung up at ports. ey want to be sourced locally. Ghalili: My thought has always been that you're going to manufacture in the region for the region. e actual physical manufacturing, no matter what, is going to shi, but the human resource part of it, we can leverage global resources and help each other grow. e phys- ical product manufacturing, long term, really needs to be in the region. Just the mere fact of how much energy we waste on shipping goods across the globe is wasted energy that doesn't need to be. Matties: All right. Well, thank you very much. Ghalili: anks a lot. Johnson: ank you. SMT007