Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1486199
78 SMT007 MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2022 to translate whenever José switched to speak- ing in Spanish. Aer the tour, they le for the restaurant in José's auto with Sue and Andy in the back seat. "Wow, I feel better about my Spanish than I thought I would," Sue whispered in Andy's ear. "You're doing great," Andy responded qui- etly. en in a hushed whisper, he said, "José seems really nice. I'm relieved." Sue nodded her head in agreement as both remembered how bad it had been working under a tyrant like Ned Price before Maggie bought Ivy-Ben- son Electronics. As they sat down at the restaurant, the server came over and asked, "¿A alguien le gustaría una bebida, aparte del agua?" ("Would anyone care for a beverage other than water?") Chuck responded, "Quisiera una copa de vino tinto, un Cabernet por favor." ("I would like some red wine, a Cabernet please.") Sue and Andy's mouths dropped open. Had Chuck just ordered in Spanish? "I thought one of the reasons we came with you was because you didn't speak Spanish," Sue said to Chuck. "at's about the extent of my Spanish abil- ity," Chuck said, chuckling. ey continued to have a delightful conversa- tion in both English and Spanish, with Sue and Andy translating both ways. Chuck, Sue, and Andy were impressed with José. Aer dinner, they said goodbye to José and went to their hotel to get settled into their rooms. Sue was old-fashioned and chose to stay in her own room rather than share a room with Andy. ey got up bright and early the next morning and had a light breakfast before head- ing back out to the factory. José gave the trio a more thorough tour of the three assembly lines and the factory in general. "eir assembly equipment looks quite good," Sue commented to Andy and Chuck. "I agree," Chuck said. "It's refurbished, but it looks to be in good condition." Sue talked to one of the technicians, Carlos, who was a portly man in his early 40s; he had a kind face and appeared thrilled to be chatting with Sue. "Hello, my name is Sue March," she said, and Carlos replied: "Mucho gusto." "Do you collect quality data here?" Sue asked. His reply: "Sí, señorita." "What do you do with the data?" Sue asked. "I put it in a filing cabinet," responded Car- los. "And then?" But Carlos had no reply. Sue saw that he was embarrassed that he did nothing else with the data. She took the oppor- tunity to explain to Carlos what a Pareto Chart was and how it should be used to develop a continuous improvement plan. Sue turned to Andy and Chuck and said to all three, "I have an idea. Why don't we take the quality data and try making a Pareto Chart together? en we can share it with José." Carlos's face lit up. He went to retrieve the datasheets that contained the number of defects vs. time. Meanwhile, Andy and Chuck were interviewing some of the operators and technicians. "Hello," said Andy to a petite young woman with black hair and sparkling brown eyes named María. She seemed a little shy, but Andy charged ahead. "How do you like work- ing here?" he asked. "Oh, Mr. Andy, this is a wonderful place to work. Mr. José pays a little more than the other factories and he provides a free lunch. We even get a Christmas and Easter bonus. He encour- ages us to learn, but I have to admit I'm not much of a student," María explained. Chuck asked José to explain their process from order receipt through shipment to the customer. ese activities kept Chuck, Sue, and Andy busy for the entire day. ey all ate lunch in the company cafeteria and agreed to chat with some of the workers as they ate. ey agreed to meet later for dinner to discuss their find- ings. At dinner, Sue was the first to speak. "Well, they collect data, but they don't do anything