Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1512467
62 SMT007 MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2023 ical process step. Accountability at all levels starts with the "Up and to the Right" program that each integral operator or leader completes daily. e daily emails tell the good, bad, and ugly to all key stakeholders. e magic is that everyone knows that the program only remains credible if you do something with what you learned. is is the foundation of opportuni- ties for improvement (OFI), or rapid improve- ment program (RIP), a tremendous contin- uous improvement program. e next steps are the weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly KPIs used to track our fundamentals. e most important parts of this process are the daily stand-ups and GEMBA walks. Remember, the associates are always watching and taking note of your actions or, worse, remembering the non-action. Could you provide an example of a situation where you successfully improved the effi- ciency of an electronics assembly process? What specific steps did you take and what were the results? Five years ago, we set a goal to improve SMT line yields to improve throughput. is proj- ect started with not accepting the industry turing, go-to-market strategy, and delivering finished products to the customer. I've learned that the electronics industry is widely diverse and evolving at a lightning-fast pace. How fast is that change? In the time it takes to declare that a process or design is perfect, the indus- try has already moved past you. e industry can have long days that spill into quick weeks and create very short years, so why would a person want to be part of this? Because it's short-fused problem-solving with creative, intelligent people who only need to be pointed toward success. One day, you may find yourself at a lunch, sitting across from C-suite executives at one of the world's largest transportation manufac- turers and they need a problem solved. As they explain the issue, the scheduling department is giving you a few text messages to update and expedite one of the channels of the products you offer. Because you have the team focused on the importance of the voice of the customer, they can expedite it through the shop, change the BOM, update the router, reset the controls package, and even powder-coat the assembly to the customer's needs. By the time lunch with the customer ends, your team enters the room and tells the customer about the performance of the sample they just produced for them. When that happened to me, it was the moment I knew I could effectively vertically stack flexible manufacturing, leaving room to inspire creative problem-solving for the cus- tomer. What methods and tools do you typically use to analyze and identify inefficiencies in an assembly process? My fundamentals are based on the Toyota Pro- duction System, grounded in a realistic under- standing that results matter, and everyone reports to the P&L. I have always embraced process guardrails in safety, quality, and reli- ability operations. All three need layered checks and balances, with Gemba 1 visual man- agement boards in each department or crit- Patrick Stimpert