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22 SMT Magazine • July 2015 of their box in order to save a lot of labor and cost. But at the heart of the matter is exactly what Micah described, an awesome relation- ship. Walking the floor with Micah it felt like DD&TT was more of a partner than a supplier. Each side helps the other to develop processes and really works to bounce ideas off each other and expand on designs that they can openly use and sell to other customers. They look out for each other as well. In the short term, Micah's team keeps the testers running and in good condition, but for the long-term it's clear Echo- Star has a roadmap in place to introduce more automation and keep the testers compatible with future technologies. These are things that DD&TT, the supplier, won't have to deal with, yet will substantially improve their quality and cost. They are two teams from different compa- nies, different countries even, but they are very much connected. With Micah's state-of-the-art monitoring system, one could say the two are always con- nected—it's almost like EchoStar keeps their suppliers under 24-hour surveillance. Suppli- ers might feel as if they are constantly being watched over their shoulder, and I don't think that's far from the truth. It became clear after talking with Micah that EchoStar holds their suppliers to very high standards in order to guar- antee quality results, but also because they want their suppliers to do things the right way and employ best practices. This became even more apparent when we finished our factory tour and returned to the conference room where I learned about their unannounced audits. The EchoStar crew calls it the "five-minute agreement," and it's something every EchoStar supplier goes through. When EchoStar shows up unannounced, the supplier has five min- utes from the time they're in the lobby to let them on the floor where they can look at what- ever they would like. They get open access to everything. That's part of the deal. It reminds me of the saying, "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about." However, it is clear that this isn't micromanaging or Big Brother-esque, but rather EchoStar keeping a supportive, yet watchful, eye on their sup- plier's processes. Like Micah said, there should be no secrets between the two companies. For all the benefits that come with being a supplier to EchoStar, it makes sense that they hold sup- pliers accountable. If EchoStar has some sort of data or reason to suspect a supplier is hid- ing fees or burying costs in their supply line, that's a rough start toward building a reliable relationship in which they're willing to share their R&D team and design ideas. With nothing hidden from each other, the relationship begins with truth and grows from that. FeAture Micah Moore offers the DD&TT test engineering team suggestions for additional optimizations and improving efficiency. back side of an SMT line. ECHOSTAR: THE FuTuRE OF SuPPly CHAIN MANAGEMENT DONE RIGHT continues