Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/599730
16 The PCB Design Magazine • November 2015 think, should be pretty simple for them to pro- vide. Matties: i would think so. i didn't see any real challenge to doing it, but boy, there's sure an upside to providing it. it just seems like people would be foolish not to do it in today's world. how do you look at your processes in terms of improvement, and what sort of approach do you take in data there? Garcia: The way we track the jobs internally when something goes wrong has really im- proved. Again, it's all about automation and customizing the software there to make sure we have all the data we need. We have it set up so that any sort of issue that comes up on a job is reported to our quality team. We want to know every little mishap to figure out how we could fix those things. We collect the data, review it, and make the necessary improvements. Matties: And for process flow, bottlenecks for ex- ample, how do you view that? Garcia: That relates back to a lot of the equip- ment investments we've made by just looking at the high-level view of what's needed to make sure things are moving correctly. Then at the same time on a day-to-day basis we keep track of what's popping up. That may also drive an investment or a purchase. It may even go back to the sales cycle. I'm happy about the sales we win, but I also care a lot about the sales we've lost and what can be done to win them in the future. Paper: We try to be proactive and not reactive, but I do think, in terms of operating in a lean fashion, a lot of that is reactive thinking. You're constantly trying to figure out how we can re- act to a situation and fix it quickly. Again, in terms of high level planning, I think it's more of a proactive approach, but down in the trenches it could be very reactive at times. Matties: What is your business strategy? Garcia: I want us to be the most efficient and lean manufacturer we can be, but it's all about the customer. That's something I talk about in every meeting. It's about the customer. Noth- ing matters outside of our customers. To ensure a happy customer and a great customer experi- ence we have to be as lean and efficient as pos- sible, even more so as a US-based manufacturer. Paper: I don't know if there's an employee whose department hasn't seen some type of in- vestment in the last 12 months to support that idea of operating leanly and improving each process, either by improving the quality of the process or shortening the process time. I think the changes have been very visible for every- body to see because the changes have happened across the entire company. Matties: they're feeling it. Garcia: Yes. GOOD IN, GOOD OuT: BAY AREA CIRCuITS DISCuSSES DATA STRATEGIES Brian Paper, Bay Area Circuits Coo. feature interview