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58 SMT Magazine • March 2017 and comprehensively plan, develop, assemble, test, interact with customers and manage all as- pects of product production. 2. The Leadership Team: a group that effec- tively works for the product teams by serving an enabling function: a. They ensure the product team has all the tools they need to be successful. b. They form the product team with person- nel who have the required skill sets. c. They provide a check and balance on the product team's performance and decision- making. d. They serve an arbitration function if the product team can't resolve an issue internally. The relationship between the product and leadership teams is symbolically represented be- low by Figures 4 and 5. As summarized in last month's column, the following has been concluded: 1. Automation is the counterweight to low labor rates. High labor-rate environments can compete by reducing labor content through au- tomation. 2. In this automated environment, the work- force needs to be transformed from many low paid direct personnel to a few high paid engi- neers with the ability to develop and maintain the automated processes. 3. This new workforce must be cross-disci- plined, with each member having multiple skill sets and the versatility to multitask and wear whatever hat is necessary at a particular point in time. They will be focused on the products they are assembling, not the departments from whence they once resided. 4. What must accompany this workforce transformation is a transformation in the com- pany's organizational model. The reduction in labor content must be accompanied by a cor- responding reduction in indirect and overhead cost since there is less direct labor to absorb these costs. 5. This new organizational model is a struc- tural disruption from the traditional hierarchi- cal form of power pyramid. 6. What is needed for the new workforce re- quirements and new organizational structure is a new approach to education. We now add to this list assembly yields of 99.6%+ and details of the new organizational model, both discussed above. A NEW ORGANIZATIONAL MODEL USING LOGIC, PART 4 Figure 4: The new organization model: The prod- uct team and a leadership team. Figure 5: The new organization model: The prod- uct team of "super engineers" and a leadership team that serves as a project team enabler and a check and balance.