Printed Circuit Design & Fab - January 2008 - (Page 14)

Renewing Excellence The ability to identify and quickly implement technology change is often the difference between mediocrity and excellence. IT’S HARD TO believe that a new year is upon us. Maybe I’m showing my age, but for some reason for the last few years, whenever January rolls around I begin to feel a bit like Bill Murray’s character in the movie Groundhog Day. It may be a new year, but it feels like I’ve “been there, done that,” and I am about PETER to do it all over again! BIGELOW I am a firm believer in consistency – doing something the same way (and hopefully well) establishes a pace and cycle that makes it easier for everyone to excel. While consistency is good, sometimes this consistency can lead to complacency or a sameness that can sap creative juices and enthusiasm. When creativity and enthusiasm wane, every day feels like the one before it and becomes a template for the next as well – with neither as productive nor entertaining as Groundhog Day. The challenge is to create an environment that maintains consistency while encouraging improvement and promoting enthusiasm, allowing product quality and customer service to excel. In my opinion, it is easier for large companies to create a culture that balances this consistency and change. For years General Electric has fostered such a corporate culture, rewarding creativity but doing so in a consistent, button down, numeric matrix of measures. If a company has the resources, this type of culture can work well. In our industry, however, most companies small or large share one important trait – the very thin financial margins that don’t allow for additional resources. One of the best people I ever had the privilege to work with was definitely not afraid to shake things up and create change. I still am not sure if he was a visionary or just plain crazy – but working for him was always exciting and every day was a new experience. Another great mentor was someone who, at the time, I considered an “old timer.” His mantra was “consistency with a twist.” He always made sure that essential tasks had clear, easily understood processes that all could consistently follow, but he also had those “special” projects that required, as he put it, “free thinking.” He would pick teams for these projects, making sure they included representation from all levels and disciplines within the company. Also, if any two people on the team did not get along, it was they who would be appointed team leaders and be held equally accountable on the project! Which brings me back to the New Year, and how to make each day seem less like a carbon copy of the previous one rather than exciting and new. While ours is an industry that is always looking at the latest thing, whether in new 14 product design, fabrication, new product or new materials, many of those who are around today have survived because they have kept their noses to the grindstone, focusing on daily, essential tasks. But maybe that level of consistency needs some counterbalance, and that structured proactive change is what a New Year needs to make it truly “New.” Looking forward, it is clear that the challenges that the electronics, manufacturing and technology industries will be facing will be far more demanding than we have yet experienced. Higher petroleum and metals pricing will continue to escalate costs, and higher costs will result in smaller margins for all of us. So this New Year is one that could especially benefit by embracing change proactively and consistently. We will be challenged with finding new ways to use less materials, methods to increase yields and reduce waste. This task will require that all levels of employees work together in an environment that rewards quick and creative solutions. This year, maybe more than ever, increased communication at all levels, especially between customers and suppliers, will be key to timing material cost increases and appropriate pricing adjustments so that already thin margins can be improved. “Free thinking” project teams that can identify, understand and implement technology changes quickly may make the difference between mediocre performance and excellence. Finding a way to make special projects as well as routine tasks more challenging and more fun is what makes the New Year seem genuinely “New.” Simple things such as changing the mix of people on a team can reinvigorate the process. Shifting when and how meetings take place can change how the content is viewed. Embarking on some unthinkable new initiatives can be the catalyst of changes far more valuable than otherwise could be achieved. And while proactive change can be good, consistency is how that change manifests itself into results. Sticking to the task – maintaining a meeting schedule, keeping a project on point – is one way to easily benchmark progress. Changing but consistently working the process is the optimal balance. Looking forward I know that I really want this New Year to be a great one – one where I can accomplish much despite whatever the prevailing economic conditions may bring. Most of all I do not want to sit here next year thinking about how the year seems like the year before. A little change during the New Year – to foster renewed enthusiasm – may be just what is needed to successfully make it past Groundhog Day! PCD&F PETER BIGELOW is president and CEO of IMI (imipcb.com); pbigelow@imipcb.com. JANUARY 2008 PRINTED CIRCUIT DESIGN & FAB http://imipcb.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Printed Circuit Design & Fab - January 2008

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - January 2008 Contents Our Line Market Watch Around the World Happenings ROI PTH Reliability: Designing to Improve PTH Reliability EMC for the Real World PTH Reliability: The Survival and Long-Term Reliability of Lead-Free PCBs iNEMI's Emerging Technologies: Research Priorities for the Electronics Industry Printed Circuit Design & Fab Annual Buyers Guide Special Suppliers Section Guide to Products and Services Off the Shelf: Designcon Preview Marketplace Ad Index BGA Bulletin

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - January 2008

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