April, 2012
www.us-tech.com Firstronic: Eliminating Hidden Costs Continued from previous page
became obvious that typical demand was in the range of 8K per month. Had the company’s team gone with the customer’s original request, there would have been significant excess inventory and non-value added costs. This would have included broker pre- miums to secure the initial volume requirement, as well as significant obsolescence since the product design underwent several changes during the first few months of production volume ramp-up. In this case, there was excellent
information sharing on both sides. The contractor provided open-book pricing so the customer was fully aware of the costs of various options. The ProManage system tracked all activities in the project including pro - duction validation lessons learned, engineering change notice (ECN) sta- tus, projected sales and inventory, shortages/allocated items, quality, on- time delivery performance and open issues. The ProManage system e- mails status reports and assigns tasks to relevant team members. The new product launch (NPI module) tracked not only Firstronic’s standard check- list of project requirement milestones, but also the customer’s specific requirements. The result was a shortened
launch cycle, real-time visibility into project issues and de tailed record- keeping of all activities performed during new product introduction and the ramp to volume production.
Leveraging Information In Firstronic’s business model,
the program manager serves as the central point of contact in terms of information flow with the customer. However, the ProManage system automates many of the day-to-day tasks and monitoring activities that otherwise consume a large share of program management time. Any member of the team can
log onto the system and find out exactly what open action items they have on any project 24/7. Team members are e-mailed as new tasks are assigned and the system is pre- programmed in each of the processes it manages to assign standard tasks as the project progresses. One pow- erful aspect of this system is the fact that the project can be defined and standardized almost immediately, but the team then quickly adjusts the “standardized requirements” to match the individual nuances of each launch thus creating a tailored launch plan for each new assembly. The program manager has the time to better evaluate project trends and look at longer term project issues, instead of getting bogged down in day-to-day tactical tasks.
Engineering and Purchasing Information loaded in the engi-
neering database aligns with pur- chasing and demand planning to ensure materials are purchased and product is built to current revisions. The program manager is able to eas- ily discuss critical issues with cus-
tomers including: l
l Demand vs. forecast trends.
Minimum buy liability and excess inventory generated by engineering
changes or end of project. l
Part change notices (PCNs) indi-
cating potential obsolescence issues. l
Market-driven cost variation trends.
Questions? Sunstone Customer Support is always open: 1-800-228-8198 -
support@sunstone.com
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We lead the industry with an on-time delivery rate of over 99%. Plus, our live on-site customer support is available every day of the year (24/7/365), giving Sunstone unparalleled customer service.
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Page 19 The earlier an issue can be iden-
tified, the more options are available for dealing with it and the faster it can be resolved. Fast resolution usu- ally translates to lower cost. However, information systems
technology is continuing to evolve and as it does, Firstronic’s team is applying its expertise to leverage these changes. The second phase of Firstronic’s
systems upgrade involves upgrading to enhance its enterprise resource planning (ERP) capabilities with the addition of Plex Online, a software as a service (SAAS), cloud-based ERP system. The new system is scheduled to go live in June 2012. The Plex implementation will include the ERP system, manufac-
Continued on page 21
Quality PCBs from the established industry leader
design software Controlled impedance testing
YEARS 40 Years of Serving You
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