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THE SCIENCE OF CERTAINTY. / www.connectpositronic.com1

JAN 2019

IN THIS ISSUE

Strategic Initiative Update 1 Global Lean and Kaizen Event

UpdatesSales Success Story 3 Jain IrrigationGlobal Moments 4 Positronic Service Awards 5 PIMO Award Ceremony 9 Innovation in Aerospace &

Defense Expo 9 Employee Recognition

Christmas Lunch Celebration at PAPL

10 Sandy Melton Retirement Party

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the POSITRONIC GLOBE

Global Lean and Kaizen Event UpdatesHave you participated in any of our Lean or Kaizen events? Many of our team members have been actively contributing to find ways to reduce waste and increase efficiency. In 2019, we will continue discovering ways to improve our business and operations. When working on large-impact goals, such as our strategic initiatives, it can feel like staring up at a tall mountain, knowing it will take a lot of work to reach the top. Often, large-scale goals are achieved by taking small steps, climbing the mountain one step at a time. This is how we will achieve our success! Sometimes our Lean teams are asked to solve very specific issues and participate in a Kaizen activity, where teams spend a short, dedicated amount of time to solve a problem and implement the improvement within 30 days. For other times, the task may be more research-heavy or need testing to understand the best result. Either way, each step gets you closer to the end goal.

Here are a few Lean and Kaizen events we have been working on in the last few months:

1 Reduce Set-up Time of Thermoset Plastics by 50%

The team asked to solve this challenge included: Jordan Summers, Casey McDaniel, Robert Zimla, Justin Bray, Joel Loveland, and Randy Caudill.

The first step was to understand the current situation. A video of the process was obtained and subsequently broken down into steps on paper for evaluation. The length of each operation was documented, and the internal and external factors were noted. External factors are

Zero Gravity.Zero Oxygen.Zero Margin of Error.

STRATEGIC INITIATIVE UPDATE

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https://www.connectpositronic.com/en/intranet/

3THE SCIENCE OF CERTAINTY. / www.connectpositronic.com 2

beyond our control, but we can have an impact on the internal ones. The team then brainstormed ideas to improve the internal operation times. The next step was to implement and test the ideas to determine whether or not they had an impact. A second video was taken and the process of review on paper was repeated. The result – an 80% reduction in set-up time!

The changes included standardizing the process with two operators changing out MUD units, having the MUD unit set and preheated prior to set-up, standardizing tooling, gloves and work instructions, documenting humidity, temperature and shot size based on part, and improving training for operators as well as visual tools and daily team communications.

2 Reduce Sorting in the Plating Department by 90%

The Plating Department at our Campbell facility in Missouri was asked to address this challenge. On this team were Kevin Jones, Angela Zay, Tara Long, Geoff McFarlin, Cody Fossett, and Mark Cumpton.

This team approached the challenge by reducing non-value-added activities to increase throughput of the department.

3 Reduce Lead Time for Scorpion Sample and Production Run Participants on this team were cross-functional and

included, Bill Gentry (Business Development), Jay Sandidge (Sales), Natesh Kannan (Global Product Manager), KC Ng (Site Leader), Josephine Seah (Finance), Charli Ng (Sales), Jimmy (Operations), Mike Choon Hock Tan (Logistics/Procurement), Chee Ming Pet (Quality), and KC Leong (Plasmotech).

The kickoff for this event was done in collaboration with Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), which is a Government Agency under jurisdiction of the Ministry of Manpower. Techniques used included, VSM (Value Stream Mapping), BPR (Business Process Re-engineering), and documenting action items on paper. Through brainstorming, the team was able to identify 12 action items derived and spearheaded by respective leads. These action items are being tested to determine the impact on lead times.

Stay tuned to learn the outcomes of these and future Lean and Kaizen events.

STRATEGIC INITIATIVE UPDATEContinued from page 1

NO. DEPARTMENT KAIZEN TITLE KAIZEN LEAD / TEAM

1

Management Reduce Lead Time for Materials

and Parts for Sample

Bill Gentry

2Enginneering Reduce Part Entry Time (BOM ,

BOO, MOM)

Samy

3Plasmotech Reduce moulded sample time KC Leong

4Quality Reduce incoming inspection

time for samples

CM Pet

5

Logistics Elimiinate/reduce the waiting

time for plating of Scorpion

samples

Mike

6Planning Reduce Lead Time for Sub

Assy on Scorpion Sample

Roy

7

Production Reduce wait time &

processing time for Sample

Assembly

Jimmy

8Finance Reduce cost roll creation time

for Scorpion Sample

Josephine

9Sales Reduce sales order creation

sample request waiting time

Charli

10Marketing Reduce Contact Lead time

(Production)

Natesh

11Management Reduce Finished Goods DPPM

for Scorpion

KC Ng

12

Planning Eliminate/reduce the waiting

time for sub-assembly of

Scorpion for Production

Roy

Task - Step 1 from PIMO Task - Step 2 from PIMO Task - From PAPL


One of the most interesting applications over the past five years has been our connector designs for Jain Irrigation in India. Jain’s requirements merge modern solar technology with the age-old need for irrigating crops in rural locations.

Jain’s solar panels energize pumps that draw up water from wells, feeding crops as well as livestock. In this project, Positronic sold cabled KC (King Cobra) Series connectors, BKC (Baby King Cobra) Series connectors, as well as Front Runner circular connectors. Water tight Ingress Protection ratings of both IP65 and IP67 were required. Jain’s installations were remote and exposed to weather and occasionally the connectors were utilized underground in manmade shafts flowing with water. The Cable Assemblies, also made by Positronic in Pune India, were over-molded, ensuring additional water tight sealing.

The newest application with Jain has an IP69 requirement (continuous submersion in water) and PIPL engineering has designed the first ever IP69 connector made by

Positronic for Jain. It is a custom metal shell circular connector that sits deep down in a well, working in conjunction with a Jain pump.

Jain Irrigation business is ongoing and has amounted to over 1 million USD in business for Positronic over the past 3 years.

Great job PIPL Sales Team!

SALES SUCCESS STORY

JAIN IRRIGATION by Bill Gentry, VP of Business Development


GLOBAL MOMENTS

LocationYears of Service

Name

PIMO

10 William Barnes10 Kevin Brashears10 Laura Ervin10 Michell Guffey10 Kristi Harden10 John Zimla15 Thomas Alexander15 Paula Easterly15 Lewis Greer15 Michael McDowell15 Julie Parker20 Bruce Blanchard20 Hersell Burton20 Albert Collins20 Andrew Del Fante20 Julie Manuel20 Terry Neal20 Joseph Turnbaugh25 Tammy Jordan25 Tim Kepley25 Sherry Letterman25 Thomas Payne30 Laurie Coone30 Jamie Letterman30 Coral Myers35 Tammy Horman40 John Gentry40 Cheryl Hardin45 Jacquelyn Combs


Name

PAPL

10 Onn York Len, Elaine10 Chen Shu Rong10 Alice Ng10 Pang Li Qun15 Lee Wee Leng15 Ong Siew Kee15 Chan Mooi Khim, Grace15 Yeo Kim Teck15 Tan Bee Lian15 Teng Ai Geok15 Yong Yoong Ming20 Ang Giok Beng


Name

PISAS

10 Gérard DELMAS15 Olivier DALLA-BARBA15 Sébastien MARC25 Isabelle GOUX

Each year Positronic recognizes employees with 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or more, years of service to our organization and those employees with a perfect attendance record. Each employee is an important part of our company and contributes to our success. Whether you have been at Positronic for less than a year or more than 40 years, thank you!

Last month and early this year, many of our offices around the world hosted, or will host, celebrations for service awards. We had many awards, and therefore, we will only be able to list those with 10 or more years of service. (Please note that at the time of publishing we did not have data from all locations.)

Positronic Service Awards


PIMO Awards CeremonyPIMO/GLOBAL MOMENTS

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PIMO/GLOBAL MOMENTSContinued from page 5

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Innovation in Aerospace & Defense Expo On 10 December 2018, Positronic participated in the National Seminar and Exhibition on Innovation in Aerospace & Defense in India. The purpose of the event is to enhance national defense by partnering with public sector undertakings (PSUs), which are local companies working in the defense sector. The seminar and exhibition were held at the Bharat Dynamics Auditorium in Hyderabad and Positronic displayed its connector products for attendees. We also had the opportunity to discuss business opportunities with senior officers of national and public sector defense organizations.

PIPL/GLOBAL MOMENTS

Employee Recognition Christmas Lunch Celebration at PAPL PAPL hosted an Employee Appreciation Christmas Lunch Celebration on 17 December 2018. The State of the Company report was presented during lunch, which provided a more relaxed setting. Afterward, Bill Gentry contributed a speech to the employees and officially unveiled the One Positronic poster in the lobby.

PAPL/GLOBAL MOMENTS

THE SCIENCE OF CERTAINTY. / www.connectpositronic.com 10

Sandy Melton Retirement Party On 28 December 2018, Positronic celebrated the retirement of Sandy Melton. Sandy joined Positronic in 1991 as an Operator. She advanced to Lead Operator in 1994 and held positions in Operations and Assembly until 2010, when she took the role of QA Inspector A.

Positronic thanked Sandy for her 27 years of service with a small celebration and cake. Employees shared memories and stories about her time with the company. Sandy plans to spend time with family in her retirement. We thank Sandy for her contribution to Positronic and wish her all the best as she begins this new stage in her life.

PIMO/GLOBAL MOMENTS

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