Tekmos' Blog

Over the summer we rolled out an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. The aim of this system is to automate many of the day to day tasks we deal with at a company level and reduce the chance of miscommunication between employees.

The system we use is broken down into “Projects” and “Issues”. A Project is what the bigger picture would be, for example, travelers, new engineering test releases, sales orders, etc. An Issue is a single instance of the project, such as a single traveler for a specific part, a new test for a part, or a sales order. Although our ERP system is still a work in progress, we have currently moved our traveler system for testing parts to a digital system and as a result have improved productivity by streamlining the process.

To accomplish the traveler system, multiple databases have been created that contain our commonly used setups for hardware, software, and testing. This information is then automatically populated into the travelers. This allows the test engineers to speed up the initial stages by having all the information they need available to them instead of having to ask the engineers for the appropriate setup information. We have also integrated several tablets into the system to allow for the digital traveler to travel (move) with the parts from station to station, in a way similar to how the paper travelers moved with the parts.

The databases from the travelers play into the engineering test releases as well. Prior to this system there was never a clear database that was updated with all the approved hardware configurations. When the engineers completed tests, these tests were released to their standards without a universal internal standard. To help with the population of the database another project was created to keep track of these tests.

The sales order Project prompts whomever is processing the customer order for the basic information about the order and then sends this information to the next person to work on the order. After the information is entered into the system, an automatic email is generated and sent to the customer informing them that their inquiry has been received and an update with specifics about their order being processed will be sent soon. With this system all of our sales orders are presented in one place with the date they were received and entered, as well as reminders being sent to key people to follow up on the progress of these orders if they aren’t handled in a timely manner.

Last month, Tekmos sent a representative to the annual meeting of the Space Parts Working Group. This is a meeting of government users of satellites, companies that make satellites, and component manufacturers that make parts for satellites. The meeting was for two days, and consisted of presentations from government users and the component manufacturers. It also presented a lot of networking opportunities.

Tekmos sells several products into the aerospace market. We are also working on upgrading our quality system from ISO9001 up to AS9100, which is now being required by some of our customers. After that, the next step is changing our products to offer an even higher level of reliability. And the first stage of that process is to determine what are the limits with current parts. And that is why we were at the Space Parts Working Group.

So, what did we learn? Being space related, radiation damage was a big topic. The higher the orbit, the greater the damage. As a subset of radiation, heavy ions are an increasing concern. Heavy ions are also a problem with the aviation market, and have been identified as a cause of commercial aviation engine failure in at least one instance. Another issue was bond wire integrity, as a result of corrosion, thermal cycle, and vibration during launch. And as with all semiconductor users, there were concerns about obsolescence and counterfeiting. These are all areas that will be addressed as we develop the next generation of Tekmos products.

In life, there is constant, ongoing challenge. These challenges can take many forms. We see examples of this in nature, with the frenetic competitive energy of an ecosystem, bubbling with all forms of life in constant struggle. Or we can find examples in the daily lives of ordinary people, tasking themselves with reasons to strive. For some, these tasks may be to simply work to provide for basic needs. For others, they may find the challenges of life filled with personal objectives, such as improving oneself with knowledge, or pushing themselves to improve a specific physical ability. Whatever the challenge or goal is, there seems to be one constant to make that goal a reality. That is the drive and determination to stay on a task, to see the objective before you, and to move toward that objective with fierce determination. However lowly or lofty the goal, and whether rushing forward or stumbling and plodding, the march must not stop. It is the persistence itself which often wins the day. And as Jim Rohn points out so simply, discipline is the glue that pulls the goal together with the achievement.

A business is no different, or any system within that business. To set the goal, then to make the goal real can only be done with the discipline of effort. When a process is evaluated, what is truly being observed, what is truly being measured, is the simple day to day discipline needed to reach the goal of that process. At Tekmos, we recently went through our BSI Quality surveillance assessment, to verify that our Quality Management System was functioning as represented. We found that indeed, our processes and procedures were functioning as they should. But the real achievement was the opportunity to see that the discipline, the bridge if you will, was in place and moving toward our goals. Our goals are customer driven. And it is good to see that at Tekmos, we have a sturdy, though well-traveled bridge, to bring our customers goals to full achievement.

As children, many people seem to have trouble eating their vegetables. I can still remember my own grandmother's disapproving look, as basically everything but the vegetables disappeared from my plate. Of course I would then make a valiant attempt at dessert, as my grandmother's cobbler, pie or chocolate anything was truly the stuff of legend. But she would have none of it. It was back to the vegetables for me, with dramatic slow, choking swallows, while simulating my best near death experience. In time, to her credit, creativity came to play a role. It was probably the peas, floating in gravy, nestled seductively in a puddle on top of my mash potatoes that started the change. "Ducks in a pond", she called it. Ok, so they weren't ducks, and it was not a pond. But the peas went down quickly, and the whole thing tasted pretty darn good. In time the green beans, carrots and honestly just about anything became fair game. I guess I can blame my grandmother, as today there doesn't seem to be anything that could possibly land on my plate that will not be eaten with great enjoyment. Maybe too much so, if the truth was told.

Doing something that may seem to be a problem, to have an eventual better overall outcome, is not just a technique for grandmothers. The rules of an organization, or laws of a land can also be viewed through such a lens. In Europe, for example, the large number of chemical substances being manufactured, and the unknown effect on human health and the environment became a concern. Regulations were created, such a Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals  (REACH), to register, evaluate, authorize and possibly restrict certain harmful chemical substances. Or the Restriction of Hazardous Waste in Electrical & Electronic Equipment (RoHS) directive, where components are tested for specific substances, such as Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Dc), Mercury (Hg) as well as a list of other materials to verify there is less than 0.01% of that substance by weight. While these regulations do require more work and verification, they also truly do help protect the environment and human health.

At Tekmos, we take these directives seriously. We take the extra effort needed to help ensure that potentially harmful substances are controlled throughout our industry and in our business practices. Tekmos REACH and RoHS Compliance Statements have been created, and are easy to view and download from our website. We view compliance with these directives as our responsibility and obligation, to our business partners, our employees, and all others who use and depend on the products we make. At Tekmos we take the effort to make our world a little safer. Oh, and we also don't mind eating our vegetables when the time comes either.