Coghlin Companies Blog

Every project must have a multitude of goals that must be met in order to successfully launch a product. However, typically these goals are not consecutive, but run parallel to each other and most of the time they are competing for the same resources. A juggling act then starts with each resource trying to do many things at once. The way we, at Columbia Tech, resolve such conflicts, is to categorize and prioritize. To help with visualizing this process, a story comes to mind from an unknown author.

A professor of philosophy wanted to teach his students about prioritization. One day he showed up to class with a large glass jar and a box of various items. Without saying a word he proceeded to set the jar on his desk for all to see. He then grabbed a bag of golf balls from the box and poured them into the jar filling it to the top. He then looked up at the class and asked the group for a show of hands as to who thinks the jar is full, to which all the students raised their hands.

He then reached into the box and pulled out a bag of sand and proceeded to pour the sand into the jar. He would stop every now and then to shake and tilt the jar so that the sand filled every cavity left over by the marbles. He then asked the class for a show of hands about the jar being full, to which all the hands in the class went up. He then reached into the box and opened two cans of beer and proceeded to pour them into the jar.

The moral of the story is that if we fill our jars (lives) with the smaller things first then there will not be enough room for the bigger, more important, things. This also holds true for our company projects and objectives. By staying focused on the larger issues such as customer satisfaction, overall commitment to quality, and total regulatory compliance; we address the core fundamental reasons reflecting what Columbia Tech is all about and the traits that made Coghlin Companies an industry leader for more than 125 years. Production improvements, cost cutting exercises, and ongoing employee training would represent the next level of important things which support the larger objectives. Everything else is the sand that holds it all tight.

As for the two cans of beverage; in every project there is always room for a couple of cold ones at the end of another successful product launch for our loyal customers.

John Georgian
Quality Engineer

In his classic book “Crossing the Chasm” (Harper Collins, 1991), Geoffrey Moore discusses the challenges in bridging the gap between the early adopters of innovative technologies and the early majority. While visionary customers are generally receptive to a cool new technology and willing to take a risk on it, it requires a targeted marketing strategy to get the mainstream customers to adopt the new technology. This chasm represents a discontinuity in the product lifecycle and a transition from product to market oriented strategies. A similar chasm exists in the new product development process between lab-scale or bench-top Proof-of-Concept (POC) units and prototypes that are precursors to full-scale Production.

Early Stage Development
Most companies today follow some kind of stage-gate product development process from Discovery to Concept to Feasibility to Development to Pre-production and finally to full-scale Production. Start-up companies as well as R&D organizations within large companies are generally adept at utilizing their core competencies to evolve new ideas into tangible product concepts and building lab-scale units to demonstrate their feasibility.

The focus of early-stage development effort is to prove that the concept meets the target (scaled) performance specifications. In parallel, the Marketing team typically estimates a hockey-stick growth curve with an attractive Return on Investment (ROI). The implicit assumptions are that this product will penetrate the market at a given price point with a manufacturing cost structure that allows attractive margins. This enables the development team to get additional resources from investors or upper management to continue the product development project. Life is good……..so far.

The Development Chasm
Now the development team is challenged with evolving this POC into a manufacturable and cost-effective design and prototype that can be transferred to volume Production. This is a different type of development effort often requiring different skill sets and experience that is likely to be outside the core competence of the original development team. It may not be efficient or even possible or simply not professionally rewarding for the same team to continue the development all the way to Production.

This is the point at which good POCs can fall into the development chasm, unless there is a smooth transfer to a team that can focus on Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Cost Reduction to create the entire package comprising the total system and associated documentation that can be transitioned to volume production.

Consider the example of a typical thin-film deposition process used in semiconductor wafer manufacturing. The early stage development of a new deposition chamber for larger size wafers with improved uniformity and throughput, may involve a team of Ph.D.s doing computational fluid dynamics and testing the results on a flexible lab-scale system. Continuing this development to Production will involve a team of mechanical and electrical equipment design engineers to develop the individual sub-assemblies such as wafer transport, gas handling, deposition chamber, heater, exhaust and power distribution, as well as their integration into a robust system that meets performance, cost and schedule requirements. The engineers will also have to develop a complete documentation package that can be handed off to manufacturing.

DCI can help
The new team to bridge the development chasm is best made up of professionals both internal and external to the company. The benefits of an external partner such as DCI are:
• Certainty and speed: reduced time to market
• Access to a team with broad equipment design experience across multiple industries
• Leverage core strengths of the internal team across a larger, on-demand resource
• Reduced fixed costs
• Reduced risk
• Access to a global, quick-turn and cost-effective supply chain
• Seamless transition to contract manufacturing at Columbia Tech

The following are specific areas where DCI can help to successfully cross the development chasm:
1. Design for Manufacturability(DFM): Starting with the POC drawings and schematics, DCI engineers will develop alternative concepts for the mechanical and electrical sub-systems and their integration. DCI will jointly select the optimum concept with the client based on feasibility testing, risk assessment and manufacturability. To facilitate ease of assembly, careful attention is paid to manufacturing methods (poka-yoke), modular designs (standardized interfaces), design rules (tolerance stack-ups), materials of construction (metal vs. plastic), fixturing and tooling.
2. Design for Cost: A substantial portion of a product’s cost is determined by design decisions. Right from the Concept Phase, DCI will assess off-the-shelf commercial versus custom fabricated components and sub-systems and create a costed Bill of Materials (BOM). The BOM is refined through the Design phase with joint exploration of lower cost design alternatives. The Coghlin Companies maintain a Best in Class, tiered network of suppliers of commercial and custom parts to get the best price, delivery and quality.
3. System Integration: In the earlier example of the thin-film deposition process for semiconductor wafer manufacturing, the client’s IP is in the deposition chamber. However, to enable successful product development, DCI can assume responsibility for the design of the supporting sub-systems such as power distribution and gas handling and their integration with the deposition chamber.
4. Prototyping: DCI’s skilled engineering technicians can assemble alpha and beta prototype systems based on engineering-level documentation to enable field testing and get feedback to incorporate into an iterated design. This provides valuable validation of the new product with early adopters before product launch.
5. Documentation: A key deliverable from DCI is a complete documentation package that can be handed off to Columbia Tech for manufacturing. It includes the BOM, specifications, solid drawings of each sub-assembly, assembly drawings, electrical schematics, PCB Gerber files and cable drawings. It may also include operating procedures and test plan.
6. Change Management: Changes are inevitable in a development project and DCI can provide guidance on their trade-offs with schedule and cost. DCI’s rigorous Engineering Change Order (ECO) process maintains traceability of changes and ensures that all relevant documents are appropriately changed and manufacturing has the most up-to-date documents.
With DCI as a valued partner, client companies can successfully cross the chasm and develop a manufacturable and cost-effective design and prototype that can be transferred to volume Production.

Percy Chinoy
Director of Business and Customer Development

Well, the holidays are right around the corner! Where did the time go this year?? We’ve blogged in the past about how great the Coghlin Companies employees are…kind, compassionate, and caring.

Recently, the kind, compassionate, caring employees came through during a deeply troubling time for one of their own. A wonderful woman and her two children lost their husband/father to cancer a short time ago. While he fought a very hard battle to stay alive for his family, he ultimately lost. Sometimes we don’t know these people who touch our lives in some small way, and sometimes we do. It doesn’t matter. When one is hurting and in trouble, we come together. We don’t always need to know the person who is in trouble. We just need to be kind, compassionate and caring.

A few weeks ago the Coghlin Companies held a food drive to benefit the Pernet Family Health Services in Worcester. The food boxes put together by Pernet will go to the “poorest of the poor” in the Worcester Community. Whatever is left over will go into their pantry for future distribution. Also, for the next few weeks, we are holding a coat drive in conjunction with the Grafton Lions Club. Thanks to the kind, compassionate and caring Coghlin Companies associates, many people will have food on the table at Thanksgiving, and a warm coat for the cold winter nights.

Remember those in need during the holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We all know there are many distractions to perfection. Not only are we expected to ship a perfect product, we have the added pressure to continuously reduce cost. This is a fact of life and what keeps us competitive. Reducing costs, however, should never come at the price of Quality.

How do you reduce cost and not tarnish Quality? You must partner with suppliers that share your same commitment to quality or else all the effort you put forth into manufacturing a quality product goes out the window. You don’t want to find yourself anxiously awaiting the receipt of a part only to find that when it finally arrives, it doesn’t meet the specifications sending you into panic mode and a costly financial and/or reputational challenge. We understand that customers don’t care to hear excuses about poor quality or late delivery. They want what they want, when they want it! So sweat the details and get things right the first time!

Details, details, details. You must continually question “WHY”. Do not jump to the easy or the obvious as the solution. Most times that is only a symptom and not the real reason “why” or “root cause”. You might improve your process short term but you might not permanently correct a problem. Many times the solution is obtained by diving deeper into the details and asking “WHY” over and over. It has been shown that by the time you ask your 5TH “WHY” you are at the real cause and have a clear understanding of the details.

So get it right the first time and keep it right. Every company should Sweat the Details while setting a goal to literally WOW their customer with a positive experience. Work to create an experience that delights the customer far beyond their normal expectations. The “out-of-box experience” is as important – or more important – than the product itself.

Good luck and have a Quality Day.

Richard Schulman,
Vice President Quality

Working at a client services organization such as DCI is often exhilarating, sometimes exasperating, but always challenging. We wanted to explore creative analogues to the work environment at DCI and asked DCI employees to share their mental images of working at DCI. The following are three representative examples. Not surprisingly, the common themes were teamwork and a sense of accomplishment.

Professional Football
Every part of a pro football organization must play their role well to ensure success. It starts with the ownership, then the coaches, the players and right on down to the fans.
The team owners are like our customers. At the end of the day, they have the most to lose if we fail and the most to gain if we succeed. Ownership changes from time to time but it is their interests we must have in mind to guide our overall actions. Without customers, we don’t have a business.
The head coaches are best represented by our management staff. It is their guidance that must find a way to make our team work together as a whole, to put together successful drives when we need a score, or defend against other teams, i.e., our competitors. To “get a win” they must figure out a way for us to rise above our competition and do what is necessary to make our owners happy and our fans cheer; the fans being our potential customers.
Project Management can probably best be summed up by comparison to position coaches. They have to apply upper management’s vision to execute that game plan; each game being a separate project. It is their job to make sure they have the proper players in place to execute the game plan. Frequently, they are stuck between the interests of the owners, coaches and players.
Engineering would be best described as being the offensive/defensive skill positions such as quarterbacks, running backs, defensive backs, etc. Some take the ball and run with it, others go over the middle for a tough catch. The team has its stars but they can’t do it on their own.
The linemen are our technicians and support staff. They get the work done in the trenches – building machines, getting parts, collecting money and paying the bills. These players may not be as visible to our fans but their importance is paramount. They do the thankless work to keep things moving.
Our Sales force is the face of the organization to the public so they are the cheerleaders. Their job is to get the morale of the fans up and get them cheering. If they get our potential customers excited enough about our capabilities, they will want to be more involved with us and even want to become owners.
Many players in our organization play multiple positions so these comparisons can shift from player to player on any given day but the bottom line is that we are a team. No position is unimportant and every player has an opportunity to make a play. Success follows those who are aware enough on the field to recognize where they are, what role they play, and how their actions affect the team as a whole.
John Bettencourt
Mechanical Engineer, DCI

The Band
My idea of the DCI business model is remarkably similar to the band where I play the saxophone on weekends. Our ultimate goal is the same as DCI – customer satisfaction and the feeling of personal accomplishment.
Our band consists of people from all disciplines – an auto body mechanic, a senior manager for a large medical company, professional sales personnel and me. DCI consists of senior management, sales, engineers and of course the people that build the products every day.
We practice every week and discuss what potential and existing customers want to hear from us as a band. We all have input in the music selection and our approach to playing the chosen repertoire. At DCI there are weekly meetings to discuss and review customer requirements and all disciplines have input as to how the product should be designed and built. All suggestions are welcome, all inputs are important to build the very best product we can for our customers and achieve total customer satisfaction.
There are occasions when disagreements and tensions arise in the band but our intentions are always to be the best we can and deliver a top notch show for our customers. The same can occur at DCI but always with respect and on a professional level, to listen to all sides of the debate and realize that everyone has the same goals – personal satisfaction for a job well done and a happy customer.
In closing, both DCI and my band are about the people. No one person in DCI or the band can achieve the goals without all of us contributing. Both require dedicated team effort and the realization that the challenges we face are worth the effort. It is not easy but we can have fun and at the end of the day we can all look back and say thanks for the help and good job.
Vincent Provenzano
Director of Purchasing, DCI

Hiking trip
Working at DCI reminds me of a hiking trip. Good hikers always seek to improve their basic skills in map reading and first aid, and have the tools such as boots and gear that enable them to scale more challenging peaks. Similarly at DCI, the engineers learn the best practices in design tools and methodologies that enable them to solve the most challenging problems.
A successful hike requires good preparation and it starts with an understanding of the park regulations and planning what trail you are going to take, how long it is, the terrain, elevation and points of interest along the way. I am always hiking with friends and we divide up the tasks of procuring the food, updating our gear and carrying the food, water and gear between us. Similarly, a successful project starts with understanding the customer requirements for design and build, and developing a project plan that partitions the tasks among the available resources, and sets key milestones.
During the hike we follow our plan but make adjustments along the way if the trail is not what we expected or if we find a shorter path, or how we are doing on time if we decide to stay longer at one place. Similarly, execution is the key to success on a development project and we follow the plan but make modifications depending on challenges encountered in meeting the specifications or cost or schedule.
The hike ends with a feeling of satisfaction, some nice pictures and journal entry for future reference. At the end of the project, there is a feeling of accomplishment, once again, as we deliver the product and documentation to a happy customer.
Rich Strazdas
Software Engineer, DCI

Good Documentation Practices have been a hot topic in the medical device industry for a long time. It appears simple and straight forward but for some reason it remains a critical topic in the industry. I have seen it in Good Laboratory Practices (GLP’s), current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP’s), Good Clinical Practices (GCP’s) and the Quality System Regulation (QSR). It is a common theme….documentation that is illegible, not attributable, incomplete, inaccurate or backdated. The FDA has written 483’s, warning letters, and has taken official action against organizations as a result of poor documentation. Poor documentation has cost organizations millions of dollars and the real key to GDP is simply the ability to enable ”Document Reconstruction”. Document reconstruction is the single most important aspect of GDP. If your documents could stand on their own and tell a true and accurate story of what took place 10 or 20 year from now you are on the right track. I think they should call it Good Business Practices, because it is so critical to the success of any organization. The key principles that I like to remember about GDP are “ALCOA”…Attributable, Legible, Contemporaneous, Original and Accurate. These simple concepts can make a world of difference if you are trying to reconstruct any documentation that would allow you to make critical decisions. A former FDA investigator/reviewer once said to me ”Can you imagine what it would be like to have the responsibility to make a decision that could impact millions of people and all you have in front of you is documentation that someone created 5 to 10 years ago? How confident would you be if you could not clearly reconstruct the documentation?” Remember, your documents could play an important role in someone’s life.

By Scott Cook — Director of Quality and Compliance — Cogmedix