EMS@C-LEVEL
As Forbes, Entrepreneur, Fast Company and SCOOP writer, Philip Stoten, continues to talk to EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Services) executives he learns more about their individual and collective experiences and their expectations for their own businesses and for the entire electronic manufacturing industry.
EMS@C-LEVEL
Inside Quiptech with John Tobin: Leading with Innovation, Quality and Service
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Meet John Tobin, México Manager for Quiptech, as he shares insights on how their own "Made in Mexico" technology is not only winning prestigious awards but also creating local jobs and boosting the Mexican market. Hear about their cutting-edge microfine pitch stencil cleaning roll and the celebrated Stannol solder brand. John takes us through Quiptech's impressive journey from its roots in Ireland to its impactful expansions in Eastern Europe and México, showcasing how staying close to customers and offering exceptional service sets them apart globally.
John dives into the secrets behind Quiptech's outstanding customer support system, including their ISO 9000 certification and SAP system that streamline spare parts management. With an impressive team of service engineers across México and a centralized database, Quiptech ensures minimal machine downtime and maximum customer satisfaction. Learn how their focus on quality, performance, and automation not only meets but exceeds industry demands.
EMS@C-Level is hosted by global inspection leaders Koh Young (https://www.kohyoung.com) and Global Electronics Association (https://www.electronics.org)
You can see video versions of all of the EMS@C-Level pods on our YouTube playlist.
Hello, welcome to SMCA Guadalajara 2024. I'm on the booth at QuipTech and I'm joined by John Tobin. John, great to see you, always a pleasure to chat. First of all, congratulations. Your principals have picked up a couple of awards here. Start by telling me about those.
Speaker 2Well, the first one is our own brand, q-tech. We've won an award, a technology award, for a microfine pitch stencil cleaning roll which has been very successful in Europe for us and we've recently introduced it to the Mexico market and it's doing very well. And then the other one is a brand called Stanhall, a solder brand, and they've won two awards one for a new solder wire that they've developed and another one for a flux. So we're very proud of the brands that we represent and our own brands, our own role. It's actually made in Mexico and we have the official made in Mexico stamp from the Mexico government for our own role, so we're very proud of that yeah and I've got a bunch of operators and they're making the rolls every day and they're they're pushing me go and sell.
Speaker 2We need our jobs so it's great.
Speaker 1No, I think it's really interesting and I think it's part of the recognition that there are things in the market that you perhaps can't find from other people, but you can do a really good job of producing them yourself, and it speaks to how you've always operated, which has been incredibly close to customers and really understanding what they need, and that really sets you apart from a lot of your competitors.
Speaker 2Absolutely Well. You know we the history of QuipTech is. We expanded from Ireland. I'm from Ireland, as you know, you were never a guest.
Speaker 2So we expanded from Ireland to Eastern Europe in about 2000. And I was hired to come to Mexico in 2000. So at the time, you know, we were following Dell products and that just developed over the years. So, yeah, we've done a great job, finding innovative products, staying close to the customer, and now we've got a very arguably number one, or one of the biggest in Mexico and globally we're the only global distributor because we support all of Eastern Europe, yeah, and we also support, obviously, mexico. And when lines are transferring and that type of thing, it's great that we've got a global line card so we have the same conversation in Eastern Europe that we have in Mexico.
Speaker 1So it makes the whole transfer very, very simple and smooth. Yeah, you're adding a lot of value there and you're adding a lot of value in service and support, which is hugely important in the Mexican market. You know, to be able to get those service solutions out really quickly. That really, really, really helps you in the market.
Speaker 2Absolutely. Yeah, well, we're actually an ISO 9000 as well, so it's very important to have your systems, our company as well. We're a SAP, so how you manage your spare parts, it can be a tricky business managing your spare parts. You've got consigned stock and your own regular stock. So, yeah, you just have to be very professional in how you do things and have proper structures, and that all supports our customer.
Speaker 1Service engineers.
Speaker 2Maybe a few years ago we had a service engineer that knew one brand of machine in their head and then another guy would have another. More information is that? So we did a major project to pull all the information home and we have it in our own database now. So everybody. So we've got 15 service engineers all around Mexico yeah, and Tijuana Juarez, Reynosa, Queretaro and they all have access to our central database of information, which helps hugely to be efficient, because customer, they don't want their machines down and we want to fix them as quickly as possible.
Speaker 1Absolutely, and you're in a really interesting position. You know when, when I look at the market here in Mexico, because the customer they don't want their machines down and we want to fix them as quickly as possible Absolutely, and you're in a really interesting position. You know, when I look at the market here in Mexico, we're seeing a little bit of a hiatus in investment for capacity, but we're still seeing investment in quality, in performance, in automation, in basically just efficiency and doing a better job, and that plays really well to the kind of kit you're selling to people. Absolutely, you've had a good year as a result of that.
Speaker 2We have, yeah, we've had a very good year this year. We've got some interesting brands. One would be Magic Ray for pre-wave and post-wave inspection, 2d inspection, and with them we do some interesting conformal coating, conformal coating measuring with them. And this year we started working very well with a Portuguese company called iRaptor and they are a 4D oven profiler. So they're the first in the world to have a unit that measures vibration, which is very interesting, especially in through hole components. And you know, in our training we've you know he's demonstrated to us, you know this the oven, the reflow oven, might have a vibration in one of the zones and you can pinpoint it there straight away without you know.
Speaker 2You're saving hours of engineering time, and then we also have a new machine called WIT from Japan and it's, you know, in layman's terms you could call it an AOI for the AOIs. So it's Japanese. And we brought in Mickey, came from WIT and gave us a training and he's from Japan. And Mickey came from WIT and gave us a training and he's from Japan. And it was amazing how my engineers he was teaching us the whole Japanese concept of quality, About escapes and in the automotive world, recalls, and it was a real eye-opener to our engineers.
Speaker 1So this is how I promote this product.
Speaker 2It's about giving you know full, full quality and zero escapes and zero recalls. And you know it made sense to everybody. And then everybody, everybody knew.
Speaker 1And then you can see what the value proposition the value proposition is, and that makes a lot of sense. And you know, at the end of the day you've got to be. You've got to be clever in the way you service the market, but you've also got to be clever in the way you service the market, but you've also got to be clever in the way you pick principles. You've got to pick principles that add value to your portfolio but, more importantly, add value to your customers.
Speaker 1And that's what you've been doing for how long have you been here now? Well, we have to be selective you can't just pick anybody and throw it and see if that works.
Speaker 2I've been here. I came in 2001. I kind of forgot that I'm here. I've been here 22 years. They sent me for one year and I'm still here and loving Mexico and loving Guadalajara. I'm actually Honorary Consul for Ireland. I was appointed this year as well, so that's just to help relationships between Ireland and Mexico, and if any Irish need help, I can give them a hand as well.
Speaker 1Fantastic. Well, john. Congratulations on that, congratulations on the award and the continued growth, and we'll talk again soon.
Speaker 2Thank you, welcome to next month. Thank you, well done. Thank you.