CY24 Business Newsletter Volume 3_English Version

03

SHANGHAI OUTLOOK

July 2024

ISSUE 3 OF 6

CONNECTION AS ONE MOLEX,

COLLABORATION FOR TRANSFORMATION!

CONTENTS

PRINCIPLE BASED MANAGEMENT

PBM Workshop Highlights

07-08

 "Five Dimensions" Introduction & Application

05-06

New PBM Learning Tool "AskFred"

04

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Shanghai Fusion PD Project Updates

09

OpEx Model Project Updates

10

Internal Use Only

Front-Line Supervisor Development Program

11

CCS Talent Exchange Program

13

Shanghai SBM Team Introduction

14

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

Supervisor Development Program Ⅳ

12

PLANT DYNAMICS

16-17

"One Molex" Visiting Ⅲ

Internal Use Only

CY24 Q1 Employee Communication Meeting

18

MXSH CY23 Results Award

19

Molex Shanghai "Safety Month" Activity

20-21

Planning Team: Inventory Reduction Program

22

Plating Team: Material Improvement Program

23

Quality Team: Improve Product Yields Project

24

Molding Team: MM Series Bubble Improvement

25

INTERACTION WITH READERS

Award-winning Quiz

26

27

Call For Articles

June - July Long Service Award

15

Shanghai Outlook

Shanghai Outlook

04

PRINCIPLE BASED MANAGEMENT

New PBM Learning Tool "AskFred"

By: HR Team

Shanghai Outlook

The application of AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology is showing a rapid development trend. AI technology can not only automate repetitive tasks but also translate different languages in real-time, maintain high accuracy in processing data and executing tasks, reduce human errors, etc. Full utilization of AI technology can significantly improve efficiency and contribute to the achievement of higher business goals!

 

The PBM team has created a virtual coach - Fred, by utilizing AI to improve employees' understanding and application of PBM through the AskFred platform. At June’s Town Hall Meeting, Bryn Wiley, Global Human Resources Senior VP , also actively recommended AskFred to colleagues to learn and apply the culture of PBM!

What are the main functions that AskFred can achieve?

• Provide guidance and examples on how to apply PBM to your role

• Answer questions about PBM concepts

• Offer links to additional PBM resources

• Role-play conversations

We've heard that many of our colleagues are actively experimenting with this new technology for PBM. For example, Mr.Lin from Shanghai plant is currently writing his "RR&E", unsure of what "Comparative Advantage" is and how it can lead to long-term success for the team. Let's see Fred's conversation with Lin!

Fred tells us that defining "Comparative Advantage" involves identifying the areas where you or your team members can contribute the most value relative to others. 

By aligning these factors, you can understand your comparative advantage for the long-term success of your team and company!

AskFred is much more than that. You can try to communicate with Fred according to your own needs! Also Fred's material library is constantly being updated, so it's always new. Come and try it!

05

PRINCIPLE BASED MANAGEMENT

 "Five Dimensions" Introduction & Application

By: Ye Lei & Lu Yun

Our Company has always been committed to principle-based management and to empowering our employees and organizations to achieve long-term success by delivering superior value to others. In PBM's culture, the relationship between the "Five Dimensions" is synergistic, and each dimension reinforces and influences the others.

🎤 "Five Dimensions" Application Case Sharing by Assembly Team

Assembly’s SSB6 PLUG equipment was introduced from Japan with very high precision. In April 2024, the 32# equipment was rattling, and after the engineer's investigation, the main trouble was found to be the failure of the spindle screw linkage bearing. The whole carousel unit needed to be dismantled to solve the issue. However, since the equipment was made in Japan, the Shanghai plant had not dismantled this equipment completely, so our B6 team analyzed the scenario together and solved the issue by applying "Five Dimensions".

To better understand the application of the "Five Dimensions" in practice, let's look at a case in the Assembly team that demonstrates how the "Five Dimensions" can be applied to achieve organizational goal, enhance employee competencies, and drive continuous improvement and growth.

Shanghai Outlook

06

PRINCIPLE BASED MANAGEMENT

👉Vision: With the shared vision, Assembly Team pooled collective wisdom and insights to ensure the successful replacement of parts and troubleshooting of SSB6 PLUG equipment, improving work efficiency, improving the overall technical level, as well as enhancing the collaboration of the team.

 

👉Virtue and Talents: To achieve this goal, we have set up a project team, which not only includes the ME and maintenance team, but also invites the technical experts of the Japanese team, who are always motivated by contributing to creating a harmonious working environment, and work hard to research and help each other in disassembling and assembling of heavy equipment.

 

👉Knowledge: After careful study of the WI guidebook by the team, as well as utilizing the network resources and based on the practical experience of the engineers and technicians of the WI team, we decided to disassemble and assemble the mold by ourselves.

 

👉Comparative Advantage: Due to the heavy mold components, complex structure, and limited equipment space, all the colleagues have made full use of their comparative advantages:

😊Matsuzaki San, Japanese colleague, utilized his language advantage and mastery of Japanese-made machines to provide professional advice to the maintenance team.

😊Wang Haixiang, Assembly engineer, has rich experience in the maintenance of SSB6 PLUG, providing correct guidance on difficult challenges.

Colleagues from the rest of the project team also actively cooperated with them in disassembling and assembling of the equipment.

 

👉Motivation: The whole project took 4 working days in total. During this period, all the colleagues of SSB6 PLUG project team worked together, supported each other, and moved on; we also achieved self-actualization and accumulated rich knowledge and experience after overcoming new challenges.

07

PRINCIPLE BASED MANAGEMENT

PBM Workshop Highlights

By: Molex Shanghai Employees

From May to June, there were 10 PBM workshops (ME-4, Production-3, Quality-2, PD-1), on topics such as "Change Paradigms", "Contribution Motivated", "RR&E", "Challenge", etc. We invited some of the participants to share their insights and positive impacts on their work and life after attending the PBM workshop:

ME PBM Workshop

Facilitator: Chai Yang Chen

The topic of the ME's Q2 2024 PBM workshop is “ RR&E”, and I am honored to participate as a facilitator to share and discuss with all of the participants.

 

The first "R” in RR&E stands for "Role", the specific role an individual plays on the team; the second “ R” stands for “ Responsibility”, the responsibilities that come with that role; The “ E” stands for “ Expectation”, the expectations for performance and behavior.

Through the discussion of “Writing RR&E’s Challenge” and the real case of “A Process Engineer’s RR&E”, we can develop a deeper understanding and thinking; specifically, we can consider the following aspects when writing our RR&E: First of all, use Focusing on the individual like our endowment, skills, interests and development opportunities; then, according to the vision and goals of our company and the team, combined with the endowment and skills of our colleagues, and discussing with our supervisor, confirm our responsibilities and work priorities through the principle of comparative advantage; finally, effectively use your own talents and demonstrate entrepreneurship to maximize your contribution through the principle of value creation.

RR&E is designed to increase efficiency and productivity by making everyone aware of their expectations, it also enhances accountability as everyone has a better understanding of their responsibilities and can be held accountable for their performance; RR&E also promotes better teamwork as it optimizes roles based on the comparative strengths of each team member.

Shanghai Outlook

Shanghai Outlook

08

PRINCIPLE BASED MANAGEMENT

Quality PBM Workshop

Participant: Summer Cheng

Production PBM Workshop

Participant: Yang Zhi Ming

 

Challenge is closely related to our daily work, and we usually use the principle of challenge in our work. We discuss with the team some hard-to-overcome issues in the process of leading the project, seek common ground while reserving differences, and do not cling to traditional ideas and practices, and the difficult issues in the project will be solved.

 

This reminds me of an issue in the 1.0 BTB project I was responsible for in the process of development, debugging, and automated assembly of a new product, we found a dimension overshooting, and we all searched for all kinds of factors, measured a lot of dimensions, and wondered if the tolerances were improperly defined, and it was impossible to reach +/- 0.05. After many discussions and verifications, and based on the most previous experience in the Model Shop, we boldly made a change to the mold design of the shell, enabling the assembly dimensions to meet the tolerances.

 

By understanding and utilizing Comparative Advantage, our teams can allocate decision-making power to those who have the greatest expertise or contribution in a particular area, thus ensuring that decisions are made by those who are most capable of making them, and thus producing more effective and efficient results.

 

09

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Shanghai Fusion PD Project Updates

By: Fusion PD Project Team

The Fusion PD Digital Transformation project required the launch of two new systems, i.e. PLM's Teamcenter system and ALM's Polarion system. of which the Polarion system was officially launched in CCS in April. Both PM and PD teams in Shanghai have started to create and update projects in Polarion system, and in within the past three months, everyone is getting familiar with the new system, which helps them to work efficiently. In this issue, we invite David Shi from PM and Leo Wu from PD to share their experiences with Polarion system.

In the past few months, I have started to use Polarion system and have created and managed VOCs for several projects. I have come to realize the great advantages it has in improving work efficiency and management. First of all, the system centralizes the personnel of all departments in our company on a unified platform, which makes the flow of information smoother and avoids the untimely transmission as well as the omission of information.

 

Furthermore, the automation capabilities of the Polarion system greatly reduce the time and error rate of manual operations. For example, when submitting VOCs and assigning tasks, the system automatically links to the default approver and automatically sends email notifications. If the approver does not approve or review the task in time, the system will also send regular emails to follow up, which not only improves work efficiency, but also ensures timely responses. In addition, the system also offers a visual status interface, which makes the status of each task very clear and easy to understand.

 

Overall, Polarion system has not only optimized the company’s business processes, but also improved the overall management level. The implementation of Polarion has enabled us to operate more efficiently, reduce resource wastage and improve customer satisfaction. I believe that as we continue to use the system in depth, our business processes will be smoother and more efficient.

Tips from David Shi (PM Team)

Tips from Leo Wu (PD Team）

As an advanced requirements management tool, Polarion provides us with a comprehensive requirements management platform. We can clearly define, organize and track all requirements. More than just helping our development team, it also ensures that every requirement is properly understood and realized throughout the entire product lifecycle.

 

The visual management tools provided by Polarion enable us to better plan and manage our projects. Through these tools, we can more intuitively control the project progress and the relevance of work items, such as how many Voices we have created, how many of those Voices have been reviewed, how many of those Voices have been refined into Requirements, and which test items have been converted from those Requirements.

 

Polarion also provides us with a real-time collaborative environment where team members on the same project can access and edit project documents at the same time. Through discussion and commenting features, we can solve issues and share insights on a unified platform. This approach to collaboration reduces communication friction and improves the overall efficiency of the team.

 

Polarion's Test Case Management feature allows us to systematically define, execute and track test projects, which not only ensures the quality of our products, but also makes us more efficient in identifying and solving issues.

10

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

OpEx Model Project Updates

By: OpEx Team

With the full deployment of MOS and M&O, the Digital Transformation Project has been gradually integrated into the daily innovation activities of the Operations Excellence team, which is also an important step in the value creation brought by organizational change. Only through continuous change can we make progress, and we need to face every change bravely to move towards a brighter future. The Operations Excellence team has launched three change activities in May and June in an intense and orderly manner: TOP, Site Huddle meeting upgrade & Green Belt training.

The TOP Project achieved the great results of Round 8 and the launch of the new project in Round 9 in June. More than 70 department representatives attended this meeting, which covered three main sessions: PBM sharing, project summary and commendation, new project introduction and commitment letter signing. In the past six years since the implementation of TOP Project, we have completed 8 rounds of cross-level and team improvement projects, totaling 67 projects.

 

The Round 9 projects integrate the five dimensions of the PBM culture in the preparatory stage, utilizing this framework to better achieve business goals.

🔺TOP（Transform Ourselves, Take Off, Project）

🔺Site Huddle 

Standardized operations and embracing change are also fully reflected in the Site Huddle, where the production department used to review the operating hours, KPIs, and health, but has changed to functional departments review the department's performance with the production department on a Monday-to-Friday basis, and if KPIs affecting production are not being met, action cards are created to follow up on them, so that problems can be adequately solved. The whole system is centered on production, and any factors affecting production can be tracked promptly so that daily management can be brought to a new level!

🔺Green Belt Training

To cultivate talents with organizational and statistical diagnostic skills, Molex Shanghai has organized a GB training since mid-June, with a total of 19 participants from production and functional departments. The participants were required to carry out projects in order to internalize the contents of the training, and after the certification, they were further expected to consolidate their knowledge by conducting two more projects, to make better use of the contents they had learned.

 

Six Sigma is a logical, systematic approach to solving issues and improving workflows through DMAIC; Six Sigma can also help organizations reduce waste by learning how to optimize workflows, improve efficiency, and reduce unnecessary costs, which will enable organizations to make better use of their resources and improve profitability.

11

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

Supervisor Development Program Ⅳ

By: Jolin Zhou

Paradigm refers to a way of thinking that we follow when dealing with issues and exploring knowledge, which influences our perspectives, approaches and beliefs. More and more company managers and supervisors have begun to wonder in recent years whether we need to change these paradigms in order to cope with increasingly complex challenges.

 

On the afternoon of June 2, we met with 20 supervisors for a sharing session on Changing Paradigm, which is the fifth of its type in a series of supervisor development sessions. The internal instructors for this topic were Kim Yang and Jason Fu from the Quality Department. Through vivid and very localized life stories and practical cases, they explored the topic with the supervisors step by step and went deeper into the learning process.

👉 First, we need to identify the current paradigm, that is, understand the existing mental models and why they exist.

 

👉 Then, we need to actively communicate the need for change and propose new concepts, that is, new ideas and principles that support the desired paradigm. It is particularly important to encourage open discussion from time to time in our day-to-day work and to try to create an environment in which team members feel safe and comfortable to express their ideas. Then, we must provide timely and appropriate training and materials to help team members understand and adopt the new paradigm.

 

👉 Last but not least, it is important for supervisors to “lead by example”, demonstrating the new paradigm through their behaviors and decisions. Changing the paradigm of thinking in a team calls for some methods and processes which should be gradual. This is all part of the development of PBM's culture, so let's continue to learn, explore, and combine what we learn with what we do.

As supervisors, how do they apply knowledge gained from the different forms of learning? When we asked the supervisors, they shared many ideas and feedback on the program. 

Shanghai Outlook

12

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

Front-Line Supervisor Development Program

By: Jason Fu

The strategy of CY24 Molex emphasizes the importance of talent and culture development, and based on the survey feedback from the ongoing Supervisor Development Series in Q3 2023, it has been suggested that we focus on building the capacity of front-line supervisors in the application of PBM and providing learning opportunities to help supervisors achieve success. Therefore, the management team and the PBM consulting team joined hands to launch the “ Front-Line Supervisor Development Program”, which was first tried out at the Shanghai plant. The program is designed to help supervisors improve their PBM coaching skills and assist them in developing coaching methods that work for them as well as for the front-line supervisors, thereby ultimately improving the ability of the front-line supervisors in their teams to understand PBM and to better apply PBM in their daily work. The program team plans to share the results of the trial with other Molex plants in order to help more plants to develop their front-line supervisors' ability to apply PBM.

 

Based on Shanghai‘s business strategy and focus areas, the program team selected three key PBM topics for the trial after many brainstorming sessions and discussions, with each topic lasting about 1-2 months. From May to June, we have completed the first topic“Principle-Based Vs. Rule-Based”and will start the second topic “Understanding Employees and Building Trust”in mid-July.

Session 1: "Principle-Based" vs. "Rule-Based" Topic Review

13

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

CCS Talent Exchange Program

By:  Fukuyama Hiroki

At the beginning of 2023, under the guidance of GOC vision and One Molex operation model, the company aims to promote global talent skill enhancement and provide a better platform for self-fulfillment, through the talent exchange program, to improve the professional skills and management ability of employees, and strengthen the company's ability to innovate and adapt to market changes, and also contribute to the transmission of culture.

 

In May, Molex Shanghai Stamping Department welcomed the talent from the Kagoshima plant. Let's get to know what this senior Japanese Molex employee who has more than 20 years of working experience through his self-introduction!

After the front-line supervisors had internalized what they had learned, they then provided corresponding thematic coaching for the Cell Leader in their departments with sufficient preparation and learning in the early stage. The ability of the supervisors had improved greatly. In the later review meeting, the Cell Leaders of each department expressed unanimous favorable comments.

I have been working in Molex for 23 years, and I have experience in experience in the production of mold parts and press dies from production to mass production. Aligning with the “ One Molex” mindset, I have had the opportunity to share my technical experience with various plants and gain new knowledge and skills. In particular, I have been able to learn many new stamping techniques at the Shanghai plant, and I am very grateful for the continued support of my colleagues in Shanghai!

 

The experience of working in China has been challenging, but also full of opportunities and rewards. I am getting used to life in Shanghai, and when I return to Japan in the future, I will share what I have seen and learned with my Japanese coworkers and make progress together.

 

Both China and Japan have rich history and cultural traditions, and although there are challenges in learning foreign languages, I am doing my best to learn Chinese, focus on rolling out new stamping dies, as well as being contribute-motivated with the members of Molex Shanghai.

 

I have three children, and although I cannot take care of them in Japan now, I am constantly striving to do my best in Shanghai for the future of my family! Thank you for your kind attention and let's continue to work together in the future!

Shanghai Outlook

14

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

Shanghai SBM Team Introduction

By: SBM Team

SBM (Supplier Base Management) is the process of strategically managing supplier relationships, ensure that supplier selection, evaluation, risk management and performance can meet company’s requirement and the compliance. The SBM team works on various aspects of supplier management, including business negotiation, risk assessment, quality management, information logging, auditing and supplier self-assessment, as well as continuous monitoring and controlling to ensure the supply chain’s stability and efficiency.

 

Hansen Zhou, the Senior Manager of the SBM team, who is assigned as the Single Contact Window between all suppliers and Molex Shanghai. He is responsible for all business procurement-related matters. Strong Liu is in charge of supplier development and management of suppliers who produce metal and plastic materials; Stephen Yin is in charge of outsourcing and supplier management for all parts, also including the outsourcing needs from production departments; Luo Jingtao is in charge of the finish goods subcontracts and supplier management; Kevin Luo is responsible for the supplier development and management work of Kunshan factory. The main functions of the SBM team department are as follows: We will uphold the PBM culture and put all our beliefs into action to create great achievements.

We will uphold the PBM culture and put all our beliefs into action to create great achievements.

The SBM team often convenes the experts from different departments and fields, to have meeting with suppliers on the discussion of product cost improvement , production efficiency and capacity increasement, such as the familiar cost control methods VA / VE (Value Analysis and Value Engineering). Final goal is to achieve cost reduction. In January 2024, we were faced with a difficult case regarding a molding-SD Card project and its tooling transfer. At the time, Molex's molding department was facing layout renovation that required all machines to be moved 90 degrees, to dispose of some old machines. And the molding department was also looking for suppliers who can take over some low utilization projects. After the team's efforts in negotiating, the supplier finally agreed to take this project while saving costs and also helping the molding department to solve the re-planning challenge.

In terms of the cost, delivery, quality, technology, and contract signing, SBM team will organize cross function team together of purchasing, planning, quality, technology and other departments to score the performance of suppliers. If some suppliers’ score is below the SBM team's target, the team will assist the suppliers to provide improvement reports, and urge the suppliers to complete them on time, as well as require the suppliers to sign the contract and update it. At the beginning of each year, the SBM team will work with the supplier quality management team to develop an annual audit of core suppliers and conduct on-site audits according to the plan. It will also take into account some of the more important new product development projects, such as process audits of key projects.

15

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

June - July Long Service Award

By: Yin Xiao Mei & Dixon Li 

Molex Shanghai Long Service Award is a certification of professionalism, down-to-earthness, hard work and excellence, recognizing the efforts of our employees and their outstanding achievements!

We are honored to announce our May-June 2024 Molex Long Service Awards, with 18 horned employees.

We invited two of our employees as the representatives of the award winners to share their experience of working in Molex Shanghai.

AQP

PD

From 2004 to 2024, is not only an affirmation of me but also a recognition of my hard work. I witnessed 20 years of changes in the company, which filled my heart with gratitude and touches!

 

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the company for providing me with such an excellent working environment and development platform. When I first joined the company, I worked as an inspector in the molding department, and I was confused when I faced various complex measuring tools, precise product drawings, and numerous products. Then I became a qualified QC by asking for advice from experienced masters, participating in training, as well as continuous self-study and practice, which made me realize that any difficulty is an opportunity for growth, and every time I overcome a difficulty, I will find myself becoming stronger and more confident!

My 20 years in Molex Shanghai Design Center is a journey of skill transformation from youthfulness to mastery, and it is also a process of practicing the deep understanding of “Craftsmanship, Connecting to the Future”. I have witnessed the rapid technological changes in the industry and also experienced every leap from concept to market.

 

Achievements often come with setbacks. I still remember that during the development of SSD products, although the functions of the products met Apple's strict requirements, the production yield rate was too low to meet a large number of customer demands. To solve this issue within a short period, I worked with all departments to optimize the structure of the product, improve the precision of the molding and stamping parts, simplify the assembly process, and finally solved the issue within two weeks, which was finally recognized by the customer.

Such as product transfer (in-plant to out-plant), product price maintenance, etc., each department will flexibly manage the requirements base their actual production capacity and decide when need outsourcing. And the SBM team will try the best to find suitable suppliers meet the requirement with the best production capacity and the most competitive price. 

(China Balancing, alternative supplier development and maintenance.) SBM is not only responsible for developing suppliers, but also managing and controlling the risk of existing suppliers. Every year, SBM will select some suppliers and invite third-party auditing companies to carry out all-around risk assessment on some key suppliers, conduct on-site audits at the suppliers' offices to comprehensively understand their capability and risk, put forward the findings of the audit, and require the suppliers to complete the corrective actions in the stipulated time limit.

After that, with the transformation of the company and the continuous development of the business, I grew from a front-line employee to an assistant of the AQP department through efforts. With the assistance of the departmental manager and colleagues, I have been constantly challenging myself by attempting to explore brand-new fields. I also actively improved my business ability, I started to work as a QN coordinator for customer complaints, actively coordinating and matching the resources of customer complaints and internal engineers, and exposed to the Calibration system, and trained for all kinds of instrument calibration qualification. I have been actively improving my ability both internally and externally, constantly challenging and trying the impossible!

Throughout this journey, I firmly believe that no matter what kind of challenges I encounter, as long as I maintain positive attitudes and the spirit of continuous learning, I will be able to overcome them, as mentioned in PBM: to be a lifelong learner. I will continue to meet new challenges and opportunities with Molex family!

I learned how to find opportunities in challenges and pursue excellence in detail at Molex. Every design optimization and every new product is a vivid interpretation of our mission of “ Connecting the World, Delivering Value”. I am very proud that I can put my wisdom and efforts into this cause and contribute to building a smarter and more connected world. Looking to the future, I will continue to work hard with full enthusiasm and a more determined pace in Molex, and create a better future together with my team.

16

PLANT DYNAMICS

By: HR Team

"One Molex" Visiting Ⅲ

Aligning with the GOC vision, more and more "One Molex" knowledge sharing and visiting are taking place among Molex divisions and plants. The Shanghai team has become one of the popular sites to host such sharing sessions due to our comparative advantages and successful transformation experience, and employees from Shanghai plant visited other plants for exchange and learning.

On the evening of June 25th, Molex 2023 CEO HighPerformance Awards and Molex Fellows Banquet was held in Shanghai. 40 Asian winners from China, Japan, Korea, India and Vietnam came to attend this event.

 

Our 2023 CEO High Performance Award recipients have each made unique contributions to Molex. From transforming how we optimize mold cycle times to collaborating with one of our customers on an innovative drug delivery device, this year’s recipients represent the comparative advantages of our diverse team.

One year later, Joe Nelligan, CEO of Molex, led the Global Leadership Team to visit Molex Shanghai again on June 25th. The leadership team not only went to the shopfloors to learn more about the production status of the plant, but also listened to Shanghai management team on the performance of the plant, digital transformation, manufacturing engineering capabilities, and talent development over the past year.

What's more, Joe and the leadership team held a face-to-face meeting with all office staff during the visit. In addition to share the

recent business status and trend of Molex, Joe congratulated the Shanghai team on winning the 2023 Best in Class Award. And GLT members responded to employee questions Profitable Growth and Investment, Innovation and Transformation, and Talent and Culture.

Molex CEO Joe Nelligan, SVP & President of GOC JH Lee, SVP & President of CCS Brain Hauge, and Senior VP of Global HR Bryn Wiley led the global management team to welcome the award recipients. Joe introduced the outstanding stories of the high-performing teams and individuals and presented them with their trophies. The Mirror Mezz Innovative Manufacturing Team from Shanghai plant was also honored for their contribution to “ Innovation and Transformation”.

 

On that night, not only the winners were proud of their outstanding performance, but the Shanghai plant, as the co-organizer of this event, was also honored to be able to participate in this glorious moment.

17

PLANT DYNAMICS

Laura Kezar, Change Management Leader from the MyHR Global Implementation Team, visited the Shanghai plant on June 27th, 2024

 

During the visit, Laura toured the production line of our plant to gain a deeper understanding of the plant's operation model and core products, as well as to share with the plant's management representatives and the HR team in Shanghai the important progress of the projects related to the HR systems (including the attendance system, Kronos, the payroll system, ADP, and the MyHR system, etc.), and to discuss the expectations of the HR systems and the operation model with the team.

Mr. Takeuchi Ryotaro, Director of R&D Engineering, visited Shanghai Plant from June 12th to 14th, 2024 for a three-day visit, including Mini Townhall, business strategy discussion, and customer communication.

Another important agenda of the visit was to participate in the CCS Shanghai PD Cross-Regional Collaboration Workshop, which aimed to address the bottlenecks and pain points faced by the team and to explore the application of some basic principles of PBM to improve cross-regional collaboration. 

From June 26th to 27th, Tomasz Kania, Plant Manager of Katowice, Poland, visited Shanghai and Kunshan plants. Under the One Molex concept, which aims to promote further exchanges and cooperation between the two parties and to jointly promote the development of the company, the important agenda of this visit included:

Through this visit and sharing, we had an in-depth discussion with TK on plant management, technological innovation as well as other aspects. In the future, we will continue to strengthen communication and cooperation, learn from each other, improve together, and create greater value for the company.

Some of the key initiatives to improve cross-regional collaboration were identified, including improving English expression, knowledge sharing, respecting each other, etc. The MSBU PD department consists of Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Indian colleagues, and strengthening the department's PBM learning and integrating it with their daily work can better enhance One Molex collaboration, aiming at self-fulfillment and better accomplishing the business goals.

1. New project progress and specific action plan;

2. Shanghai plant tour, operation capability, and organization structure introduction;

3. Lean management best practice sharing;

4. HR strategy data sharing;

5. Kunshan plant visit, operation capability, and organization structure introduction;

6. Volvo project update.

The leadership team expressed that although only one year has passed, they have witnessed significant results from Shanghai team in terms of digital capabilities, talent development, organizational change, and layout; and that the Shanghai team is to be highly commended for its efforts to overcome business headwinds and improve revenue. We believe that the leadership team’s recognition and encouragement to Shanghai team will encourage us to continue to move forward towards the goal of “Connection as One Molex, Collaboration for Transformation”.

18

PLANT DYNAMICS

MXSH CY23 Results Award

By: HR Team

In mid-summer, after nearly two months of nomination and discussion, Molex Shanghai has selected those partners who have excellent performance in their work in 2023 to be our role models! They interpreted the meaning of “excellence” with practical actions, not only having excellent business ability but also outstanding quality and charm.

A total of 6 outstanding employees and 5 outstanding teams stood out in this selection. They actively interpreted the five dimensions of PBM culture, including "Contribution Motivated", "Self-realization", “entrepreneurship", etc., and contributed their strength to the overall development of the company. Click on the picture above to learn more about the award-winning employees and teams. During the town hall meeting held on June 20th, Molex Shanghai the management team representatives awarded the winners, and all the colleagues who attended the meeting also witnessed this glorious moment!

 

We would like to congratulate the winners again and hope that they will continue “Connection as One Molex, Collaboration for Transformation”, and create a brilliant future!

19

PLANT DYNAMICS

Molex Shanghai has always been committed to creating effective two-way communication between the company and its employees, hoping that the employees can better understand the company's business status and make efforts to realize the vision of the company.

With the support of our colleagues, the CY24 Q1 Employee Communication Meeting was successfully held! Molex Shanghai organized three DL employee communication meetings and one office employee communication meeting from June 18th to 22nd.

By: HR Team

CY24 Q1 Employee Communication Meeting

👉Operations Director KH Park, Production Manager Loucts Zhang、Murphy Miao、Robin Wu shared the CY24 Q1 business updates as the management representatives;

👉Jason Fu, John Xu, and Grace Guo from Quality team reviewed the plant's CY24 Q1 quality-related data and zero-defect activity follow-up program;

👉EHS Manager Jerry Li shared the plant's safety related data and safety Month activities preview;

👉HR team introduced the progress of “PBM Shout-Out" campaign and presented awards to the winners of MXSH CY23 Results Award.

👉KH Park, Operations Director, and Samuel Cai, Finance Manager of Molex Shanghai plant presented the plant business Updates;

👉Nicolas Zhang, Fusion PD Project Leader, and Mojo Zhu, Operational Excellence Manager, shared the progress of the digitalization projects in the plant;

👉Jason Fu, Manufacturing Quality Manager, reviewed the 2024 Q1 plant's quality related data and zero-defect activity follow-up program;

👉HR Team presented the "MXSH CY23 Results Award" on the spot, and representatives of the management of Molex Shanghai presented the awards to the winning employees.

Shanghai Outlook

Shanghai Outlook

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PLANT DYNAMICS

Molex Shanghai "Safety Month" Activity

By: Richard Yu

This June is the 23rd Safe Production Month. The topic of this year's Safe Production Month is “Everyone is Concerned About Safety, Everyone Knows Emergency Response - Smooth the Life Channel”. During the month, the Shanghai plant launched the first session of Safety Month Activity. The topic of this activity is “My Safety, My Responsibility”, and the activity mainly has the following contents:

1. Safety Month Activity Opening Warm-up Activity 

We were honored to invite CCS VP Julia Huang and Operation Director KH Park to give a speech for the opening of Safe Production Month, and also interviewed colleagues from the production department about their thoughts on safety, which was broadcast in the canteen for a week to increase the participation and safety awareness of all colleagues.

We invited the members of Molex Management Team: Joe Nelligan, JH Lee, Brian Hauge, Bryn Wiley, Julia Huang, KH Park and 479 colleagues to sign their names on the board “My Safety, My Responsibility” to enhance the awareness of responsibility. Everyone has a stake in production safety and should play an active part in it and take responsibility for it.

We specially arranged a roadshow car to make a two-day demonstration in our company. There was plenty of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on the car, and many colleagues tried different models of PPE under the premise of meeting the protection requirements, and put forward their own suggestions for more comfortable and more close-fitting PPE. There was also a VR experience area on the roadshow car, where colleagues can experience a fire scene and a fall from height by wearing glasses, which realistically simulate the limited vision during a fire as well as how to extinguish and escape from a fire under the weak light.

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PLANT DYNAMICS

At 14:30 on June 13th, Molex Shanghai held an emergency fire drill for all employees and explained the use of fire extinguishers, CPR and AED at the emergency meeting point of the office building and production building. A total of 572 participants took part in this evacuation drill. All colleagues and suppliers escaped in time and gathered at the outdoor emergency meeting point for head counting.

We invited doctor of Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, to our company to give lectures on sleep disorders and TCM health care for the undiseased. During the lectures, the atmosphere was enthusiastic, and the teaching of Baduanjin was conducted practically by hand, and the importance of sleep and the dangers of insomnia were shared, so that the health quality of all of us could be better improved. In the final session of answering questions and taking pulse, all colleagues enthusiastically participated and it was easy to see that everyone attached great importance to their health.

A total of 29 colleagues have found some potential safety hazards in their work and proposed corresponding solutions through their own safety awareness. In fact, behind one accident in the workplace, there will be 29 first-aid accidents and 300 attempted accidents. We should always keep safety in mind and report any hidden risks in time to avoid more serious consequences.

Safety is inseparable from us, and we can't work without the escort of safety. Every colleague has a different opinion about safety, and we have selected some representative replies from numerous replies as the results of this WeChat collection activity.

Through this "Safety Month" activity with the topic of "My Safety, My Responsibility", the company has carried out activities at multiple levels, angles and forms to make the awareness of "Eliminate Hidden Accidents and Build a Safe Defense" deepen in every employee's mind. The series of activities have implemented the preventive measures for all employees to cope with emergencies, and also improved their ability to respond to and deal with safety emergencies. These activities further enhanced the awareness of employees at all levels of eliminating potential accidents and building a solid safety defense, really mastered the basic methods of risk and hidden danger investigation and prevention in daily work, improved their ability to resist and cope with emergencies, and laid a solid foundation for promoting the stability of safety and production, and achieved the expected effect.

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PLANT DYNAMICS

Planning Team: Inventory Reduction Program

By: Annie Liu

DSI (Days Of Inventory) is an important management objective in the daily operation of enterprises. At the end of 2022, with the business sharp declined in global performance, Shanghai plant took rapid response to reduce inventory with target E2E (End-to-End) DSI dropped from 115 days to 74 days. This goal is extremely challenging, because we are facing the diversification of products, complex types, raw material MOQ, long lead time and transportation. How could we achieve this goal with series problems?

Mater Planner, Procurement, and PIC had a roundtable discussion about how inventory is actually the result of a mismatch between demand and supply, and implemented measures in a collaborative manner:

 

First of all, starting from demand, Mater Planner analyzed the customer's forecasts and communicated the abnormal parts with PM (Product Manager) to ensure the relative accuracy of the demand. For slow moving inventory, worked with Supply Chain Hub and Inventory Planning Team to re-allocation and so to achieve the purpose of re-sale.

 

Secondly, PIC as the core of inventory management, locks in the monthly and weekly plan in the time dimension, of which 20% of production capacity/space is used for schedule adjustment and order insertion. Tack the production progress every day to avoid vicious cycle such as mismatch of procurement material, production shortage, and frequent adjustment of plans due to the huge difference in plan execution. Any plan adjustment should be connected with Purchasing team in a time manner to ensure the maximum consumption of the month's feeding.

 

Procurement as raw material supply, balance demand, delivery lead time and MOQ, etc. to make supply plan meet stable production and reduce plan changes due to supply issues. Coordinated with suppliers in case of abnormal production and order insertion, and increased the frequency of purchasing for products with high value and storage space to avoid the risk of inventory backlog caused by the changes in demand.

In addition, we hold weekly meetings to carry out communication and analysis of demand, planning and supply, which not only to reduce DSI, but also to require a high IQR (inventory quality ratio) to analyze take timely measures for products that do not meet the standard.

 

During the process, each team played their roles, made full use of their comparative advantages, and worked together. They not only successfully completed the goals, but also achieved great results: E2E DSI exceeded the target, finally set at 68 days, and cost savings of 1.3 million dollars, which won first place among all CCS plants!

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PLANT DYNAMICS

Plating Team: MateriaI Improvement Program

By: Ding Jia

Since the implementation of TOP improvement project, Molex Shanghai plating team has been continuously focusing on the effective improvement of product yield and production efficiency.

 

Recently, the production team found out that the scrap of joints due to the change of raw materials in the production process was high, resulting in an increase in workload. The plating team brainstormed and researched a solution: to reduce the scrap of joints and improve the efficiency of the staff by using a large disk in the receiving and discharging machine (the diameter of the disk has been upgraded from 600 mm to 800 mm to increase the quantity of materials to be received in a single disk).

 

After understanding the situation, the plating maintenance team took the initiative to communicate with frontline operators and analyze the on-site equipment and found that the existing equipment could no longer meet the needs of production. The team redesigned a new ergonomic discharging machine according to the new needs, which effectively reduced joint scrap and improved production efficiency

• Horizontal arrangement of large trays;

• Downward shifting of the height of the loading hanging tray to facilitate the operator's loading operation;

• Changed the position of the control panel to make it easier for the operator to discharge the material;

• Joint scrap decreased by about 30%.

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PLANT DYNAMICS

Quality Team: Improve product yields project

By: Yang Hai Kuan

The theme of Molex Shanghai in CY24-- “Connection as One Molex, Collaboration for Transformation” is also the team spirit in our daily work, the team can be a cross-functional team in a region or located in different countries. In past two quarters, it happened that I participated in a program which including a multinational team of Chinese, American, Japanese, Malaysian, Korean, and Indian staff, we worked together to solve a plating peeling off issue during spinning process.

 

The issue originated from the mass production of the CCS product CST Floating base in Molex Malaysia plant, more than 10% were defective with peeling off issue when riveting the floating base. After analyzing we found that the issue was caused by the silver electroplating process at Molex DSS Jiangsu supplier. Since there is no silver electroplating expert in CCS Malaysia plant and the quality staff is far away from Jiangsu in China, CCS Shanghai plant utilized its comparative advantage and the concept of “One Molex” to form a team with the participation of the local supplier quality management staff and Korean electroplating expert to analyze the defective products and work together to solve the issue. We visited the electroplating site to identify process risks and built samples, held regular meetings with at DSS Jiangsu plant, CCS Malaysia quality, and the US. Product manager, in order to simulate the improvement process, the team added product engineering staff from India to provide simulation analysis. The product defect rate was reduced from about 13% to around 0.2% by end of this May, meanwhile the traceability and parameters range were optimized through design of experiments (DOE). As of early July, DOE 2# had validated 7,000 pc and achieved zero peeling defects, just for this one product, it saved about $110K base on a half-year’s consumption.

Such knowledge sharing and multi-national collaboration can help us solve some cross-regional supply issues with lower cost and faster time, it truly embodies the concept of “Connection As One Molex”, let's continue to build on it and make new achievements!

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PLANT DYNAMICS

Molding Team: MM Series Bubble Improvement

By: Leo Li

There exist many kinds of issues from the development of MM series products to the production process, such as bubbles, damage, mold sticking, trimming and other abnormalities, of which the bubble issue is the most serious, resulting in a high rate of 0.92% of the scrap rate, scrap amount of more than 12,000 U.S. dollars. In view of the above issues, let's first understand the principle of Molding and production process:

 

Molding is a commonly used plastic processing method, by injecting melted plastic into the mold, and get the desired plastic parts after cooling and curing. In the Molding process, there are four important elements that need to be noted, which are referred to as the four elements of molding : injection mold, plastic materials, Molding machinery, process parameters. The process parameters have five elements: pressure, speed, time, temperature, position.

 

In general terms: we need enough temperature to melt the raw material, and then use the appropriate pressure and speed at a specific time to fill the raw material into the various positions of the mold. After introducing the principle of Molding we decided to solve the bubble issue first.

 

We analyzed and ruled out in accordance with the four elements of molding :

A representative case is: 2174632001 Corner bubbles.

 

We carried out 5why analysis according to the four elements of Molding to verify one by one to rule out the suspicion of raw material/machine/process.

 

Finally, we optimized the mold structure and solved the corner bubble issue, reducing the rate of defects from 80% to 0%.

 

Our efforts have been rewarded by the improvement and optimization of the bubble issue: from 25.45K pieces scrapped in 2021, accounting for 0.92% of total production, decreased year by year to only 0.272K pieces in 2024, accounting for 0.017% of total production.

Raw material: The LCP 1730 material we are using now features ultra-high fluidity and low warpage performance. Note: Ultra-high fluidity poses a great challenge to the exhaustion of the mold.

Machinery: After repeated verification and production practice, we fixed the tonnage of the machine and the size of the barrel screw, regular cleaning of the nozzle and screw barrel, to solve the problem of excessive viscosity of raw materials caused by the adhesion of carbonization at high temperatures caused by the flow of raw materials in the flow process of cracking to produce bubbles.

Process: We optimized the process according to the characteristics of the product structure, accurate control of the process parameters acting on the data of each section of the product, to exclude bubbles caused by process issues.

Mold: We need a smooth enough exhaust design for the ultra-high fluidity of the raw material to solve the bubbles generated by the high-temperature reflow of the raw material after the gas is blocked in the cavity during the filling process.

• Shanghai Outlook / Award-winning Quiz •

What is included in the Five Dimensions framework?

What are the main functions that AskFred can achive?

What are four important elements to be aware of in the Molding process, which are referred to as the four elements of molding ?

Corner

Award-winning Quiz

Which principle of PBM was incorporated in the preparation of the Round 9 TOP program when preparing for the program?

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Editorial Team Introduction:

Final Reviewer: Lucy Li

Editor: Rachel Zhang

Editor：Julia Lu