Lumitex’s Secret to Operational Excellence with Craig Shields

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We focus a lot on lean manufacturing,
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datadriven quality controls, robust
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training, supply chain optimization. Um,
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I think all of those things kind of
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collectively drive high operational
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efficiency.
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Welcome to Beyond the Light, a podcast
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where we explore the stories,
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innovations, and people driving the
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future of medical lighting and
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technology. I'm your host, Lindseay
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Jenovic. Today, I'm joined by Craig
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Shields, Chief Operating Officer at
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Lumatesex. Hi, Craig. Thanks for
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joining. Hi, Lindsay.
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With over 30 years of experience in
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operations and supply chain management
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and a six lean six sigma black belt,
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Craig has already made a big impact. He
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joined the team. He's been crucial to
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driving operational excellence here at
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Lumatex. In this episode, we'll talk
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about how Lumatex ensures efficiency and
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quality in manufacturing, how we
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maintain reliability in our global
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supply chain, and the ways that
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innovation is shaping our operation to
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better serve our customers. Let's dig
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in. Craig, I know how important
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operational efficiency is in
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manufacturing. Can you talk about how
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Lumatex ensures a high level of
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efficiency and quality in production and
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maybe also touch on what advantages that
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offers to our customers?
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Sure, Lindsay. Um, you know, I would I
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would say, you know, we focus a lot on
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lean manufacturing, datadriven quality
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controls, robust training, supply chain
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optimization. Um, I think all of those
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things kind of collectively drive high
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operational efficiency. you know this
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this definitely um translates into the
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reliable high quality products that we
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have predictable delivery schedules you
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know strong compliance assurance um you
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know all of that kind of ensuring
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patient safety regulatory trust and uh
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kind of overall product competitiveness
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yeah absolutely it's got to be
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challenging managing a global supply
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chain for such highly specialized
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components
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how how do you maintain reliability in
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our supply chain
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yeah it's pretty complex um you know
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it's not it's not one thing. Um, you
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know, it's a it's a it's a it's a
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multi-layering kind of strategy solution
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if you like. Um, but I think also it's
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really important to try to keep things
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simple. Um, you know, timeliness,
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quality, cost, you know, essentially
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that's, you know, that's what we're
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that's what we're all about. So, you
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know, for us, we focus an awful lot on
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supplier selection. You know, we use
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supplier audits, supplier performance
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monitoring. you know, we obviously use
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a, you know, use a lot of um, you know,
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incoming inspection protocols um to make
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sure that materials and components that
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we receive are, you know, the quality
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that we expect. And then certainly, I
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would say, you know, sound inventory and
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logistics practices. You know, a lot of
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communication, um, you know, with
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vendors and suppliers. Um, you know, all
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of that kind of ensures that, you know,
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the components and materials that, you
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know, that we're ordering are delivered
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on time and meet all of the quality
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standards that we're looking for.
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Yeah. On-time delivery, I imagine is
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probably one of the tougher things,
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especially in times of challenging
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situations. Are there any strategies
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that you think are really effective with
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on-time delivery?
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Depends which end of the supply chain
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you're talking about. So, you know, on
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on time, on-time delivery from vendors.
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Um, again, it's been very it's been very
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smart around uh your purchasing
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protocols, your, you know, making sure
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you're up to date with lead times from
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vendors, you know, making sure you've
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got good relationships with, uh, you
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know, with your vendors is really what's
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important. Um, you know, utilizing
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everything that you can just to make
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sure things are delivered on time. You
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know, on the other end of the spectrum,
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um, you know, delivering to customers,
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it really is about ensuring you've got
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that drum beat within, you know, the
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production environment. Make sure
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everybody knows what the numbers are.
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what are we trying to achieve? You know,
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I'm a big believer in visual management,
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big believer that everybody knows what
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we're trying to achieve today, this
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week, this month, and uh, you know,
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making sure that all of that is in place
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makes us really successful. We're very
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good at meeting the plans because we all
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know what the plan is.
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That transparency.
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Yeah.
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Yeah. Absolutely. Great. I'd like to
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shift gears towards innovation.
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In what ways would you say that you're
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innovating within our operations and
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manufacturing?
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Sure. So um probably two different
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probably two different areas. Um I think
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one area that uh from the operations
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side partnering with our engineering
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team is really really important upfront.
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So when you think about new product
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development, you know, we have a really
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important role to play. When we think
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about DFX, so design for manufacturing,
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design for assembly, we have a really
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important part to play in that. Making
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sure that as we're developing new
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products, we're thinking about these
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things so that when we get out of the
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gate with new products, uh we can scale
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fast and we can scale reliably. Those
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things are are really important. I think
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we're doing a really good job now of
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looking into the future pipeline,
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thinking about those things as well as
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looking down the pipeline and thinking
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about again scalability, automation
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opportunities, you know, those types of
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things are really important for us. Um,
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and then again internally, you know,
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innovation really is around those few
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things of incorporating lean principles,
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using Kaizen, how do we drive efficiency
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in that kind of way. Um and then I
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always say you know we've got we've got
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a lot of very talented and engaged
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people here at Lumatex at all levels in
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the organization. So we get a lot of
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feedback um you know directly from the
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production line you know from lots of
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other people and that gives us lots of
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ideas on how we can improve things kind
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of continuously and that's super duper
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important with everything uh that we're
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doing and then I'm also really excited
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to see how uh you know how AI will play
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a part for us in the future. I think
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process flow automation um you know that
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that just as one piece is going to be
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really important for us in the future.
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Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. I've always
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said we have some of the most passionate
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employees.
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Yep, we do.
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Yeah, I I always really enjoy kind of
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walking the floor every day and you know
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people will always stop me and they'll
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always share with me what's going well
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and what isn't and you know those those
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things are always you know they're
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always welcome and those things are
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always really important there. I always
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say there's no nobody knows how to fix
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what we're doing or how to improve what
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we're doing um better than the people
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who are doing the job. And so that's
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where we should get a lot of our ideas
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from and we do. Um and that's that's
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part of what makes us uh you know very
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successful.
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That's great. Craig, I've worked with
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you closely enough to see times that
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you've had to adapt really quickly. Are
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there any process improvements that
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you've implemented to solve those
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operational challenges that happen on
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the fly? I think strategies that I've
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implemented, I don't know. I think it's
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just a way of working, you know. I think
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we try to um we try to make sure that
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we're all really clear on what it is
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that we're trying to do um and who's
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responsible for what. We're very clear
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on roles and responsibilities. Um you
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know, we have a lot of structure around
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the work that we we execute. I think
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that allows us then the freedom, if you
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like, to adapt when things come up. um
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because it's not um we're not we're not
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chasing things every single day. You
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know, we're pretty clear on what it is
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that we're trying to that we're trying
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to get done. So, when when things occur,
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it's knowing who are the right people to
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help. Um it's it's asking for help. Um
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you know, when things when things come
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up that I think uh is also really
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important. Um, you know, we're very good
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at getting the right people together
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quickly, understanding what the what the
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situation is, and then coming up with a
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game plan for for solving, whether
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that's something immediate or something
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next week or next month. You know, we're
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very good at organizing ourselves to do
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that. But again, that comes from having
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a lot of standard work in place, having
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a lot of standard processes in place
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that mean 99% of what we think we're
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going to do is what we do.
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Yeah, absolutely. Well, Craig, thank you
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so much for joining me today and sharing
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your perspective on what it takes to
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build operational excellence in
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manufacturing. Your insights into how
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Lumatex continues to innovate and
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strengthen operations were incredibly
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valuable. Thank you.
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Thank you, Lindsay.
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And to our viewers, thank you for
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listening. If you enjoyed this
7:59
conversation, be sure to follow Beyond
8:01
the Light for more stories from the
8:03
people driving the future of medical
8:06
lighting and technology. And until next
8:08
time, keep pushing boundaries and keep
8:10
improving life with light.
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[Music]