Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) Message Board

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Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT)

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To: Cary Salsberg who wrote (10369)	6/13/2004 2:18:02 PM
From: Gottfried	Read Replies (2) of 25522

Cary, you'll find the following from the interview of interest... In the wake of the recession, how have your operations changed? We're managing this upturn differently. We have record employee productivity this quarter. Typically companies in this industry chase the upturn by hiring people and adding facilities when demand heats up. We're trying not to do that. Instead, we're pushing for 10% to 15% productivity gains every year and will only add people and resources beyond that level. It's more of an ongoing, steady management style. How will you get these gains? We decided our goal was to cut the through-put time -- from order to when the equipment starts up in our customer's factory. This is all dead time, with no value from the customer's point of view. We went in and looked at the time for every process, from how we take an order, to our manufacturing lines and how we install the machines. For example, our engineers reoriented the components in the work area so they could be assembled more easily. What are the results? In the same manufacturing space that we used in 2000, we can make twice as many tools. Back in 2000, at the last peak of business, it took over 300 days from order to startup. Today it's 150. We think we can get it to 100. Faster production prevents overcapacity from developing. With shorter lead times, you're more sure about the capacity you need to add. So we order the right amount of components and cut the amount of undelivered finished goods.<

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