Customer satisfaction drives business success: participants of the 2002 SEAs for equipment and software suppliers allowed their customers to judge their performance--and reaped the benefits.

The Service Excellence Awards (SEAs) for Electronics Assembly Equipment and Software Suppliers is the only awards program that honors companies in the electronics assembly and software industry for excelling in the critical area of customer service. This year is the second year for this awards program, co-sponsored by Technology Forecasters, Inc. (TFI, Alameda, CA) and Circuits Assembly (CA, Atlanta, GA). The program offers an opportunity for assembly and software suppliers to see how they compare to their peers in customer satisfaction, and for companies to evaluate their current and future suppliers.

The Contest

Sixteen companies participated in the electronics assembly equipment and software suppliers awards program. Each signed up to learn what customers thought about their products and services. Customer interviews, conducted by TFI, provided near-verbatim feedback to participating companies, allowing them to quickly target areas for improvement and to respond immediately to customer concerns. The Service Excellence Awards provide peer comparisons by having customers rate their provider on a 5-point scale: 5--superior; 3--standard; and 1--poor.

TFI interviewed seven customers, chosen by the participating company, for each software supplier. Fifteen customers, chosen by the participating company, were interviewed for assembly equipment suppliers. The participants are rated in five service areas: dependability; ease of use; responsiveness; technology; and value for price.

The competing equipment companies were categorized by five categories: dispensing; pick and place; repair and rework; screen printing; and test and inspection. An award was presented to the company in each equipment category that demonstrated top-quality customer service throughout all five categories. The winners for each category are listed in Table 1.

Software companies were divided into two groups-supply chain management software and manufacturing software. One award was given in each category, and winners are listed in Table 2.

This year's winners were honored at an awards ceremony and luncheon held during the APEX show in San Diego, CA, on January 23, 2002. Representatives from each winning company were present to receive their awards.

Not Your Average Award

Being judged by your customers, and evaluated against peers, can be slightly unsettling, but the process is a great way to make a statement about commitment to customers. Winning an award may be a primary goal, but each participant--whether or not they received an award--can apply the results of customer interviews to implement changes to improve relationships with those customers. Essentially, both participants and their customers greatly benefit from feedback received through the award program process.

Some participants were very confident about their chances of winning. Others have been making preparations year round. All participants entered as a way to benchmark their performance and exhibited enthusiasm and conviction that excellence in customer satisfaction helps drive their business.

Jeff Mirliss, customer service manager of phoenix|x-ray Systems + Services Inc. and winner of the test and inspection equipment category, explained that, "It's gratifying to know that, of the list of customers provided, none of them had advance warning that [TFI] would be contacting them. The feedback from the interview was invaluable to us--gave us honest insight and showed that our philosophy is working exceptionally well. Other award programs do not necessarily measure performance through customer satisfaction--which really is the key. The [SEAs] do that, and our goal is to return as a repeat winner!"

Many winning companies see the program as a way to validate their company's performance. Gary Ovick, director of customer support at Assembleon and winner of the pick and place equipment category, says, "Being a second time winner, the award reflects continuity in our commitment to customer satisfaction in one of the industry's best years--and one of its worst. As with last year, we will continue to use the feedback provided to us by our customers to pursue further improvement in customer satisfaction."

Giving Back to the Industry

A donation of $10,000.00 was made on the participants' behalf to the SMTA's (Minneapolis, MN) Charles Hutchins Educational Grant. Part of each participant's entry fee was included in the donation.

TABLE 1: The 2002 Electronics Assembly Equipment Supplier
award winners. Each company is rated using the following 5-point
scale: 5--superior; 3--standard; and 1--poor.

Equipment
Function              Company                        Rating

Dispensing            Precision Valve & Automation   4.7
Pick and Place        Assembleon                     4.59
Repair and Rework     GenRad, Inc. (noe Teradyne)    3.78
Screen Printing       EKRA America, Inc.             4.56
Test and Inspection   phoenixlx-ray Systems +        4.45
                      Services, Inc.

TABLE 2: The 2002 Software Supplier award winners. Each
company is rated using the following 5-point scale: 5--superior;
3--standard; and 1--poor.

Software Function         Company Rating         Rating

Supply Chain Management   Agile Software Corp.   4.43
  Software
Manufacturing Software    Aegis Industrial       4.63
                          Software Corp.

Narith Yos is a market analyst and program manager for Technology Forecasters, Inc., Alameda, CA; e-mail: [e-mail].