Of tunnels and PCBs: why pride in workmanship is more than just a fuzzy notion.

WHAT DO A series of tunnels have in common with the printed circuit board industry? I didn't think they had anything in common until recently.

For those of us who live in the Boston area, there has been a huge brouhaha lately regarding a local tunnel project lovingly referred to as "The Big Dig." A brief background: The traffic flow through Boston, and in particular to the airport, had become so congested that the powers-that-be decided a new roadway system was needed. The plan incorporated the building of several tunnels under part of Boston and its harbors and tributaries. This construction project --the biggest ever in Massachusetts - was scheduled to take between 10 and 15 years to complete, and it bore a multibillion-dollar price tag. The project began in 1991 and was completed in 2004.

But the tunnels leak, and badly. One day this past September, all traffic had to be rerouted because of over four feet of water in one of the tunnels. This event prompted action in the form of engineering studies, which identified over 500 additional leaks, many of them major. Even worse, it appears that some of the engineering and construction firms involved in the project may have been aware of these leaks for quite some time, even years. Needless to say everyone is angry, frustrated and questioning how this could happen. Fingers are being pointed by all concerned, in attempts to assign or deny blame and to best position each party involved for the countless lawsuits forthcoming.

Naturally, the local newspapers and talk radio have been buzzing with comments from residents of this East Coast bastion of high-tech, world-class businesses. These observations from Main Street carry far past "The Big Dig" debacle to the way anything designed/fabricated/manufactured in America is perceived.

In one night of listening to a radio talk show, I heard eight different people call in and make comments like "this would never happen in Japan or China" and "if only the workers and engineers had the pride in what they do that Americans used to have." The same message was shared in print media as well.

One electrical engineer called a talk radio program and agreed that the tunnel problems were caused primarily by a lack of pride 'in workmanship. Then he declared that he wouldn't buy any electronic items or automobiles produced in America, because the manufacturers' lack of pride is so rampant and their products' quality" is so poor. That stopped me cold.

While the political folk are looking for someone to blame and the civil engineering consultants are rationalizing the results, the citizens are developing some interesting judgements that we in the manufacturing sector should keep in mind. Could "The Big Dig" snafu be a microcosm of a more significant problem facing America? Is there anything we as an industry can learn from this construction project? Maybe in our rationalization of how to compete in a global economy we are missing some important trends that are, regardless of industry served or technology offered, universal.

Let's take another look at "The Big Dig." First, it appears that engineering (design) may have cut some corners. Second, communication among all concerned looks to have been minimal and ineffective; the transfer of data from one engineering firm to another appears to have been dropped continually. And finally, the workmanship appears to have been driven less to deliver the highest quality but rather to meet deadline pressures.

Our industry faces the same pressures, doesn't it? Designers are being pushed to keep up with the market demand for "faster, better and more." Each component of the supply chain is obsessed with its individual piece of the puzzle, not how the puzzle will look when completed. And finally, in a quest to stay competitive, too many cut back on process time, material quality and workforce skill development so they can deliver faster and cheaper.

Yes, the economy will become more competitive and Boston's tunnels will be fixed. But what about customers' lost confidence, not to mention the waste? Handling the balance between quality, service and delivery that separates a world-class company from the rest. How many times can you afford to re-spin designs because of faulty workmanship? How much scrap is generated because department A does not talk to department B? How many customers look to foreign suppliers not simply because of price but because of quality?

Which brings me back to a sobering thought for the new year. The next time a Boston construction project comes along, I bet that foreign companies win contracts for major parts of the project. Based on current performance, the next time a big electronics project comes along, bow many of our customers are going to place major orders with foreign suppliers?

PETER BIGELOW is president and CEO of IMI (www.imipcb.com). He can be reached at [e-mail].