Over the past 16 years, Elexon Electronics has pioneered several highly innovative and commercially successful products for a variety of industries including mining, pathology, automotive and, most recently, defense.
Elexon’s key difference is its ability to design, develop, prototype, test and manufacture complex electronic products in-house, from high-precision custom printed circuit board (PCB) assembly to software and final assembly.
In recent years, Elexon has been on a journey to gain a foothold in Australia’s defence sector. Frank Faller, CEO of Elexon, explained that rather than moving manufacturing overseas, government support helped to significantly increase Elexon’s design, prototyping and manufacturing capability, with a strong focus on Industry 4.0 interconnection.
To become a valued Defense supplierElexon had to ensure that its operations exceeded industry standards.
Following engagement with the Defence Industry Capability Centre (CDIC), Elexon received government support for its cybersecurity management standards facilities, ISO 14001 and AS 9100D.
Successful implementation of ISO 14001 environmental management standards and AS 9100D aerospace quality standards required Elexon to upgrade its physical and cyber security to protect the intellectual property of both Elexon and its trusted defence partners.
“We decided to continue manufacturing because it is our core competency. We see the value of having engineers sitting next to their products while they are being manufactured,” Faller said.
“There are four main pillars that have been critical to our initial success in becoming defense-ready: improvements in cybersecurity, quality and management systems, upgrades to manufacturing and development equipment, and upskilling of the team.”
Faller, who has an impressive track record in electronics manufacturing and has previously worked with Siemens and Bosch, knows all too well that quality people are needed to make technology work. Faller has brought his own experience in agile and efficient process transformation to overcome the limits of Elexon’s standards and processes.
“When I joined Elexon after working in large organisations, I was very impressed by how the company lived and breathed quality,” he said.
“Ten years ago, this small company implemented serial number tracking on all of its products, not because it was a customer requirement, but because it was recognized as a way to capture product lifecycle data and continuously improve.”
With the first three “pillars” of Elexon’s defense readiness plan in place, the company is working tirelessly to improve the skills of its team. Faller explained that the company already has the “toys” — such as amazing traceability software systems — well established, so it is focused on finding better methods to make the most of its access to powerful technology.
“All of this would not work without a highly trained and motivated team. I believe that training always helps to motivate the team,” Faller said.
“We are implementing lean manufacturing principles and applying an agile approach. Project management is another crucial factor in defence.”
Elexon recently received government funding through Skilling Australia’s Grants for Defence Industry (SADI) program, which aims to support the training of its staff in preparation for larger-scale defence projects. The SADI program provides grants to businesses over three years to help them develop defence sector skills and human resource training practices and schemes, thereby reducing barriers for SMEs.
Alex Teoh has joined the initiative to be a key part of Elexon’s progress. Teoh, who began his career as an industrial engineer, has decades of experience as a consultant on Lean and Agile transformation interventions, business improvement and operational excellence implementation initiatives for SMEs and organisations around the world.
Teoh teaches and coaches world-class operational excellence practices, performance measurement, and continuous improvement programs for all businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies. As a certified Shingo Institute facilitator, he actively teaches principle-based improvement and cultural transformation through the Shingo Model.
In April last year, Teoh officially began working with Elexon, starting with simple onboarding sessions with staff and the management team. He explained that the training process must be done before implementation.
“In the initial phase, it is important to establish a training base,” he said. “We trained four Elexon members in green belt programs, while the rest of the staff received white belt level training. This lays the groundwork for future work because everyone speaks the same language and has some initial experience in making small improvements.”
Frank Faller and Alex Teoh have formed a dynamic partnership to strengthen Elexon’s Defence offering.
Starting in August, Elexon contacted Teoh to carry out the actual tasks: diagnostics, value chain mapping (VSM) workshops and identifying the changes needed for the most important projects. Since the beginning of this year, Elexon has moved into a third phase, which Teoh calls “implementation support.”
“Implementation support is what we do really well compared to others – providing real on-site support to ensure the right outcomes are achieved,” Teoh said.
“Other programs I’ve seen are like a driving school that teaches the rules of the road but then asks people to drive on a highway the first time they get behind the wheel.”
A practical example of Elexon’s continuous improvement is its visual management systems: the company needs a communication system that can assimilate information that changes very quickly. Teoh implemented an agile operating system with a Scrum board that will be used across all departments as a project management tool to help visualize backlog items and work progress.
“The Scrum board helps prioritize tasks clearly and facilitates communication between departments,” he said. “Everyone realizes what is important on-site, so there is no confusion about priorities.”
Frank Faller explained how Teoh helped Elexon become more efficient, noting that the meetings the company holds are much more productive and efficient now.
“Agile is something we have in common in management and departmental meetings,” Faller said. “We are also seeing how people have adopted the methodology. Alex planted the seed and put a lot of water on it, and now it is growing. The scrumboard is an example of an initiative that has yielded very good results.”
Elexon takes a Lean manufacturing approach, but applies it across its entire business, not just manufacturing operations.
“It all depends on the entire team. We invest a lot in developing our team so that it has a solid foundation of communication. It is important to give feedback to all team members so that we are all moving in the same direction. We separate the need for short-term actions and long-term visions; both are essential to be on the same page,” he said.
Faller outlined Elexon’s ambitions for the rest of 2023 and beyond. Elexon has intellectual property that will be extremely useful for defense projects, so the company is looking to leverage its expertise to make the most of it.
“Our goal, in particular, is to become a reliable and trustworthy partner in the defence sector, starting with the manufacturing sector,” he added. “We want to demonstrate that we are a major player in the defence sector, which will open the doors for us to develop products needed in the defence market.
“We would like to be part of the global supply chain for some of these premium products, which means we will serve both the export and Australian markets.
“This kind of growth can only be achieved if you always deliver on your promises in terms of time and quality. That’s why we need our lean processes and project management in place to cope with rapidly changing situations.”
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