Women Who Wow: Cristina Chaidez May Be Using Lean Six Sigma in Unconventional Ways, but She’s Setting a New Standard for Manufacturers
Want operational excellence throughout your manufacturing value chain? Apply value engineering methods to back-office operations, too, Cristina says. (That’s how she’s helped automotive and telecom manufacturers drive award-winning improvements.)
Even though I’ve worked for tech manufacturers almost my entire career, many people assume I was always in the back office in product strategy and management. But I spent six years on the frontline – on the production line – early in my career, and I was often the only woman on the line. That’s because manufacturing doesn’t tend to be a career many women jump feet first into.
Though grand efforts have been made to inspire girls to pursue STEM careers, only 30% of today’s manufacturing workforce is comprised of women, and only one in four manufacturing leaders is a woman! (Believe it or not, these numbers are huge improvements compared to my days in the factory.)
So, you can imagine how excited I get when I meet another woman who not only works in manufacturing but who actively pursued a career in manufacturing out of college because it was her passion.
My guest on the latest episode of Women Who Wow, Cristina Chaidez, especially fascinates me because she has made her mark in manufacturing both on the frontline and behind the scenes. She has used the knowledge she gained working on the shop floor for General Motors (GM) and other automotive industry manufacturers to lead process engineering and value engineering teams that drive operational excellence across all aspects of other manufacturing operations. She has especially made her mark at Zebra, working fiercely with a global team – and within our supplier and partner ecosystem – to identify ways we can optimize our manufacturing processes and, even more importantly, our supply chain business processes.
Tune in now to find out more about the somewhat untraditional ways Cristina is using Lean Six Sigma to help teams make people, process, and technology adjustments that reduce waste, inefficiency, and process variation.
- What it was really like working on an automotive manufacturing line as a process engineer.
- The parallels between automotive and electronics manufacturing – and the most pronounced differences.
- How she uses Kaizen to drive process improvements and ensure alignment with the process flow across various business functions.
- How she has convinced people to make her recommended changes (because there is almost always resistance to change).
- The tangible impact of a recent Kaizen her team led to understand and improve the full process flow from demand planning and procurement to fulfillment.
- The business processes that she is working to improve across Zebra in 2024.
- The Industry 4.0 initiative she led that landed her the 2023 Women MAKE Award, a prestigious award from The Manufacturing Institute.
Listen now then meet other "Women Who Wow" by checking out past podcast episodes:
“Can’t is a Cuss Word.” I Swear.
You know those people who seem to do it all – and succeed in everything they do? That’s Jenny Krummenacher. She is consistently cheery, no matter how much she has on her plate or how many challenges are thrown her way, and Julie Johnson, Zebra's Vice President and General Manager, Mobile Computing, has always wondered if she’s like that all the time or just at work. That's why she invited her to be her guest on the latest episode of the "Women Who Wow" podcast series. Julie wanted to find out how Jenny has managed to repeatedly prove the impossible possible. Hear what she learned.
Find out how Zebra’s Chief Accounting Officer sustained a high-tempo, full-time career while raising four kids without burning out or missing a beat.
In second grade, Jenna Stanley thought she wanted to be a lawyer. In college, she studied economics and psychology. Today, she runs a multi-million-dollar Services and Customer Success business for a Fortune 1000 company. Find out why she veered in so many different directions (and how her big moves paid off).
Carrie Plater wears many hats as a corporate lawyer – possibly more than most people realize. Find out what type of interesting requests she receives on a “normal” day and learn how she wows us both in the mediation room and the break room.
In a new podcast series, Julie Johnson introduces you to the “Women Who Wow” her every day, including Jane Dennis. Find out how she built a rapport as a trusted advisor in tech after selling encyclopedias for 20 years.
Julie Johnson
Julie Johnson has been a global technology business leader for almost 30 years, creating growth and value in product lines and new market segments for the consumer electronics, enterprise, and Fintech/payment markets. She has combined an awareness of customer needs and technology proficiency with passion and recognized leadership, delivering growth in highly competitive markets.
Currently, as Vice President & General Manager of Zebra Technologies’ $2.1B Mobile Computing business, Julie creates and delivers Android and Windows hardware, software, and cloud-based SaaS solutions to retail, field mobility, warehouse, healthcare, and government channels globally, providing visibility and intelligent collaboration across enterprise employees. She is developing robotics automation, computer vision and augmented reality solutions for warehouse, retail, and field mobility customers.
Julie has a successful track record of creating innovative product solutions that meet customer needs, prevailing over tough competitors. As Corporate Vice President of Product Management at Google, she led the Droid Android mobile phone product line, winning exclusive, volume-based contracts with Verizon Wireless to provide their entire Droid product line, competing against leading Asian competitors. As Corporate Vice President of Product Management at Lenovo, Julie owned a global P&L of up to $5B, surpassing Samsung’s market share in South America, launching a new line of devices to meet market needs and launching the first device with an unbreakable display, winning top smartphone in 2012 Consumer’s Report. Julie spent 9 years of her career at Motorola in manufacturing operations, running factories in a fast-growth, rapidly changing technology environment, understanding the need to vastly lower operating costs while maintaining flexibility and investing for future enablers.
As Director, Julie currently serves on the board of Lumentum (NASDAQ: LITE), a global leader in optical communications and 3D sensing for facial recognition, and Superconductor Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCON), a technology leader in the provision of high temperature superconducting materials and related technologies. Julie’s strategic insight, experience in global product, technology, and commercialization, and pragmatic execution skills have had positive impact in Lumentum’s development of their 3D sensing market and the development of STI’s superconducting wire business to date.
Her distinctive expertise is in market segment expansion and product line growth, helping companies develop market strategies, create product solution roadmaps, and prioritize M&A vs. organic investments. Having worked in every global market, she understands the financial conflict between differing market needs and diverse product lines. She is a passionate, collaborative team player who strives to create value.
Julie earned a Master of Science in Business Administration degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Science Degree in Materials Science & Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has a Bachelor degree in Math and Physics from Albion College.
