Our People
Eddie Martinez
March 2018
Project Planner
San Jose, CA
Eddie’s title does not define him. At any given time, you might find him in his cubicle scheduling and processing production orders, or in the warehouse, helping to receive, kit, package, and ship, and even deliver product to Valin customers. He pitches in to help Manufacturing when burdened with several large orders. For rush orders, he comes in to help on weekends and he will go into the field to help with installations as needed.
As we work to improve the speed and responsiveness of our engineered systems, Eddie has proven himself as a leader in generating ideas for improvement, and in executing them.
- Eddie conceived and executed an arrangement with our pallet manufacturer to define "standard" oversize pallets, along with a process internally to quote pallets BEFORE building an assembly. Prior to this initiative, pallets were an afterthought and had to be designed, quoted and ordered after an assembly was complete. Eddie worked with engineering to get profiles defined up-front for assemblies so that pallets are ready and waiting when the assemblies are completed (and some built on pallets), which saves time, reduces lead time, and eliminates the last-minute emergencies.
- Eddie took on the lead role in CRM implementation for the planner group, which is part of a key digital initiative for Valin.
- Eddie is also leading the effort to measure our process cycle time in engineered systems, to enable our team to find ways to reduce delay and shorten lead times.
- As part of the lead time reduction project, Eddie volunteered to be our experimental "uber-planner" who would take on extra process steps like purchasing, receiving, and kitting materials, which creates extra work for the planner but eliminates the delays that come from hand-offs between functions.
- He is currently investigating options to reduce freight costs through combined shipments.
It is not necessarily about the stand-out moments that makes Eddie a great team member. It is the day to day things, his work ethic, his follow-through, his positive, can-do attitude, his great ideas, and his willingness to assist others at any time. He is a model of what “Team Valin” is all about. His attention to the small details helps Valin meet customer commitments when we might otherwise fail due to something small, like a correctly sized pallet, or the right sized vehicle being dispatched from the shipper the customer selects. He always keeps the customer’s needs at the forefront and brings his infectious energy and cheerfulness to work every day.