Paul Lyman

Paul Lyman was awarded the Monsen Innovation award for his continuous efforts in creating value for customers and for Valin. Below is just one example of Paul’s contributions to Valin. Read more about his efforts here.

Paul Lyman (an Account Manager based in the Austin, TX office) has formed special relationships with his customers and Valin suppliers. Paul bridges the gap between suppliers and customers by bringing the right people together. He doesn’t just sell products but acts as a consultant to help find solutions.

An equipment engineer from a top semiconductor company sought Paul for advice not knowing where to start or who to go to for help to replace an outdated manifold. They reached out to Paul because they needed someone that knew the product and who also knew semi tools. While helping one specific customer, Paul recognized that the solution could benefit other customers.

Paul worked side by side with the customer and leveraged Valin’s engineering resources along with his network of suppliers to find the best solution. This meant very long hours in the cleanroom. When the right unit was finally assembled, they only had 24 hours to test it. Paul was in the cleanroom in a bunny suit the entire time helping the customer with testing. The unit worked and solved the issue. In solving this problem, it provided a huge yield for the customer. Paul was the centerpiece by facilitating the correct resources.

Paul did not stop there. During the process of helping the customer, he recognized a large opportunity for Valin to assist other semiconductor customers by providing a Valin branded product. Paul led a team consisting of Valin engineering, Valin Semiconductor SMEs, and Valin suppliers to identify the market potential and develop a new product line. Over 20 additional customers were identified, each one having a large installed base of tools with multiple application areas on each tool, providing unlimited opportunities for the Valin branded replacement.

Another example of how Paul’s relationships benefited customers is his ties with suppliers. A customer had several old actuators that needed to be updated. A different distributor had access to the needed products, but they did not have the knowledge or technical support. So, the supplier called Paul and asked that Valin step in to make this easier on the customer before it became an obstacle. Paul, along with the Valin support system, supplied the technical knowledge and expertise needed.

Ultimately, Paul brought the right people and the right products together. Most distributors don’t have an employee like Paul Lyman to help. This makes what Paul does special. He understands the challenges, helps to test the solution, seeing through to its success, and recognizes the benefits of the solution for other fabs.

The Monsen Innovation award recipients are recognized for their outstanding accomplishments and dedication to our company.  The inspiration for this award (and the first award recipient) was Jon Monsen. Jon F. Monsen, Ph.D., P.E., was a control valve technology specialist at Valin for many years. Jon wrote a book titled, Control Valve Application Technology, Techniques and considerations for properly selecting the right control valve. This book was published by Valin and is currently sold on our ecommerce site. Monsen possessed 35 years of industry experience and lectured nationally and internationally on control valve sizing and application.