E4D's Tammi Carter on Helping Customers "Dream, Design, Deliver, and Delight"

"Because we've always been one of the smaller companies with competitors, we needed technology so that we could compete and not have as many people," says Tammi Carter, CEO at E4D Technologies, in our newest podcast episode. "Also being a medical device company, there's a lot of regulations about traceability and serialization, and so, from day one, there was some level of technology. Obviously, we've grown, we've expanded, we've enhanced, but technology was always part of the DNA of E4D."

E4D Technologies is a leading contract manufacturer and design company that serves customers with innovative technologies and methods like 3D scanning, as well as unique approaches to product development and manufacturing. The E4D methodology centers around four principles: "Dream, design, deliver, and delight." When a customer comes to them with a dream for a product — which could even be a sketch on a napkin — they bring it to life and support it until the end of its lifecycle.

However, running a great organization doesn't happen by chance, and takes deliberate thought and effort to make sure you're optimizing technology, processes, and people to address your challenges. E4D uses technology to stay competitive as a smaller player, as well as uses automation and robotics to address labor shortage gaps. They also focus on understanding the customer so they provide technology that actually meets their needs and have created a culture that's comfortable with change.

 

In This Episode

How can manufacturing leaders leverage their technology and culture to stay competitive and bring those dream products to life for their customers? Listen to our conversation with Tammi Carter to learn more about how to build great products and a great team behind those products.

Topics

• How E4D brings products to life through their methodology of "dream, design, deliver, and delight."
• How a background in music performance helped Tammi prepare for a career in manufacturing leadership.
• The importance of mentoring and why sharing experiences and expertise is a sign of good leadership.
• Why E4D relies on technology to stay competitive, and how they're using it to free up humans "to do the work that only people can do."
• Why having a culture that's comfortable with change is key to success.
• How E4D is evolving its digital transformation through ERP utilization, digitizing documents, and moving to the cloud.
• Why you need to understand your customer and their needs — not what you think they need.