The power of ‘What if?’
Teammate is inspired by family — at home and at work — to find his own path and improve supply chain operations.
BNN
Listening and learning from others can inspire ideas. But it takes a mix of curiosity and courage to turn the idea into change.
“Improvements can start just by asking, ‘What if?’” said Jose Saenz, a Mexican American supply chain analyst, who joined the Boeing Global Services tooling department in San Antonio in 2022.
Three months into his new job, Saenz was asked to be part of a cross-functional team that developed a new inventory management system for the San Antonio site’s Tool Control Area. After working closely with teammates on the project, Saenz continued to build camaraderie with his “work family” that helped him grow.
Hector Villarreal (left), Olga Ortiz (center) and Jose Saenz (right) work together to inventory tools at the tool crib in San Antonio. (Boeing photo)Through casual conversations, he heard a common frustration: broken tools were not being reported, repaired or replaced efficiently.
Saenz wanted to help. He mapped out a solution and pitched it to his manager.
“Jose is always open to listening and sharing ideas, and is all about improving the tooling operation,” said Jennifer Marin, the site’s Materials Management senior manager. “We saw that what he proposed would benefit daily functions and demonstrate the value we deliver to the business.”
The teammates’ collaboration ultimately replaced an unreliable paper method with an electronic Broken Tool Repair system. With automated, live updates, the BTR lets the team see the status of tools across the site. Managers can use it to accurately report on the team’s volume of work and tool cycle times.
This is not the first time a “what if” moment has inspired Jose to make a change. It is how he got started on a career path in supply chain and led to his job at Boeing.
Growing up, he lived in the small town of Hebbronville, Texas, where generations of family lived and worked. As he prepared to graduate high school, Saenz was unsure if college was right for him but wanted to give it a try.
Saenz left his hometown, attended college and majored in management science.
“Best decision I ever made,” Saenz said. “I remember the toast my uncle gave to celebrate that I was the first male in the family to graduate. That meant the world to me.”
Jose Saenz, a first-generation college graduate, celebrating his achievement with family members. (Jose Saenz photo)These “what if” moments continue to impact Saenz’s personal growth and help his teammates.
He takes pride in improving supply chain operations and sharing the solutions he and his team develop with other Boeing sites that could benefit from the lessons learned and data gained.
“We keep things moving,” Saenz said. “If the supply chain and logistics aren’t managed well, people would not have what they need and operations would not get done.”
By Shannon Vaughan
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