Quality Analyst at EIM, Jason Allman, known around the office simply as Jall-man, has spent more than a decade solving organizational and market challenges. Driven by a desire to understand how things work, a commitment to delivering the best possible experience, and a propensity for stepping outside his lane, Jason plays a significant role in ensuring EIM customers get exactly what they ordered, as smoothly as possible.
Work History
Jason celebrated his tenth work anniversary at EIM this past May. While he still has some catching up to do with the longest-tenured employees, he’s certainly among our most experienced team members. However, he’ll point out that the list of people with more years of service than him is shortening.
Today, Jason is a department of one, reporting directly to the Director of Finance, Quality, and Sales. But it hasn’t always been the “Sovereign Nation of Allman.” Jason got his start working as a customer service representative before moving on to estimating. Roughly two years ago, Jason moved into his current position in Quality.
Life as a Quality Analyst
What does the day-to-day look like as a Quality Analyst? “It’s usually fairly varied.”
“First and foremost, my responsibilities mean checking for customer issues. Beyond that, it involves following up on internally reported issues that require investigation. I spend a lot of time doing root cause analysis.”
These examinations involve identifying what went wrong, asking how we can fix it, and developing solutions to prevent it from happening again. Additionally, Jason will inspect and sign off on jobs and consult on concerns. For example, “Rework might find an issue with a roll and ask me to take a look at it, just to make sure there’s not a problem and ensure it’s okay to continue.”
Outside of everyday operations, Jason is working on developing new tools and reports. One notable project is building a system to help with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) compliance—reviewing how EIM tracks and views its internal data.
Going Above and Beyond
Jason has consistently taken initiative beyond his assigned responsibilities since his early days in customer service, a drive that continues to define his work today. He first demonstrated this as a Customer Service Rep, routinely visiting the production floor to talk with press operators, observe production firsthand, and develop a deeper understanding of how each label is built, what makes it difficult to produce, and ultimately, how to process it properly.
It wasn’t just the jobs themselves Jason was interested in optimizing—it was the process and the lens through which they were viewed, such as working with the team in his CSR days to improve how sales numbers were displayed.
Embracing AI
Quality is a broad function that in some way touches every department—Jason has been given a lot of room to advance initiatives, such as the use of technologies like AI. Throughout his time at EIM, he’s been trusted to lead projects, even if outside the normal scope of his position.
Hologic Process
Recently, Jason’s side projects are taking on a more technological focus, as he’s embracing AI to innovate processes, communicate more clearly, and share knowledge more effectively. For example, he’s using AI to create an internal infographic that streamlines workflows with our Hologic® customers by identifying potential bottlenecks and mapping the optimal flow of information.
“I like to have all the information I possibly can. Consequently, when I send stuff out, I include a lot of information.” Jason continues, “I like infographics. They’re so much easier and faster to understand. I can take this dense paragraph of information and simplify it into a single image.”
Label Workflow
Jason also recently used AI to illustrate the operation flow of creating a particularly difficult label. It’s easy to think of a label’s journey as linear; however, it’s more of a web. AI helped create a way “to visualize just how many interactions one job has. It’s not just processing an order and moving on. It’s processing the order and having 18 other updates to deal with.”
Why does the production process have so many moving parts? “Because we’re short-run and custom, our orders are often complicated. We specialize in difficult labeling applications, and we’re looking at jobs a lot of other shops might not want to touch because they’re so complex—they need to be done on brand and in a very specific way.”
Of course, it’s not just showing the process. It’s calling attention to it, working with the team, and finding ways to improve it.
A Project He’s Proud Of
One recent project Jason is proud of is the implementation of Gemba—a management system focused on eliminating waste and improving efficiency by observing work, asking questions, engaging with employees, and understanding problems firsthand.
“Basically, every morning, the main players from the different departments come together, give a snapshot of what each department is working on, and how they’re doing. It’s open to any employee who wants to join. The meeting is Excel sheet driven, allowing us to archive and examine data. In the future, the plan is to turn them into a PDF that’s sent to everyone in the company.”
Best Part About EIM
What does Jason like most about working at EIM? “I definitely enjoy the challenge. In all my roles, I’ve been able to take on large projects. First, investigating issues and finding their underlying cause. Then figuring out how we can fix it and do better—not just for one customer, but all of them.”
Outside of the Office
When not digging into the inner workings of EIM, Jason loves pretty much all types of media, from reading books and listening to music to watching movies and playing video games. He also recently bought a house, which has meant a lot of time spent removing wallpaper, painting, and fixing minor issues.
Jason’s new-to-him home is right against the woods, which were slowly reclaiming the yard. Consequently, Jason has spent the last three months cutting down trees and pulling vines.
Lightning Round
Q: Cats or dogs?
A: Dogs
Q: Dunkin’ or Starbucks?
A: In this economy? Homemade
Q: Email or phone call?
A: Email
Q: Podcast or playlist?
A: Playlist
Q: Morning or afternoon meetings?
A: Couldn’t this be an email?
Q: Favorite workplace snack?
A: Pretzels
Q: Dune books or movies?
A: Books
Q: Buy media online or in person?
A: So far, a lot of it’s been online
Q: Favorite book?
A: The Count of Monte Cristo
Electronic Imaging Materials, Inc.
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