From Firefighter Dreams to Binary Schemes
Born and raised in Tijuana, Mexico where he still resides, Edgar didn’t always know he would end up in the world of IT and manufacturing. “As a kid, I wanted to be a police officer or a firefighter. They were my heroes,” he reminisced. But he had an aunt who studied computer science and she would let Edgar play on her computer. “At ten years old, playing Tic-Tac-Toe and Solitaire on the computer, it blew my mind. That's when I started to enjoy software and computers and I realized I wanted to follow in my Aunt’s footsteps and pursue a career in the field.”
Bridging IT and Software Development
Edgar started his career as an IT engineering intern, where he primarily provided support fixing computers and doing maintenance. “My main role was to provide general IT support to the users, but when I was studying my real preference was to develop software and be a software programmer. Circumstances led me down a path where I was involved with the entire IT environment, not only programming.”
He then got the opportunity to move more to the software development side of things, and for the last 15 years, Edgar has been bridging the gap between software development and IT infrastructure, gaining expertise in both areas. His diverse skill set allowed him to take on roles that combined programming, database management, and system administration, ultimately shaping his ability to develop holistic digital solutions.
"I never gave up on that dream, because programming is a passion for me. It's very common here to know people that studied computer science, but it's divided. You are either a programmer, and you don't know anything about servers. Or you are a network specialist, and you don’t know anything about programming. They are usually separate career paths. But I was in the middle taking a little bit from each area and that's still where I am right now.”
Applying IT Experience to the Shop Floor
Edgar has found his breadth of IT experiences to be an advantage in his career, especially when he came to Outset Medical in 2020 as an IT Supervisor and joined the team deploying Tulip as their Manufacturing Execution System (MES). After the previous engineer working on the project left the company, Edgar took on the responsibility of learning and leading the implementation of the Tulip platform.
Because of my IT experience, learning Tulip was easy for me. I was able to look at things from the lens of a programmer, thinking about data structure and connectivity between systems, and that was an advantage for me. In less than three months I deployed an entire solution to the shop floor.”
His experience with logic was also helpful when trying to understand applications that were built by other Tulip app builders. “I had to understand all the logic implemented by somebody else in more than 100 Tulip applications that we had already deployed onto the shop floor. That was a fun challenge because you need to go deep, app by app, trying to understand how somebody else thinks.”
What Edgar quickly realized though, was that he needed to start thinking like a process engineer.
“The most complex challenge for me was to learn about manufacturing processes, supply chain, quality, and really understanding the needs of the shop floor because all my background was related to IT.”
Empowering Teams Through Collaboration And Training
Edgar not only learned to think like a process engineer, he also stepped up as a leader. He took on the role of 4IR (Fourth Industrial Revolution) Officer and as his team grew to six people, he took on the responsibility of managing both his team and stakeholder relationships. To better navigate this role, he earned a Scrum certification, equipping him with the skills to lead effectively and use tools like Jira to track stakeholder requests, ensuring proper follow-up and streamline communication cross-functionally.
“Each function has their own way of seeing things and different priorities. To align, usually we do some brainstorming, put it all on a white board and take the best solution for that problem or requirement. That way, we are truly working together, not just within my team, but with stakeholders across the business.”
Recognizing the need for proper training, Edgar also has made it a priority to equip both shop floor operators, other engineers and leadership with the knowledge to leverage Tulip effectively.
If we don’t provide training, it won’t work. I want to ensure others understand how Tulip works, for example, how to navigate and read the analytics and create new dashboards, so they can make data-driven decisions.”
Leading Digital Transformation at Outset Medical
With these leadership skills and a strong foundation in cross-functional collaboration, Edgar applied these skills to lead key digital transformation initiatives with Tulip at Outset Medical.
“One of the biggest projects that I implemented, and one of my first Tulip projects actually, was with our incoming inspection process. I was able to redesign the process, making it fully digital by connecting our inspection equipment, our PLM system, and our ERP system to have more visibility of the entire process. This gave us a more holistic solution, rather than just a point solution.”
He was able to do this in the timeline of just 6 months. One of the biggest challenges for Edgar was not in the technicality of connecting the equipment and software to Tulip, but making sure that after they deployed the solution, it could be sustained and iterated on by other citizen developers.
“Our stakeholders on the shop floor (operators) often are requesting changes and providing feedback. Sometimes, the shop floor engineers are worried that making changes to the existing applications will cause issues, but we have quality processes, governance and manufacturing controls in place so that they do not need to worry. I help train them on these processes so they can incorporate stakeholder feedback themselves.”
Edgar’s favorite project was an ambitious digital transformation project for a very complex piece of capital equipment . To start, Edgar and his team took a 200-page Device History Record (DHR) from their contract manufacturer and worked to digitize it. “We sat down and went page by page, asking, ‘How do you want to see this in an application?’” The result was a fully digital, paperless electronic Device History Record (eDHR), streamlining the entire production process.
Edgar and his team introduced RFID technology for operator and assets log in and provided tablets to line leaders, quality inspectors, and material handlers.
Line leaders now have full visibility and production control at their fingertips, material handlers can electronically issue all materials and know in real time if a transaction fails, and quality inspectors can perform all their inspections without the need for paper,” he noted.
The team also integrated Tulip with scales to track raw material usage and print labels. They also connected key equipment like ultrasonic welders and leak tester machines to Tulip, allowing applications to make real-time decisions based on machine outputs.
What’s Next for Edgar
Edgar remains motivated by the positive feedback he receives from stakeholders who use his digital solutions, from frontline workers to company leadership.
"It is very rewarding when stakeholders, including the CEO, express appreciation for the applications and solutions the team has deployed, and you can see how it is helping them with their jobs. It makes me feel great to know the work I do is impactful for the company.”
Beyond his current successes, Edgar is always looking ahead to new technologies and ways to enhance existing processes. He stays up to date by reading industry posts and attending webinars, and collaborating with his company leadership on their shared vision for digital transformation at Outset Medical.
One of the biggest projects on Edgar’s radar for the future is introducing machine learning and computer vision for defect detection in the consumable production process.
“Right now, we’re only taking photos of the cartridges, but this year we’re considering using machine learning models available in Tulip or exploring Landing AI to analyze defects."
In addition to machine learning, Edgar is also focused on improving system integrations and streamlining internal processes. He’s working on performance enhancements for Tulip’s connection with their ERP system and plans to update their eDHR process.
Get to know Edgar on Tulip Community
Outside of work, Edgar enjoys spending time with his family, playing video games, and has recently gotten into playing “Padel” which he describes as Mexican tennis. “It is similar to tennis but with a glass wall behind and on the sides, allowing players to use the walls to their advantage. I’ve been playing for 5 months or so now and am addicted to this game!.”
Join us on Tulip Community to ask Edgar a question about his career or hobbies or to just say hello!