PCB007 Magazine

PCB007-May2019

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114 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2019 The Travelling Engineer, Instalment 2 Ladle on Manufacturing by Marc Ladle, VIKING TEST LTD. In this second instalment, I hope to continue to give you a small insight into how the reality of working as a travelling engineer for a ma- chine supplier matches up to the job description. After 15 years of working for Viking Test Ltd. and having the opportunity to visit a variety of interesting locations around the world, any illusions I previously held have been shattered. The details that follow may not be 100% accu- rate, but they are how I honestly remember the experiences. Smartphones and satellite navigation have made a massive difference to our ability to find our way from place to place and make arrange- ments for hotels and travelling. My early expe- riences travelling for Viking pre-date any mass- market devices to help with navigation, which added a whole extra level of preparation to find my way from place to place and make bookings for places to stay. The job that I undertook was the installa - tion of one of the first drop-on-demand legend printers installed in Europe—a machine made to print component identification and markings on the surface of circuit boards. The process is now reasonably well established, but back then, it was an exciting new process. My boss briefed me before starting the jour- ney. This was the first time I had worked on this type of machine, so he arranged for me to meet an engineer from an office in Europe who had travelled to the machine manufactur- er in Japan for training. The plan was for me to work alongside the experienced engineer to learn the correct installation method and how to commission the machine. I was basically go- ing to be there to help with the heavy lifting and to watch and learn. The trip started with the standard drive to Heathrow Airport to catch an early flight to Frankfurt, Germany. I landed and picked up a hire car to drive me to meet up with my col - league for the week. The normal method for find- ing my way to the desti- nation was to have a writ- ten plan of the route with motorway junctions and road names. I was head- ing for a small town called Idstein, and so far, all was going to plan. For those of you who are not used to hiring cars in countries that have the steering wheel on the oth - er side of the car, the first few times are an interesting

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