Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1313710
DECEMBER 2020 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 9 Nolan Johnson is managing editor of SMT007 Magazine. Nolan brings 30 years of career experience focused almost entirely on electronics design and manufacturing. To contact Johnson, click here. every 60 days was as good as it was going to get. Paying for the monthly recruiting program was just a cost of doing business for them, much like keeping the lights on. In this issue, we look at how training and hiring have adjusted to the times and to the immediate staffing needs for our industry. Even in our more skilled, technology-heavy indus- try, some entry-level manufacturing positions seem to turn over rapidly. You can, however, stop the churn-and-burn approach and start staffing with young, well-trained employees more likely to stay put—but how? We learned a lot as we put this issue together. Take, for example, the MEMS Program at Lorain County Community College in Ohio. Johnny Vanderford and Courtney Tenhover detail how and why their program is so suc- cessful. Likewise, Dave Hernandez and Carlos Plaza outline IPC's training and certification programs, continuing to push toward the mil- lion jobs commitment. Jahr Turchen discusses not only certifications and hard skills but also soft skills training and Blackfox's curriculum development in those topics. Finally, Happy Holden details a pair of his essential skills and shares his approach to recruiting and hiring. Our columnists are all on-point this month as well. Eric Camden puts your operators in the driver's seat, Alfred Macha redefines recruiting to find the right talent, and Michael Ford con- siders the changing roles in a digital factory. Finally, in the spirit of increasing your skill level, we bring you two pieces of technical con- tent: a paper from 2020 IPC APEX EXPO titled "High-Density PCB Technology Assessment for Space Applications" by Maarten Cauwe, et al., and "High-Tech, High-Value Cleaning Answers Made Easy With KYZEN's Tech-2-Tech," a webinar review by Pete Starkey. Training will continue to be a key part of the infrastructure of our industry. While it is a cost of doing business, it need not be an expense; it most certainly can be turned into an asset for your company if you bring the right mind- set to it. SMT007