SMT007 Magazine

SMT-Aug2016

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14 SMT Magazine • August 2016 VOICES OF THE INDUSTRY ored Net 30 terms? Is this something taught in the vendor exploitation module at Harvard Business School? It's certainly not in any en- gineering syllabus I'm aware of. Ethics? What ethics? Or this: "Yes we know you quoted this job last November, and now we're placing an order with you in April with additional, previously un- known requirements. However, we cannot accept your revised quote reflecting those new require- ments because our customer has already placed their order with us. They would have issues with any changes (read price increases) now." Right, but we have our own issues with your evident lack of a spinal column. So the question is, why are suppliers so afraid in instances like these to speak the plain truth to their customers? Fear of losing face? Terrified of losing business? Avoidance of con- frontation? Is obsequious sucking up some dis- torted, 2016 rite of passage? I fear invertebrate tendencies are becoming the new normal. A fine, self-inflicted mess we find ourselves in. The irony is that upright customers will find the truth bracingly refreshing, and welcomed. They have endured B.S. aplenty. Remember what FDR said about fear in 1932? We are what we become. Tom Borkes Founder THE JEFFERSON PROJECT My favorite tip or trick to share… Recognize that the robots are here! But don't look to the skies, look to the factories and point-of-sale services and products. The ro- bots will be ubiquitous. Their disruptive intro- duction into the world of high-tech electronic product assembly is/will reduce labor content and remove the need for traditional labor in- tensive operators. Looking at the social impact, the question will be what will these displaced workers do? From high tech product assembly to fast food workers, those without saleable skills will put incredible pressure on the social services of their respective governments. The answer is a responsive educational sys- tem that has a strong "learning for earning" component—a system that is in direct touch with the quickly changing needs of industry. Alvin Toffler wrote a book in the '70s called Future Shock. His thesis was it wasn't the change, so much, that will cause the chaos and social unrest, but the rapid arrival of that change—so fasten your seat belts! Jade Bridges Global Technical Support Manager ELECTROLUBE What I really like about my company is the breadth of work that we are involved in. Hav- ing six different product divisions, we have the capability to assist in different areas of electron- ics manufacturing and offer complimentary so- lutions, tackling the problem as a whole. It is great to have this wide range of knowledge and to understand how the different elements can impact the overall problem raised and also to have the capability to do something about it! Paul Brooker Production Manager INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES LTD What I really like about the industry is... The best thing about working in the medi- cal device industry is knowing that the prod- ucts we manufacture have a positive effect in people's lives. From handheld blood-glucose monitors to large scale retinal scanners, every- thing that we do, whether it's full device assem- X X X

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