Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1216587
76 SMT007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2020 visual inspections and even second count or reparation for misjudgment caused by equip- ment. After the introduction of this standard, however, the engineers would continuously debug the equipment to enable the stable status of the SMT line quality. An increasingly stable production line would require less manpower. A production line that required 7–8 workers in the past now only requires 3–4 workers for sta- ble production thanks to the improvement of process and worker skills. As products gradually stabilize, product turnover becomes the next aspect of improve- ment. We modified the line in some ways to shorten and improve logistics. The overall improvement is considerable; we achieved efficiency improvements with regard to both workers and time. Yu: You mentioned an improvement in worker skills. Does QML validation involve training for front-line employees? Zhang: Improvements in equipment and pro- cesses all depend on human operation. Dur- ing the QML validation process, we organized a staged training system that covered new recruits and introduced them to different production requirements of different posts (Figure 3). The employees are trained to have a universal under- standing of IPC standards as well as better skills and better engagement. We have more than 600 CISs (certified IPC specialists) in our plant. Yu: More than 600 CISs; that is a very large num- ber. Especially around the New Year, employee turnover is a traditional headache. What is the turnover for those people? Will that have any impact on the production and implementation of the new standards? Zhang: Turnover of front-line employees is com- mon in the industry. High employee turnover is the result of high living costs in the Yangtze River Delta. Our turnover rate is about 8–9%. Judging from present status after implementa- tion of IPC QML, it is helping our crew stability. We have three CITs (certified IPC trainers) right now. CITs are qualified to train CIS personnel to help them acquire qualifications. The three CITs are senior employees of the company. As long as we have the three CITs, any new employees coming to this facility will be trained in a staged manner with the final goal of acquiring CIS validation. That is the reason why we were able to train more than 600 CISs in recent years. Theoretically, some work does not require CIS validation, but it is very help- ful to improve front-line employees' skills that help to stabilize our crew. Figure 3: ASKEY supports IPC QML with a standardized staged training system.