Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1243344
MAY 2020 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 21 have invited you. They've had some sort of a compel- ling event that caused them to decide that they need to make this change. Are you at liberty to share some of those compelling events? Fischthal: We've seen some people that want to look at their paste because they realize if they are able to fix the process in the begin- ning, it's much better than adding process steps at the end to check after reflow. We've had people that will build products with insuf- ficient solder, bridging, or other common printer errors that happen in an uncontrolled process. These manifest as qual- ity issues on the other end of the line. Then, they will bring in an SPI. In general, there's a shift to believing that if they can fix it at the front, it saves them at the end. Which is true. Johnson: Your training materials contain dis- cussion about changing the thinking: ongo- ing process monitoring more than inspection at the end. Welch: Most people are using SPI as just a go/ no go system, and even for the brightest engi- neers, there might be only a few who dig in a little deeper, but not necessarily day in, day out. I've tried to teach them how to use the tool better, as well as use it for developing more robust processes—not just fixing day-to- day issues. When I go to some of the big oper- ations, the operations people control the line. Sometimes, it's hard to get time on the line to make even simple improvements. I say, "Let's make the change now," and they say, "I can't change it now." If you can't change it then, it may not ever get done. It's a cultural thing from the top down. Johnson: Based on all the developments with the digital factory, is there an opportunity to understand how to use SPI. SPI has been around for a while, but not everyone uses it the right way. Sometimes, bad habits form. This specific class resets those bad hab- its. We're educating them on how to implement the best practices. Ray does find that wrong processes have been implemented, or that oper- ators are using it incorrectly or sub-optimally. Everybody who has experienced Ray's class has come away appre- ciative of the insight they've gained. More importantly, most change the way they've been doing things right away. Johnson: If you don't have support from the C-level executives, then you may encoun- ter managers who have a very different set of objectives. Fischthal: Most people want to build the best products they can and not have to worry about rework or field failures because an operator was incorrectly using the SPI. Welch: Yes, but as Nolan was saying, some peo- ple have a different objective or performance goals to meet, so even though the engineers might want to make improvements, sometimes they're held back because the line production doesn't give them the time. The engineers need to be given the time and line availabil- ity to identify issues and opportunities for improvement and then implement the neces- sary actions. Right now, the biggest thing I see is management often wants to get down to one operator per line and no engineers on the line. That's not going to work very well when your process isn't robust—a hands-off process— and none of them are there right now. Johnson: When you talk to a customer about putting Koh Young equipment into their line, they're already motivated to some level and Brent Fischthal