16 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2020
References
1. J.S. Hwang, "Outsourcing Manufacturing or Not, and
to What Extent?"
The SMT Magazine, April 2003.
2. Institute for Supply Management, "May 2020 Manu-
facturing ISM Report on Business," June 1, 2020.
3. J.S. Hwang, "Smart Factory Implementation: How
Smart Is Smart Enough?" SMT007 Magazine, April 2020.
4. IBM, "IBM Study: COVID-19 Is Significantly Altering U.S.
Consumer Behavior and Plans Post-Crisis," May 1, 2020.
5. H. Torry, "As Coronavirus Lockdown Rules Ease, Some
Want to Keep Working From Home," Wall Street Journal,
May 27, 2020.
Dr. Jennie S. Hwang—an inter-
national businesswoman and
speaker and a business and
technology advisor—is a
pioneer and long-standing
leader to SMT manufacturing
since its inception as well as
to the development and implementation of lead-free
electronics technology. Among her many awards and
honors, she was inducted to the International Hall of
Fame—Women in Technology, elected to the National
Academy of Engineering, named an R&D Star to Watch,
and received a YWCA Achieve-ment Award. Having held
senior executive positions with Lockheed Martin Corp.,
Sherwin Williams Co., and SCM Corp., she was the CEO of
International Electronic Materials Corp. and is currently
CEO of H-Technologies Group, providing business, tech-
nology, and manufacturing solutions. She has served on
the board of Fortune-500 NYSE companies and civic and
university boards; the Commerce Department's Export
Council; the National Materials and Manufacturing Board;
the NIST Assessment Board; as the chairman of the
Assessment Board of DoD Army Research Laboratory
and the chairman of the Assessment Board of Army
Engineering Centers; and various national panels/
committees and international leadership positions.
She is the author of 600+ publications and several
books and is a speaker and author on trade, business,
education, and social issues. Her formal education
includes four academic degrees, as well as the Harvard
Business School Executive Program and Columbia
University Corporate Governance Program. For more
information, visit JennieHwang.com. To read past
columns or contact Hwang, click here.
the workforce in a "proper" extent. Going for-
ward, a hybrid work model is most likely to be
implemented throughout the companies and
organizations, varying in extent with different
natures of the business.
In the next decade, having a skilled and edu-
cated workforce, as well as continuing educa-
tion and training programs—especially in data
science and data engineering—will be even
more important to competitive manufacturing
operation.
To cope with the new world, it is plausible
to address additional business decisions,
including:
• Are factories logically, strategically, and
preemptively distributed in terms of
geographical locations?
• Is there a need for redundancy in
factories?
• What criteria are to be established for
making redundancy of factories?
• What are the key tasks to accelerate the
adoption of new technologies—that is, to
effectively and timely leverage AI, IoT, 5G,
and associated infrastructure and supply
chain to achieve the intelligence-teaming
manufacturing operating in an integrated
manner?
With its constantly changing and fast-paced
nature, there is no industry quite like the elec-
tronics industry, with its technology, opera-
tion, and promise. For the last three decades,
this most innovative and dynamic industry has
made many companies and individuals pros-
perous. Also, as vividly demonstrated, change
and coping with change have been a part of
our being. The industry's ability to adapt to
change rapidly has been utterly stunning in
the past. And I believe, wholeheartedly, that
this ability will continue, as we overcome the
compounded challenges of the pandemic, the
economic recovery path, and the ongoing U.S.-
China trade uncertainty.
There is a rainbow after the storm. The
beauty of these crisis experiences is that we
are in the position to build a better normal, so
let's brace for the challenges and embrace the
opportunities!
SMT007
