Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1275152
62 SMT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2020 Interview by the I-Connect007 Editorial Team Susan Mucha, president of Powell-Mucha Consulting, and Carlos Plaza, IPC's director of education development, outline IPC's Certified Electronics Program Manager (CEPM) Train- ing and Certification Program, which was con- verted to an entirely online platform in 2017. They also discuss what it means to be a suc- cessful leader. Read more about this program here. Nolan Johnson: Why don't we start off with each of you giving a quick background on what you're bringing to IPC's CEPM Train- ing and Certification Program and how you're involved. Let's start with you, Susan. Susan Mucha: In the EMS world, there is a func- tion called program management. This par- ticular course has been designed to be broad enough to be of interest to the entire program team. This can include the program manager, the EMS provider's support team members, and the OEM's supply chain management person or members of their team. But it is specifically related to the concept of program management of outsourced contract manufacturing. It helps the individuals charged with manag- ing outsourced contract manufacturing to do a better job. The premise is that people who go into program management and join program teams are often lopsided in their foundations. Either they're very strong in business skills, or they're very strong in technical and engineer- ing skills. But they are very rarely strong on both sides. This six-week program is designed to give them a common foundation across any- thing that would impact their job, from the basics and sales aspects of program manage- ment to contracts and contract negotiation, accounting and finance principles, manufac- turing, and materials management. In week six, we look at the whole concept of leadership because the real challenge for program managers is that, in most cases, they have a dotted-line relationship with their team, and they have two charges. On one side, they are the customer's champion within their orga- nization. And on the other side, their business must make money. Sometimes, they have to Program Manager Course Goes Digital IPC's Certified Electronics