Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1447212
FEBRUARY 2022 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 53 States. I think that there's going to be a global interconnect in the technical field that will address regional gaps. Matties: A remote or virtual engineering team, if you will, to service facilities? Ghalili: Exactly. Matties: at makes a lot of sense when you must manage limited resources. Ghalili: It does. Nolan Johnson: I'm trying to imagine how a company that doesn't have the resources, or the multinational presence, can achieve this sort of staffing. Ghalili: at will be a bit of a challenge, but I am also seeing a lot of companies, for exam- ple, in the U.S., that are now farming out their programming on their SMT or AOI machine to India and other areas. You have a team in India that is not part of their entity, but they do the programming and then they feed the machines. At least the programming aspect of it can be done somewhere else. In our case, not only the programming can be done remotely, but the actual operation of the equipment as well. Because of potential IP issues, not everyone may be able to do this, which could be a challenge. Johnson: How are you implementing the remote operation of the equipment? Ghalili: In Fremont, we have seven or eight cameras, and we have dedicated, high-speed lines between the two shops. With the cam- eras the engineers can see the entire opera- tion, including inside the SMT machine, and then instruct the operators. e engineers are logged into the SMT line using soware such as TeamViewer and can operate the systems remotely. Johnson: So, that happens for the day shi in the U.S. as well as second or third shi? Ghalili: Right now, for the day shi, we have more staff and a lot more capability has been built up, so we are doing less of that. Where this will become more dominant is the second shi. We can maintain very limited resources in Fremont and support them entirely from China. at's the only way we can resolve our labor shortage in the U.S. Johnson: Given the different environments for staff and labor in the two markets, what is the U.S. staff bringing as a value-add back to the China staff ? Ghalili: No matter what, you need staff on the ground. One is when you're dealing with a U.S. customer, you need U.S. staff to work with and understand that customer. For example, we are building a much stronger quality team out there. Our material management is becom- ing more regimented in Fremont. So, the cus- tomer needs and requirements are transferred by the U.S. staff to the China team. e opera- tional part, as much as possible, is being auto- mated and can be done from anywhere. Johnson: It sounds like the general trend in Fre- mont is to move the jobs toward a more skilled or more educated job description. Ghalili: Exactly. Even in China, we are moving toward automation. e challenge we have on When you're dealing with a U.S. customer, you need U.S. staff to work with and understand that customer.