IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
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IPC COMMUNITY 39 SPRING 2023 how they are carrying out their daily manufac- turing activities. For one pilot program, the team visited plants in Guadalajara and Tijuana, implement- ing two training courses—Electronics Assembly for Operators (in Spanish) for 44 operators, and Electronics Assembly for Engineers (in English) for 25 engineers. Our IPC team implemented two more pilots, the first with a German auto parts manufacturing company with opera- tions in Guadalajara and Guanajuato, and the second with a Swiss company specializing in the manufacture of automotive components, with plants in northern Mexico's Coahuila and Tamaulipas. Both pilots involved more than 30 operators from various locations for the Electronics Assembly for Operators training course in Spanish. The results of the three major pilots were gratifying: The electronics industry is incred- ibly eager to excel on the world stage and to take market share from other locations. These companies are aware that this will only be achieved through quality standardization (IPC standards), excellence (IPC certifications), and knowledge and steady updating of skills and tools (IPC trainings). We wanted to capture the voice of the cus- tomer and they were eager to share their feed- back and comments on the training programs they had completed. One quality engineer in Tijuana said, "The content of the course was great. Recommend it for all engineers getting into electronics because this is something you don't learn in school." These companies learned firsthand the opinions of the operators when it comes to their supervisors' knowledge, which otherwise would've been difficult to learn. An operator from Guadalajara said, "This course should be given to engineers, quality leaders, and man- agement." Another commented, "You learn about the decision-making pro- cess of when to 'pass' a board or when to reject it. That's still a confusion with line leaders. They should take it too." Over these past several months, my deep-rooted pride and long-stand- ing passion for Mexico and its people has quickly found new energy. Mexi- co-based electronics manufacturing is on the rise and IPC, as a not-for- profit association, plays a key role in Robert Erickson, director of product management, IPC Education, and Carlos Plaza, IPC senior director of education development, at the Auto Summit, León, Mexico, last August.