IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1503860
IPC COMMUNITY 45 SUMMER 2023 A Pilot Proam Sos By Michelle Te With plants in Tijuana and Guadalajara, Mexico, that staff more than 3,000 employees, Benchmark has a continual need for training and certification to stay competitive. Through a unique partnership with IPC, the company was able to train nearly 100 operators and engineers through a pilot program that saved them money and elevated the knowledge base of their workforce. In this interview, Eliza- beth Magana, a regional human resources direc- tor for Benchmark, Lorena Villanueva, IPC director of Mexico, and Carlos Plaza, IPC senior director of education development, detail the pilot program and how it serves as an example of training success in elec- tronics manufacturing. Can you tell us about Bench- mark's presence in Mexico? Elizabeth Magana: Benchmark has been in Mexico for over 20 years. We manufacture or assemble high-reliability products for large- scale integration, system build to order, PCB assemblies, cable harnesses, and more. We serve key market sectors including complex industrial, defense, and commercial aero- space. What does your typical onboarding effort look like? How are you getting new hires up to speed? Elizabeth: We have a robust training program for each of our sites. We have a training team onsite that focuses not only on the produc- tion training, but also on company policies, procedures, values, etc. You were introduced to IPC's training programs through Lisa Weeks, a former IPC board member and Benchmark executive. What intrigued you to pursue it further? Elizabeth: In discussing this with our regional leader, we knew that we had some areas of oppor- tunity when it came to knowing all that IPC has to offer, and we saw that there were two areas where IPC could be beneficial to us: the engineering group and direct labor, meaning those who assemble the products. Often, we find there is confusion on even how to assemble the products to IPC speci- fications, and there are many conversations that take place between quality engineering and manufacturing, as well as with the assem- bly teams. We determined that we would run 44 oper- ators through Electronics Assembly for Oper- ators (EAO), and 25 engineers through Elec- tronics Assembly for Engineers (EAE). We let each site determine who those people would be. Because it's a pilot program, we didn't Benchmark has a continual need for training and certification.