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54 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2024 people we hire for the skills they possess will be as valuable if we don't continue to advance and expand those skills. Keep training your people. ere are new tools and information available to offer your employees to encourage their growth. Invest in your people by mak- ing them more valuable. ey are your great- est asset. • ey embrace efficiency. We have been given a great boon with the latest AI develop- ments. Much of the routine work or initial ide- ation can be accomplished faster and with less effort than before with the help of AI. Make sure you are informed about the best tools available, and that your team is well versed in their usage. (See my first point about people.) • ey look to IPC to supplement inter- nal training. If I am talking about training, let's talk about how you can get IPC training to sup- plement your internal training, and have it cov- ered by government funding. IPC recently had some of its programs recognized by the U.S. government as official apprenticeship pro- grams. is means you can get thousands of dollars from your local state to do IPC training and relevant internal training as well. Improv- ing your people with other people's money sounds like a good idea to me. • ey are innovative. Involve diverse seg- ments of your team to attack challenging prob- lems. Instead of only engaging engineers to solve a manufacturing problem, or just engag- ing business or finance staff on business chal- lenges, add people from different parts of your organization to expand and broaden your innovation. People of different backgrounds, levels of experience, and parts of the business will increase the creativity needed to solve big problems. While there seems to be a continual threat of recession or economic downturn, there are many positive ways to approach these chal- lenges, particularly if you invest in your people and provide them with opportunities and chal- lenges that will make them eager to help your company thrive. SMT007 This column originally appeard in the December 2023 issue of PCB007 Magazine. Dr. John W. Mitchell is president and CEO of IPC. To read past columns, click here.