Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1523387
26 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2024 know you're serious about what you're doing. e other part is regarding our work with our aerospace and defense customers, where it's a prerequisite to start a quote. It's hard to quantify a direct ROI, but when you're getting awards based on your certifications and you can complete the work according to the spec, there's a return on the investment—you just might not see it directly on paper. e certification process is about skill level, so you see it in yield and throughput, but there are many other so measures. Also, quality people trained on those specs know to refer to them, and what's good or bad. When you ship out a product, it has to adhere to the specs called out on the drawings. Matties: I also noticed the training aspect. Obviously, you're outsourcing through some certified trainers, but you had internal trainers as well. We have a certified IPC trainer who teaches IPC-A-600 in-house. Having that person on staff is a big cost saving, and it's part of a quality manager's job to provide that in-house training. For the J-standard itself, we subcontract because it's more complicated with all the training modules. We also determine who needs which module because not everybody in the facility, for example, needs to have the space addendum training. You just need a few key people for that. As a base, we would like everyone on the shop floor to at least have Module 1 of IPC-A-600, which is the very basic module. Nolan Johnson: I'm getting a feeling this is about culture as much as anything. at's true. One of my first jobs in the industry was working in QC. I cut my teeth with quality, and it evolved from there. I oversaw checking circuit designs and layouts. I don't want to date myself, but back then, we didn't have big CAD systems. We had Mylar and red and blue pencils. You had to check these things point by point. So, if you say you will do quality work, back it up. When you have the certifications that prove quality is what we do, then you're treated a little bit differently. Matties: When you're hiring, do you expect people to be certified, or do they go through a certification renewal process as part of the onboarding process? It's great if they have the certification, but that's okay if it's expired because it tells us that at least they've gone through the process. Our job is to get them in. I believe there are some guidelines for how long their certifica- tion has lapsed before they're not certified anymore. Johnson: How often do you find a hire with the needed certification? It depends on what sector they're coming from. If they're coming from the commercial world, chances are they don't have any certification. If they have a previous back- ground in military and aerospace-type work, you have a 75% chance they come with a certification in hand. Charlie Capers