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OCTOBER 2025 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 71 Starting from Scratch Their practice of training to copy until perfection and not sticking out means that their first action is to look for an answer from others. The top-down rule means they will do whatever the boss says, even if it is a waste of time. The idea of brainstorming a problem breaks too many cultural-hierarchical pro- tocols to be effective, but with training and coach- ing, they can learn to be self-starters. Higher Education University attendance is not open to everyone. Herculean entrance exams make getting into a state university all-consuming. If you do get in, you are required to continue at a hectic pace. Where I attended college, our engineering program let just about everyone in. Only the strong would survive, meaning each year about a quarter of the students could not make the grade. Another advantage of the U.S. education system is that age is not a factor for entrance. Many motivated older family men or military veterans were my classmates. Regard and Understanding of Intellectual Property The Chinese have a hard time understanding that you can own an idea and that you can buy and sell it. To them, objects have intrinsic value based on their materials and the labor to construct them. Since they were taught to copy the masters until they had perfected their techniques, imitation was a sign of respect and honor. At one time, 90% of industrial software in China was pirated. When I lived there, I could buy a Microsoft XP or Windows 2000 for $1.20 a disk, or a CAM350 v8.6 field solver for $4. It has taken many years for IP to be respected. Technical Management (Middle Management) The concepts of delegating and coaching still need to be established. Chinese hierarchical protocol is still the rule, with the people at the top making the deci- sions and issuing the orders. It's a battle to climb the ranks against so many, and it's difficult to share your knowledge and experience with your subordinates. Engineering Statistics Japan realized that quality comes from engineering on the factory floor and in product refinement, and made it a national priority. China and Taiwan have a poor record of using statistics and DOE. I taught Chi- nese engineers about it, so I know some of them are using it. However, most process optimization comes from one-change-at-a-time experimentation. Beware of "chàbuduō," "about right," or "good enough." Conclusion Learning about other countries and living and work- ing with them has been one of my life's greatest experiences. You learn that there are so many ways to approach the same problem, and that solving them together contributes to the greater good of the industry—and the individual. An excellent set of articles I read early in my career was authored by Mia Doucet, an international market- ing consultant who wrote China In Motion: 17 Secrets to Slashing the Time to Production, to Market, and to Profits in China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. This helped me enormously to understand the differ- ences in culture and doing business in Asia. Maybe I will write another column listing some of the most useful advice and how it worked for me. PCB007 Happy Holden has worked in printed circuit technology since 1970 with Hewlett-Packard, NanYa Westwood,Merix, Foxconn, and Gentex. He is a contributing technical editor with I-Connect007 and the author of Automation and Advanced Procedures in PCB Fabrication and 24 Essential Skills for Engi- neers. To read past columns, click here. H A P PY 'S T EC H TA L K # 4 4 H o n g Ko n g 2 01 2 ▼