IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1545855
JULY 2026 I I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE 53 train youth for our industries. This allows you to build a pipeline for talent. It may require some of your time volunteering in an after-school club, but it could evolve into a self-reinforcing partnership. Education should start with the basics of automa- tion planning and sensor technology. The Capstone Project for Interns An alternative is to recruit engineering students for the summer, as many are seeking experience and a way to earn money during the school break. With in- terns, you can assign a simple project they already understand and have them execute it. One idea is a good manufacturing practices (GMP) project in which they document everything from the user requirements specification (URS) to the functional requirements specification (FRS) to the system de- sign specification (SDS). They can handle PLC and SCADA code implementation, as well as commis- sioning and acceptance testing. Along the way, the activities might increase the likelihood that, after graduation, they will consider returning to work for you. These activities include building a schedule, estimating durations, and comparing and reporting on estimates vs. reality. With this approach, the intern has received training and a healthy dose of context for future projects in about two weeks, having touched on documenta- tion, coding, testing, and project management. There are a lot of sharp, motivated people out there who can do this work, but I admit that finding them is hard. Apprenticeship Over Time Apprenticeships are also a popular activity, and one that can create the "automation engineer" you have been longing for. It also provides soft skills for ap- proaching difficult issues, learning new processes, and understanding when it is appropriate to ask for help under the real constraints, timelines, and con- sequences inherent in automating machinery. Conclusion The Automation Strategy (of Digitization) will fol- low the process seen in Figure 1. After training the team, a thorough automation assessment will be performed to discover opportunities, followed by the design and delivery phases. This follows what Jim Zahora found useful. He concluded: "For manufacturing leaders looking at something similar, let me offer a few final thoughts: Resources exist. We leaned on our Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which is part of NIST, for research and evaluation. That was especially helpful because we do not carry engineers on staff who specialize in every piece of automation equipment. Industry associations helped, too. You do not have to take the leap without a guide. "Change does not happen overnight, and big changes in the defense supply chain sometimes do not move at commercial speed. But the payoff on the other side—a multi-year long-term contract, a more resilient supply chain, and production capacity we can flex with demand—is why we kept at it. "One thing our operations team often says enough that it is worth repeating: 'If you are still doing things the way you did them 20 years ago, you are in trouble and do not know it. Someone else will automate. Someone else will cut the lead time. Someone else will match the quality. Sooner than you think, it will be too late to catch up.' I'd rather take the leap." References 1. "We Need Automation to Reshore Our Supply Chains," by Jim Zahora, Industry Week, June 1, 2026. Happy Holden has worked in printed circuit tech- nology since 1970 with Hewlett-Packard, NanYa Westwood, Merix, Foxconn, and Gentex. He is currently a contributing technical editor with I-Connect007, and the author of Automation and Advanced Procedures in PCB Fabrication, and 24 Essential Skills for Engineers. To read past columns, click here. H A P PY'S T EC H TA L K # 49