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92 I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2026 workers—their representation in technical and management positions remains in the single digits. Over the longer term, however, the factory must still develop local engineers who can understand the logic behind manufacturing processes, handle complex production anomalies, and drive contin- uous improvement. Localization, therefore, remains one of the factory's most difficult challenges. Customers Trust Systems, Not People High-end customers do not lower their audit stan- dards simply because a factory is located in Thai- land. On the contrary, some customers are imposing even more stringent requirements, especially re- garding digital data and tracking. The days of manu- ally recording data entries into a spreadsheet are over. It is not uncommon for a customer to require that data be generated directly within the system, be shareable, and be available for review at any time. Under this new audit logic, digitalization is no longer merely an internal tool for improving factory efficiency. It has become part of how customers as- sess their suppliers. Customers are not dismissing the value of people; rather, they are unwilling to stake the consistency of quality in high-volume, highly complex products on whether individual employees are sufficiently atten- tive or skilled. They want a system that is traceable, cannot be bypassed, and can be verified in real time. At Delton, every PCB is assigned a unique ID, enabling trace- ability of its processes, equipment, parameters, and inspection data both upstream and downstream. Only then is product quality truly verifiable. Smart Factory Next Steps Delton acknowledges that its Smart factory journey is a continuing process. Data collection and report generation are well-established, but engineers must still manually access various reports and sift through large volumes of information to identify problems. In the next phase of Delton's Smart factory, AI will do some of that heavy lifting, transforming this process to analyze data, detect anomalies, and proactively alert relevant personnel to problems. Achieving this will require machine-learning technol- ogies to build predictive models for parameter recom- mendations and early warnings of potential problems. Moving the project forward and identifying meaningful anomalies effectively is no easy task, and it places even greater demands on the knowledge and judg- ment of engineering and technical personnel. In the AI era, therefore, people will not be replaced. On the contrary, more will be expected of them. Delton, meanwhile, has taken a measured approach to digital twins. Zeng Zhijun acknowl- edged that although the company already has the necessary data foundation and is conducting simu- lations in selected areas, it has yet to systematically deploy a factory-wide digital twin. This restraint is worth noting. For a PCB factory, truly valuable digitalization does not necessarily mean a more sophisticated 3D visualization of the shop floor on a central control-room display. What matters more is whether the system can detect anomalies earlier, predict outcomes, and deliver actionable recommen- dations to the people responsible for making decisions. Delton Thailand: Exporting Success On the surface, the factors behind Delton Thailand's success are not mysterious: strong customer demand, high-end product positioning, substantial investment in automation, and technical support from its sister facility in Guangzhou. But only when these elements are con- nected through an integrated system do they translate into achieving profitability within just six months. Delton has created, not merely a PCB produc- tion line, but a model for manufacturing success. Achieving monthly profitability within six months of commencing production in Thailand is a striking result. But beyond that, it has demonstrated what is possible. I-CONNECT007 T H A I L A N D FACTO RY S E R I ES • D E LTO N Delton follows this comprehensive approach: • Basic operational know-how is digitized to create smart systems and equipment • Anomaly-handling capabilities remain with the on-site engineering and manufacturing teams • New process development and critical technical capabilities are accumulated and retained at the group level