Circuits Assembly - September 2008 - (Page 32)

Better Manufacturing The Role of Industry To move forward, do we need to return to the past? verywhere you travel, there are different regimes. Some are democratic, some autocratic, some dictatorships and so on. Industry, electronics in particular, needs political stability but, above all, it needs long-term strategies. A number of approaches can be adopted. Governments can fund R&D, underwrite grants for regional support or specialized training, or provide many other offerings, but they are all subject to short-term politics or global industrial changes. A few regimes have set up industrial support that lasts long term regardless of political hue. Japan springs to mind. For at least 10 years, the MITI organization has supported industry in general, and provided training, research and financial backing. Unfortunately, most Western governments only act over the lifetime of their respective administrations. Let’s consider some of the options. Regional grants. In Europe, it was common in the 1990s to offer special grants to bring industry to locales of high unemployment or that otherwise seemed ignored. This mostly was funded by local (or national) governments. This policy worked well at the time, but seemed to overlook other regions that offered lower wage rates and logistics costs, and once these regions awoke to that realization, the available grants suddenly seemed less attractive. In the early part of this century, Europe saw a migration of electronics from Ireland, UK, Scandinavia and many other areas to Eastern Europe. Shortly afterward, however, even Eastern Europe began to see volume manufacturing move to Asia. So the initial investment obviously worked because many companies moved operations to supported regions of “established” Europe, but saw the opportunity of reduced costs once Eastern Europe became open and available. This is not a criticism: CEOs and senior management Circuits Assembly SEPTEMBER 2008 E "The system that tries to persuade every young person to get a college degree consequently results in far fewer specialist apprentices and craft technicians than are needed." Peter Grundy is director of P G Engineering (Sussex) Ltd. and ITM Consulting (itmconsulting.org); peter.grundy2@ btinternet.com. His column appears bimonthly. have a fiduciary duty to maximize returns for shareholders. Shareholding. For capitalists, shareholding is a good thing but, sadly, some companies put shareholders on a pedestal, and capitalism usually assumes shareholders are kings. Shareholders must be patient, as should industrial operations. Profits should be used wisely, not just to boost investor egos. Sometimes I think Western organizations might have lost sight of this. While shareholders are vital to support industry, they must balance their input with the invested company’s output and long-term needs. Maybe government has a role in moderating the amount that individuals can invest, but also moderating the returns they can generate. Clearly, there must be potential for a net gain, of course, or else what would be the point in investing? Training. This is possibly the most important factor of governmental support. Training is expensive. All industries need trained staff. Training is not just highly qualified graduates with theoretically good things to offer; it is an entire spectrum that encompasses graduates, student apprentices, technicians and craft-based specialists. All industries require a range of staff with a huge range of skill sets so that the balance of skills suits the company’s philosophy. A university spin-off developing biomechanical sensors, for example, would need a large number of highly qualified graduates, while an established press-shop would need apprentices and craft technicians, but relatively few graduates. The educational output depends on the variation of skills required. Government has an enormous role to play in supporting education so that the correct balance of skills is available to industry. If government does not understand this fundamental need, an imbalance will result in which either too many or too few persons have the skills required. In circuitsassembly.com 32 http://itmconsulting.org http://circuitsassembly.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Circuits Assembly - September 2008

Circuits Assembly - September 2008 Contents Caveat Lector Industry News Market Watch Talking Heads Focus on Business Global Sourcing On the Forefront Screen Printing Better Manufacturing Reflow Soldering with a SnCu Eutectic Pb-Free Alloy Improving OEE in High Mix Facilities Effectively Managing RF Design in Utility Metering Applications Solder Joint Reliability of Different BGAs Reworked Using Low Melting Point Pb-Free Alloys Tech Tips Wave Soldering Pb-Free Lessons Learned Materials World Process Doctor Equipment Advances Product Spotlight Ad Index Assembly Insider Technical Abstracts

Circuits Assembly - September 2008

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