Author Archives: Mike

About Mike

Mike Buetow is president of the Printed Circuit Engineering Association (pcea.net). He previously was editor-in-chief of Circuits Assembly magazine, the leading publication for electronics manufacturing, and PCD&F, the leading publication for printed circuit design and fabrication. He spent 21 years as vice president and editorial director of UP Media Group, for which he oversaw all editorial and production aspects. He has more than 30 years' experience in the electronics industry, including six years at IPC, an electronics trade association, at which he was a technical projects manager and communications director. He has also held editorial positions at SMT Magazine, community newspapers and in book publishing. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois. Follow Mike on Twitter: @mikebuetow

What’s the Buzz?

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Teams shows individual members talk to each other often are more effective than those whose mode of communication runs through the boss.

So says an MIT researcher who has studied patterns of industrial communication for the past decade. What Dr. Sandy Pentland has found is that the pattern of communication is more important than the specific talents of the individual team members. In other words, a team that communicates well is greater than the sum of its parts, while the team that rigidly adheres to old school ways of sharing information will fall short.

The analogy is a beehive, where the swarm actually is able to transfer data faster and in more usable bits than alternate systems can achieve. This fosters creativity and speeds idea innovation, Pentland’s research found.

Pentland’s paper, “The New Science of Building Great Teams,” is in this month’s Harvard Business Review. An alternate synopsis of the paper is here.

Early Thoughts on the Mitchell Administration

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The hiring of John Mitchell as IPC’s new president comes as a breath of fresh air to those of us who had long tired of the antics of the previous regime.

Mitchell, the fourth person to run the 55-year-old organization, is the first with electronics industry experience, having spent a combined 16 years at Bose and Alpine Electronics.

As Bill Bader and Jim McElroy at iNEMI have proved, when it comes to running a not-for-profit volunteer organization in this industry, experience counts. The supply chain and regional differences are far too complex and the technology too intense for a greenhorn, especially one who isn’t willing to do their homework.

We envision — and hope — for a return to the days when member input is sought and valued. More than that, however, we are eager to see the occupant of that important position have a vision and tenacity that goes beyond avenging imagined personal wrongs.

Mitchell has his work cut out for himself. The industry is fractured, physically and emotionally. He will have to learn to lead without alienating, something his predecessor never accomplished. He will have to mend fences with the North American board fabricators, on whose shoulders IPC was built but were later ignored or cast out as the organization moved into the more lucrative assembly market. He will need to understand that the suppliers are generally looking to protect declining margins, and yet much of the technological know-how has migrated to that side of the industry, so he will need to convince them it is in their best interest to continue to support IPC’s technical programs, not just the exhibitions. He will need to navigate the treacherous China-US relations, in which the occasionally nasty spells of provincialism and finger-pointing from both sides mask an underlying dual-relationship that neither party can live without. He will have to right an internal culture that has grown distant from its membership. And he will have to do so while determining whether the four (!) vice presidents who applied for the job — two of whom have now been rejected multiple times — are up to the task of working with the man whom the IPC board considered a superior leader.

Based on Mitchell’s resume and conversations with IPC board members, he is the right person for the job. He is first and foremost an engineer. He has a deep business background that belies his age (he graduated college in 1991). He has worked at a high level for a major supplier of consumer electronics, giving him insight into branding and the supply chain intricacies that his predecessors either never had to deal with or were unable to master. We look forward to the next chapter in the continuing story of IPC.

Viasystems: An Eye on Details

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Is Viasystems up to its old tricks?

The PCB fabricator today announced a deal to acquire DDi for $268 million, a move that will push the company back into the industry top 10 for the first time in years.

Keep in mind, 12 years ago, Viasystems was the second largest PCB company in the world, behind Sanmina, with sales of about $1.25 billion. The deal pushes Viasystems past that mark for the first time since 2001. That’s when the dot.com market imploded, and telecom was wiped out, taking much of Viasystems’ capital with it.

That disaster made Viasystems something of an industry punchline. Two bankruptcies followed, plus a high-profile takedown of the venture capitalists behind the company, and some expected the entity to collapse like a black hole. But lo and behold, the remaining management wisened up, stopped buying other people’s garbage with other people’s money (Viasystems paid cash for DDi), and concentrated on learning the business. They shuttered money-losing operations in the US and Europe, and broadened their focus to automotive. Oh, and they learned being smaller and profitable is better than being the biggest and bleeding.

What a difference a decade makes.

What this means for Mikel Williams has not yet been revealed. The DDi CEO remade the company, which also suffered badly after a series of management missteps and internal struggles. Profits have improved four years running (revenues took a minor hit in 2011), and the company successfully absorbed smaller rival Coretec without a hitch. One hopes Williams stays in this industry; he’s a star and would be missed.

Also watching this closely will be Shennan Circuits. DDi reportedly outsources some of its larger orders to the China-based board shop. That is certainly about to change.

3 Thoughts on Foxconn

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A few thoughts on Foxconn in the wake of last night’s Fair Labor Association report:

1. Not that Mike Daisey feels much better today, but the excessive overtime was clearly way out of whack with Chinese law.

2. The FLA head was very clear in stating that Foxconn’s assembly lines are on par with any in the world. We knew that. There’s only so many placement machines and screen printers out there. Don’t let that obscure the larger picture, which was the dehumanization of employees. One quote that jumps out: “We’ve got to make sure people can opt out and if they do feel that they’ve suffered any kind of incriminations as a result, that they can complain, and that complaint will be handled fairly.”

3. The Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition, which supposedly sets standards on how electronics OEMs should behave, has been fully exposed as being nothing more than a PR front.

Finally, you should read this piece from the Silicon Valley Mercury News that explains what the FLA is — including the main source of its funding.

 

The Value of ‘Chat’

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Yesterday, EMS sales management and marketing consultant Sue Mucha moderated her first chat over at PCB Chat. Today, she’s asking on her blog whether readers exploit the value of chat, and why or why not? (She makes a great point about the value of the chat being tied to the quality of the questions asked.)

For those who haven’t had a chance to see how PCB Chat works, you may check out Sue’s chat here. I tend to liken it to the last 10 minutes of a paper session, where the audience asks questions directly to the presenter.

Design Costs, But How Much?

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Lots of studies find that most of the cost (75%-plus) of an electronics product is determined in the design phase.

Here’s my question: Do those studies take the BoM costs into account as part of the design cost? Or are all the “costs” in this sense value-added (design, fab, assembly, rework, etc.)?

Design Costs, But How Much?

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Lots of studies find that most of the cost (75%-plus) of an electronics product is determined in the design phase.

Here’s my question: Do those studies take the BoM costs into account as part of the design cost? Or are all the “costs” in this sense value-added (design, fab, assembly, rework, etc.)?

Uncomfortable Truths Behind Foxconn’s Response

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“Our corporate image has been totally ruined.”

So says Foxconn spokesman Simon Hsing, arguing that the media should not have picked up or repeated the accusations laid forth in Mike Daisey’s now (semi)retracted narrative exposing the workplace environment at Foxconn.

“We have no plans to take legal action,” Hsing said, adding — ominously — “We hope nothing similar will happen again.”

Hsing’s statement makes it sounds like Foxconn is taking the high road. It’s not. It actually has certain very good reasons not to sue.

1. Proof of falsehood. In order to prove libel, the plaintiff has to prove the (written) statement was false. Anything that can be proved true cannot be libelous. Unfortunately for Foxconn, Daisey’s public radio piece is only one piece of the puzzle. Study after study has shown how dramatically difficult life inside Foxconn’s Forbidden City in Shenzhen. Complaints of excessive overtime are doubtlessly true. (Even Apple previously estimated that one-third of Foxconn’s Shenzhen workforce exceeded the 60-hour a week limit dictated both by Apple and Chinese law.) There is no doubt at least 18 (and probably more) workers have committed suicide on the premises. There is no doubt multiple Foxconn plants in China have sustained deadly explosions over the past couple years. There is no doubt Foxconn uses armed guards to patrol its campuses.

Even Daisey himself in his blog makes it clear he is being scapegoated as part of a clever bait-and-switch.

2. Lack of malice. Not only does US law require proving a published story was untrue, but winning damages requires proving the publisher had knowledge that the information was false, and yet published it anyway. Clearly, This American Life believed the contents of the story to be true. More than that, however, the story itself was based on a monologue developed and produced by Daisey as a staged play.

That makes the attempt to litigate awkward, to say the least. Daisey could invoke what is known as the fair comment and criticism defense, that the law protects his right to express opinion, regardless of how critical it appears. For its part,This American Life, having excerpted the play, could argue that its airing of Daisey’s story was artistic in nature, and an opinion, not reporting or documentary, and thus protected by fair comment.

3. American juries. The sight of a Chinese company suing American public radio in a US court would be surreal. It would also be a non-starter. No US jury would ever find for Foxconn, regardless of how strong a case the company could make. US workers see China as a source of its problems, not a solution. All the low-cost electronics and furniture would mean nothing to a group of 12 Americans armed with the knowledge that their country is deeply in hock to China thanks to the unlevel playing field that rewards companies like Foxconn. Provincialism cuts many ways. Foxconn is smart enough to know it would not win a libel fight on foreign turf.

“Our corporate image has been totally ruined.” No, that pretty much happened when your workers started throwing themselves off your roofs.

Chatting with Charlie

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Be sure to tune in to Charlie Barnhart’s chat on outsourcing models and trends later today at PCB Chat.

Charlie’s long been known for his scrupulous analysis and willingness to slay the sacred cows of contract manufacturing. He’s sure to offer some entertaining and informative answers to your questions.

The chat takes place today from 2 to 3 EST. To attend, click here.