Dear Colleague,

 

Uppermost in a lot of our minds today is the state of our industry, and
in particular the board design part of it. That's where we make our
living, and that's where we feel the pain most when things become
difficult. Through no individual fault of our own, the economy has gone
sour, US companies have gone into survival mode, and many of our
colleague's job have disappeared, leaving our colleagues out on the
street, possibly selling pencils out of a tin cup. You might be one of
them now, and I might be one tomorrow. Scary.

 

It's easy to blame a lot of this onto 'low cost foreign workers'. After
all, for the last few years the EMS (Electronics Manufacturing Services)
industry has seen huge shifts of contract assembly jobs go to low labor
rate countries, once to Mexico and now mostly in South East Asia. Now we
are seeing contract turnkey operations (design, fabricate, assemble,
test and package) also being outsourced, and suddenly the EMS 'disease'
is turning around and involving board design for the same reasons.

 

I've been reading some interesting discussions on the topic, and not all
is as it seems. Firstly, the actual percentage of jobs is quite small
but they attract a lot of attention. Secondly, in our industry most of
the jobs leaving here and going overseas are going to US owned
companies. It seems that US companies want to deal with US companies, so
contract US companies have led the drive to set up shop in foreign lands
because they can offer better (usually much better) pricing to US
companies here. These same 'foreign US' companies have the knowledge and
expertise to offer a broader range of services, so we as designers are
also getting targeted as expensive parts of the local supply chain. 

 

For themselves, I believe their plan is a sound one. By doing this they
are expanding their own markets as the rest of the world plays catchup
to the US standard of living. Trouble is, we are likely to get caught up
in this whirlwind of geographical change, and it's not obvious how we
will cope. We had to worry about going inter-state to find work when
local jobs were scarce. Do we have to worry about going inter-national
for the same reason? Will we accept very different cultures, very
different standards of living?

 

I believe a lot of the root causes boil down to the competitive nature
of life in the US. If one company can offer a product at better prices
than another, with similar features, then it "wins". It wins because US
consumers make their choices based on minimum pain to the hip pocket
nerve, the wallet. And if what they choose is "made" by a well known
name like Dell or Hewlett-Packard, then what's the beef? These are rock
solid American companies, despite the fact that the product you just
purchased may have nothing tangibly American in it other than the logo
and the marketing push to sell it in the first place. I guess the real
cost of what we buy doesn't stop at the dollars on the credit card.
There's a hidden cost in the way we support those of us less fortunate
who cannot support themselves as a result of lost opportunities.

 

As designers, how do we deal with this? Let me paint some scenarios.

 

Scenario one says we bolt the doors with high tariffs and prevent
foreign imports. Result: two hundred and eighty million people in the US
have to suddenly pay significantly more for just about everything,
leading to political and financial suicide and blood in the streets.

 

Scenario two sounds a bugle charge and the US workforce rolls up its
sleeves, gets its collective heads down and meets the charge full on, by
innovating more, by developing new tools, new techniques, new methods,
new processes, new materials and all the other stuff that is at the
sharp, leading edge of generating new wealth. The US has no shortage of
innovative thinkers. Get them to apply their talents to designing,
fabricating and assembling things that no one else can, or that no one
else can for the same price. Result - more challenging jobs, quicker
design cycles, jobs stay in the US, the economy grows, eveyone benefits.

 

Scenario three is at the 'do-nothing' end of the spectrum. We enjoy our
standard of living while it lasts, taking full advantage of cheap
imports. Result - this is where the picture goes hazy. Suddenly it's not
the US competing anymore, it's foreign companies competing with each
other to fill our needs. On many levels this is happening already. Is
this a bad thing? Short term it probably isn't. Long term you would have
to worry - how will we create new wealth if we need to rely on others?.
One thing is for sure. If the world aspires to our standard of living,
the costs for them are going to end up the same when there are no longer
any "cheap labor" countries left.

 

As a board designer, what am I going to do to maximise my chances of
being able to enjoy life into the future? That's not an easy question to
answer, by I know the right path to follow. 

 

First thing is, I need to be good at my job, but know that I can be
better, and make sure I get better. If a human being has to do the job
then I want to know that I can do it at least as well if not better than
any other human being. Knowledge and skill is a never ending path, not a
destination.

 

Secondly, I want to stay away from the Enrons of this world. I want to
work for a company that has an ethical committment to what it does, so
that my working there contributes to society in a positive way, doesn't
degrade the environment, and surrounds me with colleagues who are good
at what they do and support the company for the enrichment of all. Not
easy to find a company like that, not easy to recognise one if you do,
and not easy to recognise an 'Enron' either.

 

Oh, and did I forget to mention that I want to earn enough for the basic
necessities of life, which includes all the toys and gadgets I see
advertised, plus enough to sock away for my retirement, plus enough to
travel a little, and no doubt you have kids that need to eat, need
clothes also, and sooner or later need to go to college and you want to
earn enough to cover that too, right?

 

We swirl about in these turbulent times in a way that few of us can
control. However, to give yourself a fighting chance you need to be at
least very good at your job. When you stand in a line for one job with
nineteen other applicants, you need to be the best one there. That takes
a personal committment to ongoing education, and you can get that by
being a member of your local Chapter, by attending seminars, workshops
and conferences like Designers Council Summits and PCB West and East,
and by attending Designers Council Basic and Advanced Certification
Workshops and becoming certified. None of this is easy, and it's
continuous, and it's relentless, but it is the way forward.

 

So make it your business to get to the IPC Expo\Apex\Designers Summit in
Anaheim February 22nd to the 29th. It's an enormous show for designers,
assemblers and fabricators all under one roof, all at the same time.
There's a huge technical program, with a vast exhibition of all the
stuff that makes it happen from one end of the supply chain to the
other. Walk the walk, talk the talk. Above all educate yourself. It's
the clear advantage.

 

Start here:

 

http://shows.ipc.org/

 

and be dazzled by the scope of what you can learn.

 


Andy Kowalewski, CID+

Chairman, IPC Designers Council

 

 


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