Nancy In a previous life where I received many new pieces of equipment from a multitude of vendors, and training was to be done on site, the best thing to do to help yourself -- is to be prepared. When the installation is complete and now they are ready to train you on the machine (user interfaces), have boards, paste, profile information and parts available that are representative of normal production - products that you can "sacrifice." Build these products as you would in normal operations, all preparation/programming/setup steps as if the trainer were not there. Have the trainer show you how to setup and process product representative of YOUR operation, not the demo board they have run at a hundred other locations. While the quick check of system operation is easiest with the "known" vendor demo board, it is probably not representative of your product. When the trainer leaves your facility, you should have a good comfort level that YOU can produce your products, otherwise management will be asking a lot of questions regarding delays in production, and where are all of the improvements you said we would get from this machine? A trainers responsibility is to insure that you know how all of the controls work, that the machine is functioning correctly, and you are happy. You can't answer the "happy" part of the equation until you run some of your own product with success. Process your representative products, and also if possible, process the most difficult challenging product you have. Otherwise you may be on the phone a lot for support. Typically, installation techs/trainers are very knowledgeable of the machines and have seen lots of problems in the field. They are your BEST source of quick help in getting up to speed. Get a "core dump" of their knowledge while you have them "captive" during installation. Hope this helps. Pat Kane CSL ############################################################## TechNet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c ############################################################## To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body: To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TECHNET <your full name> To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TECHNET ############################################################## Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional information. If you need assistance - contact Gayatri Sardeshpande at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5365 ##############################################################