There are many techniques a business can use to stand out from the crowd, yet many companies fail to do even the simplest ones.
With the electronics markets picking up, your order books will soon be getting full. But it is not just securing the one-time orders which are required to keep your business running; it is the returning customers who are your bread and butter.
With the competition so hot for customer orders, you need to stand head and shoulders above the rest, and to do this, you need to look at what you offer from the customer’s point of view.
#1 Ensure the correct training of all your staff
Make sure that all your existing staff is well trained. Setting up your business for IPC standards (if you are not already) is a big confidence boost to your customers. All solder operatives and wire people should be certificated, which will prove they can work to a desired level IPC2 or IPC3.
All solder operatives should be able to work from the customer build of materials (BOM). This list will state the component part number and its voltage, board silkscreen reference, and manufacturer.
So, if they have a tvs diode, they would check that it matched the tvs diode manufacturers details before putting it on the board, and hopefully, while doing this, it would flag up if the two didn’t match so the inspectors could look into it.
Keep your staff’s training up to date and include training in the 5 ‘s’ rule and ESD training to protect sensitive components from static discharge.
#2 Employ a team of qualified inspectors
To complement your staff’s training, hire a team of IPC-trained inspectors to ensure that all products go out to the customers at the desired IPC standard. Your inspectors will know about all soldering, wiring faults, and component failures.
With the correct training, you can also ask them to look out for counterfeit parts – though it would be more beneficial to do this during the goods inward process, as removing items from PC boards can cause damage to the tracks and lands.
As suppliers jostle to give the best price to their customers, it gets easier for counterfeiters to sneak their products in, using various methods. Once you have found a supplier which you are happy with, it is a good idea to stick to that supplier and not be too tempted by that overly fantastic cheaper alternative.
#3 Having a professional testing team
It is good practice to make sure that all your products work before they leave your premises, and it can be a very embarrassing telephone call should this not be the case. Having a team of inspectors is good for spotting faults that you can identify visually, but there are some faults you cannot see, and these faults would need to be picked up during testing.
It is a good idea to have a few test stages within a build to check that work carried out is OK, rather than waiting for one final test before the product goes out the door.
