‘Patty’ in the Real World

Folks,

Every year, the wonderful folks at PCM host a visit from my class on manufacturing processes and provide a real-world tour of an electronics assembly facility. Our relationship has resulted in the class producing a video on electronics assembly. In addition, several class projects have been performed at PCM over the years; projects that have helped my students learn and have, hopefully, helped PCM’s operation.

A few weeks ago it was time for this year’s student visit. Rob Steele and Jon Scheiner were our hosts. During the tour, Rob mentioned that he and the PCM team have implemented many of the productivity concepts discussed in The Adventures of Patty and the Professor. Rob even mentioned that he thought the book, at some level, was a “page turner.” It is personally rewarding to see people benefiting from this book.

Anyway it is very clear from our tour that productivity is high at PCM. It is my hope that others might also benefit from the stories in The Adventures of Patty and the Professor. If you have benefited from the book, please let me know.

Cheers,

Dr. Ron

 

Electronics Assembly in Action

Folks,

Struggling to find a good, royalty-free, video of electronics assembly, my Dartmouth ENGM 185 class on manufacturing processes decided to make our own. I think it is pretty good considering our limited ($0) budget.

It was filmed at PCM in Springfield, VT. The young woman in the video is my ENGS 3 student from last summer, Ruthie Welch. The entire ENGM 185 class participated in the production.

As an aside, PCM’s assembly process uses lead-free solder paste.

Cheers,

Dr. Ron