Indium Blog

Who Makes Your Solder Preforms?

This year I’ve had the chance to work, and become friends, with Bryan Dygert, one of our solder preform manufacturing work cell operators at the Indium Corporation. During one of our discussions, Bryan was interested in the idea of relating his work at Indium with his past career. Here is what he had to say:

“Quality and consistency lead to customer satisfaction, which is a key goal for day to day work at the operator level.  Great time and effort are taken to ensure this goal is met.  The following is a look into my approach while doing a job - from the receipt of material to the finished packing of the product.

"After spending 15+ years in the restaurant industry, I have gained many skills that can be adapted into the manufacturing industry.  There is one method that I use on every job each day called “Mise en Place”.  Mise en place is a French term translating to, “put in place”.  The idea of mise en place is the organization and set-up of everything you will need to complete the job at hand.  Just as a chef will gather necessary ingredients, cooking vessels, and utensils before actually cooking, I too will have everything ready before any production is started.

"Upon receiving a job, my first and foremost task is to ensure my work area is clean and free of any materials from a previous job.  This allows me to have adequate space to set up my mise en place and know for a fact there is absolutely no chance of mixing parts or creating any confusion.  From here, I can look into the customer’s specifications and familiarize myself with what I will be working with.  After filling out the necessary paperwork, I am ready to gather my mise en place - everything I will need to complete the job.

"Mostly I work with die-cut preforms that are fluxed and packaged onto reels. Therefore, my mise en place consists of all the solder material, packaging materials, equipment, and job paperwork.  Once all of the necessary materials are gathered, I begin processing the material. After reels are completed and pass a thorough inspection by our Quality Control technicians, the finished product is sealed, labeled, and held in the proper storage container until the rest of the order is completed and ready to ship. 

"Having a clean and clutter free area is imperative to obtaining the quality product our customers demand. The time taken to organize each job and gather my mise en place helps to provide our customers with consistency they have come to expect from the Indium Corporation. The importance of quality, consistency, and customer satisfaction has made Indium Corporation a leading solder supplier to the electronics industry.”

Bryan is not alone in his commitment to providing you with great products. At each of our facilities we have operators like Bryan who make excellence a personal goal. Perhaps Bryan will be making preforms for your next project…

Authored by previous Indium Application Manager Jim Hisert