乡亲们
让我们看看 Patty 如何应对她最新的挑战.....
帕蒂决定给教授打电话，看看他能提供什么建议，为她访问位于魁北克舍布鲁克 的工厂做准备，她公司的高级管理层想要购买这家工厂。她很难理解，为什么产量达到 99.5%、正常运行时间长、生产线均衡，但盈利能力却很差。经过短暂的讨论后，教授似乎准备总结一下情况。
“Patty, I think you will find that the poor profitability is the result of high rework costs,” he said.
“But, Professor, how can that be when the first-pass yield is 99.5%? There is almost nothing to rework,” Patty replied.
教授笑着说："保持开放的心态。
然后他继续说："别担心，你很快就会明白的"。
帕蒂希望自己也能如此自信。在即将告别的时候，她向他提到了自己最近在威廉斯堡度假时观察到的许多青少年目不转睛地盯着智能手机的现象。她还表达了自己对两个儿子在这个过度互联的世界里成长的担忧。
"帕蒂，你儿子们的主要优势是有你和罗伯做父母。我相信，你们会帮助他们走上正确的道路。记得放轻松一点，毕竟他们才 5 岁。"教授笑着说。
在即将告别的时候，他又想到了一件事要和帕蒂分享。
"他问道："帕蒂，你还记得，在常春藤大学，我们会为有兴趣来我们工程学院就读的高中生举办咨询会吧？
帕蒂想了一会儿，想起了这是多么令人印象深刻。据她所知，只有这所大学的教授会与高中生及其家人见面，讨论常春藤大学工程教育的好处。
"帕蒂回答说："当然，教授，常春藤大学做的这是件了不起的事。
"因为有了这个项目，我已经和数百名高中生进行了交流，还为更多的高中生做了演讲。只要给我一点时间，我就能判断出一个高中生是否是常春藤大学的料。
"这怎么可能？"帕蒂问道。
"我会寻找两个迹象。第一，如果他们的父母比他们更感兴趣，这是个坏兆头。另一个是，如果一个高中生觉得像我这样的人很有趣，那就是个好兆头。"教授笑了笑，接着说。
"我知道，对于典型的 17 岁学生来说，我会显得像个无聊的书呆子，但是，对于那些对学习充满热情的人来说，我很可能会被视为一种丰富的资源，即使他们只有 17 岁。
帕蒂自己也笑了一下，心想只有教授才会用 "肥沃的资源 "这个词。
帕蒂告别了她的导师，打电话给皮特安排前往新罕布什尔州曼彻斯特机场的事宜，那里距离他们在埃克塞特的办公室大约有一个小时的车程。
一天结束时，他们已经到了舍布鲁克的酒店。他们在一家法国餐厅共进晚餐，并商定尽量只说法语。每个人都在不经意间说了一点西班牙语，这是讲几种罗曼语的人的通病。
一夜好眠之后，他们相约共进早餐。早餐时，他们就一些事情达成了一致：
- 他们会尝试在会议上讲法语
- They would discuss using preforms to solve the QFN voiding problem first as they expected this topic to be more controversial.
- 盈利问题，他们将留到最后解决，因为他们预计这需要时间，但期望减少争议。
从酒店驱车不久，他们就到了目的地。皮特评论说，加拿大高速公路出口的编号方式很合理，是按照距离参考点的公里数来编号的。
当他们走近接待员时，皮特喊道："你好，有什么意见？Nous sommes là pour répondre à Jacques?(你好，我们是来见雅克的）。
不一会儿，雅克出现了。
“Bonjour Jacques, mon nom est Patty et c'est Pete. Nous aimerions parler en français si c'est acceptable.” Patty cheerfully said. (Hello Jacques, my name is Patty and this is Pete. We would like to speak in French if that is OK.)
"啊，我的朋友们，法语可能对我们没用。你说话带着巴黎口音，说明你学的是欧洲法语。我们的法语有很多不同的单词，我们几乎总是用英语与来自法国的客户和合作伙伴交谈，"雅克回答道。
帕蒂想了一会儿，觉得有道理。魁北克与法国分离了 250 年，但她又想到，美国和英国分离的时间也差不多。她想，也许这就是为什么有人说美国和英国是由共同语言分隔开来的两种文化。
They went to a conference room and began discussing the QFN voiding issue. Jacques presented his data and Patty and Pete gave a presentation on how solder preforms can minimize QFN voiding. Patty gave Jacques a copy of Seth Homer’s paperon the topic. Both Pete and Patty were surprised at how receptive Jacques was to using preforms. It seemed that this trip may be easier than they thought.
"帕蒂问道："雅克，我和皮特可以四处走走，观察一下生产过程吗？
"当然，花几个小时，然后我们就可以去吃午饭了。"雅克回应道。
So Patty and Pete headed off to see the 3 SMT and through-hole assembly lines. Upon entering the facility, they were stunned to see what appeared to be scores of rework operators. Patty went over to observe more closely. It appeared that right after the PCBs were assembled they were visually inspected. Many of the boards went directly to a rework station. The boards that appeared to pass the visual inspection, went to an in-circuit testing. Most of these boards, also went to rework stations. The so-called first-pass yield was obviosuly measured after all of this repair work.
“Pete why don’t you check out the rest of the processes, I’ll stay here and see if I can get a true first-pass yield count,” Patty suggested.
So Pete went off to observe the other parts of the SMT and though hole processes and Patty stayed and counted boards to determine first-pass yield. After a little more than an hour, they metin the break room to sumup the situation.
“Well, for the hour I was there, 150 boards were assembled on the one line I was watching. The first-pass yield was only 24%,” Patty groaned.
"我能超越它！"皮特回答道。"他们有一个铅笔推子，"他笑着说。
Patty choked on her ice tea. As she recovered, she was able to say, “Just like in Mexico?”
"是的！同样的情况。"皮特回应道。
Several years ago, Patty and Pete were at a shop in Mexico, and observed an operator pushing a component, on a board that had exited a component placementmachine,with a pencil. The component was out of alignment and the operator was straightening it. No one knew how to program the placement machines to correct for this error.
"还有其他有趣的现象吗？帕蒂问道。
“They use the same paste and print parameters, no matter what the stencil. It’s no wonder their first pass yields are low,” Pete finished.
在总结事情时，他们回忆起过去不得不传递坏消息的冒险经历，情绪有些低落。这时，帕蒂想到了一个主意。
"皮特，我们为什么不提议让你来这里帮他们一两个星期呢？"帕蒂问道。
"听起来很有趣，"皮特回答。
“But we have to get them to agree that first pass yield is measured as the boards come off the assembly line. Without this metric they can’t assess where their processes need improvement,” Patty added thoughtfully.
“And we need to plot the defects on a Pareto Chart to develop a continuous improvement plan,” Pete commented.
Figure 1. A typical SMT Board assembly Pareto Chart.
"皮特补充说："他们的线路平衡和正常运行时间如此出色，令人惊叹。
当他们见到雅克时，两人都很忐忑。他们还记得，有些时候，当坏消息传来时，人们会变得充满敌意。
Patty 尽力保持积极的态度。她首先介绍了他们的优势（正常运行时间和生产线平衡），并称赞他们在这些重要指标上表现出色。然后，她分享了他们的 "改进机会"，并向皮特提供了帮助。
"朋友们，谢谢你们。你们的好意我心领了。我接受。"雅克感激地说。"我想我参加的关于正常运行时间和线路平衡的研讨会取得了成效。这个有趣的家伙被大家称为教授。
Patty and Pete were stunned by how well this trip went. They enjoyed a delicious French lunch at a café near the plant, with Jacques. On the trip home they chatted about how important it is to the measure first pass yield before any rework is done, and to plot the defects in a Pareto Chart to lay the foundation for improving yields. Patty now understood what The Professor meant when he said, “look at the rework costs,” they were reworking before they measure their yields.
Epilogue: Two months later true first pass yield was at 94%. Costs plummeted with less rework and business soared. As a result of the increased business, full employment was maintained. Patty’s company did end up purchasing this facility. In addition, Patty and Pete became fast friends with Jacques.
干杯
罗恩博士
注：一如既往，本故事根据真实事件改编。
