Working for manufacturer engineering couple years. Sharing the manufacturing experience, skill, DFx, design, and information. Be care of this blog is personal share and content may not be 100% correctly.
Thinking back to my first day working at an electronics assembly factory, I was hired as a Product Engineer. This role is actually quite similar to that of a Process Engineer, but at that time, Workingbear only had experience in IC packaging or Semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) company — so when it came to assembly line operations, I was totally clueless.
At the beginning, I didn’t even know how to use an electric screwdriver. So embarrassing! When I went to the production line, the operators even laughed at me. Although they didn’t say anything out loud, I could sense their thoughts: “Here comes another rookie engineer who doesn’t know a thing!”
In general, assembly line operators have to follow instructions not only from their supervisors and production leaders but also from engineers who define the product’s work procedures. That means they need to listen to the engineers’ directions on technical matters. Later on, I realized how tough their situation was — sometimes, an overconfident engineer would issue confusing or unreasonable instructions that didn’t improve yield or solve real problems, and sometimes even made things worse. Yet, operators still had to follow orders. No wonder they weren’t thrilled to see “another clueless engineer” show up on the floor.
Fortunately, Workingbear managed to earn their respect over time. Even though I was a newcomer in this field, I had no preconceived notions or “this is how it’s always done” mentality. I started from zero — asked questions whenever I didn’t understand something, and dug into the problems until I figured them out.
In my early days, I basically sat next to the line repair technician all day, acting as her little assistant. I helped disassemble and reassemble defective units while secretly learning what to watch out for during product assembly. At the same time, I analyzed problems using engineering and statistical process control methods.
Once I identified and confirmed the possible cause of a defect, I immediately asked the line to adjust the operation or reminded the operator responsible for repeated errors. Then I would verify on the spot whether the fix actually worked and keep tracking for any new issues that might arise. If the problem was design-related, I’d report it to the design department and request a design change to improve manufacturing stability.
Because I could actually help the production line solve problems, I gradually became one of the go-to engineers on the floor. People naturally turn to whoever can solve their problems.
Back then, mobile phones were just starting to become popular. If you wanted to find someone in the factory, you either called their desk phone — or, if they weren’t there, you had to physically look for them. Eventually, the company set up a factory-wide PA (public announcement) system. You’d hear messages like “Mr. X, please pick up call at extension XXXX” or “Ms. Y, please report to Line 5.” The PA system was incredibly busy — sometimes you even had to line up for the operator to make an announcement!
At first, I thought the people whose names were always being called must be the important ones. Later, when my own name started showing up constantly on the PA, I realized the truth — those weren’t the “important” people, just the busiest ones. Everyone was looking for them!
The type of assembly line I’m talking about here is for electronic products — something similar to today’s smartphone assembly lines. That means lots of plastic and metal parts, and therefore relatively high defect rates.
In our factory, every line had a repair technician assigned to it. Besides fixing defective units right away, her real value was identifying — on the spot — whether the problem came from the man, method, material, or machine. She would give immediate feedback and help adjust the process to keep yield stable.
So, repair work isn’t just about fixing products — it’s about real-time feedback and correction to prevent more defects. That’s why repair technicians need basic technical judgment to identify what went wrong. Their main task may seem simple — replacing bad or mismatched components — but it’s actually a key part of keeping the production line healthy. Of course, if the defect came from the PCB itself, it would be sent to a board repair technician, but at least we could quickly distinguish whether it was an assembly issue or a board issue.
If you also work in an electronics assembly factory — how does your line handle real-time repair feedback? Or do you just collect defect data to make the reports look good?
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