While users stay at home, the technology evolution is taking them to new places.

The other day I heard about an experiment involving a family living without technology for a week. I did not notice the metrics on the experiment because I could not get over the thought of not having a cellphone or Internet access for a week. How would I survive?

I use technology all day almost everyday. It is integrated into my life. When shopping for a new item, I use the Internet for research. I consider everything from the product itself to service and support on the product; regardless, most of my research is done online. Rarely do I go to the store to comparison-shop anymore. By the time I arrive at the store, I know exactly what I am going to buy.

This, of course, applies to customers of all types, including test and inspection customers in the surface mount world. In February, I attended the Apex trade show, and while I have not researched the official attendance numbers, the buzz indicated that it was a bit slower than normal. The hypotheses are endless as to why this might be, but one interesting take was that engineers are using the Internet to do their research and thus did not go to the show for an in-person look at new equipment. While I agree that nothing will ever totally replace face-to-face, I wonder how much merit there is to this idea.

Businesses use the Internet and other remote technologies to add sophistication to their sales process. For a company to lack a Website would be unheard of today. At Apex, it was evident that digital means are in wide use: Precious few brochures and datasheets littered the show aisles. What else are companies doing to take advantage of the technology evolution, and how can it help users of test and inspection equipment?

At the show were several instances where creativity and technology wedded. One OEM conducted a product launch using a Web-camera to show the system in the company’s laboratory thousands of miles away. Via the camera, potential customers watched and interacted in real time. Our booth conducted a remote demonstration on our x-ray product. Shipping the system is expensive, so we decided on a remote support services demonstration. We used a PC, via a WebEx online Web conference, to tap into a real system that resided offsite. In this case, we were able to show attendees a real machine doing real inspections. In this case, it saved us money; imagine from a users’ perspective how these technologies can be used to save time and money.

The use of remote support services using technologies like WebEx can be a big advantage for a contract manufacturer that lacks certain technical capabilities in-house. EMS firms typically require service and support immediately and often have more than one system to support. Lucent is an example of a company that uses remote support services. It has performed countless product applications remotely. This shortens the development cycle, cuts travel costs and charges, optimizes customer spending, and reduces the time to action.

Vin DiNunno, a supply base engineer at Lucent, had this to say about remote support services: “In addition to cost savings, it has increased flexibility,” he said. “There have been times when we would arrange to have an applications engineer fly to a site, only to find the boards not ready for inspection. The AE would have to wait for the boards to be readied.” There were also cases, he added, “in which our contract manufacturers would have to ship the boards to an Agilent lab to be inspected for defects, and then shipped back – both costly and time-consuming.”

Looking at other ways the Internet is helping test and inspection system users, I’ve noticed an increase in the use of Web-based trainings or Webcasts, not to mention the podcast boom. The idea of having an unlimited amount of individuals attend a free online seminar is a great one. You can appeal to a broad audience and teach about something they need for success – saving them money and time (no travel)!

The technology boom and its benefits to end-users are infinite. As you read this, some process engineer is receiving an email or text message indicating that a system on a production line is reaching its control limits. Preventing defects by acting on the data real-time will save countless dollars, and it is enabled by technology.

While we will never really know if Apex attendance was influenced by technology’s constant reach, we can be certain that test and inspection equipment users will use such means to their advantage to cut costs, build profits and improve efficiency. It is an exciting time to be among technologists enabling users to save time and money as the technology evolution takes capabilities to new places.

Stacy Kalisz Johnson is product marketing engineer at Agilent (agilent.com); stacy_johnson@agilent.com.