Walkmen In Assembly Area

I work alone in my SMT department so I listen to whatever I want, and loudly. It helps me work I believe. BUT..... You have to take each case seperatly. I know some people I could trust to do a good quality job while asleep. But then you have those that, no matter how competent they are on a regular basis, they just cannot give a job their full attention with headphones or speaker music. Unfortunatly you cannot have two sets of rules. I vote no music (except for me that is...).

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Hi

You know I heard a show recently that said they used music for the mating of a great race horse. I don't remember his name yet it tickled me.

Also this year for Christmas a company offers a music product that slows down your heart rate via breathing techniques linked to music. It is a combo monitor and helps people that have anxiety that turns into fast rather than slower diaphram breathing. Neat product and it works.

It depends on what you or the animals or even the plants are doing and whether it is a strongly supporting mechanism applied at the right time and situation.

Usually at SMT type work places many people don't really want to be there and may have life problems. Certain music even if soft with words could be upsetting if their lives weren't OK. Others I know can't stand soft music. At an SMTA meeting the other day a lady described how a co worker went balistic over Seasonal music played in her private cube.

So even though I like it, I think it is easier and more productive to stay away.

YiE, MA/NY DDave

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You asked for opinions, here's mine. If you feel you need to wear a walkman to get thru the day then you can go wear it in the unemployment line. Anyone who says they are more productive when wearing a walkman and listening to music in a dynamic work environment such as a SMT assembly facility is not a company oriented person. They have serious communication issues and probably refer to their company as "they" instead of "we". In these times of economic slowdown I would think it is a good opportunity to scale down to the core "company oriented" employees. Can you imagine an employee who is wearing a walkman tracking down his manager to ask him for some more work because his process is running smooth and he has idle time? Of course not, he'll just sit there and listen to his music with the attitude "this is what they pay me to do". In the words of Charles Barkley, "I may be wrong, but I doubt it".

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It is surprising how a simple question sometimes reveals complex issues. It seems from reading many replies that an employee wearing a walkman while working is making a statement about his attitude toward his work and his employer. This is similar to how we regard hair, tattoos, clothes, etc, that a person wears or displays. The first impression we have upon seeing someone listening to music while working is that he is not fully concentrating on the task at hand.

If this is the case, then a law should be passed to remove all sound systems in cars. When is the last time you drove anywhere without the car radion turned on?

I have observed that society has evolved to a point that silent environment has become more disturbing than a noisy one. Notice any situation involving a group of people stuck together in a room, the silent moments never last more than a few seconds.

What activities nobody would even consider wearing a walkman? Team sports, hunting, race car driving...

Focusing on the task at hand is the key. If the source of music is isolating you from your surrounding, that is not a good idea. But if the source of music stays in the background and is not distracting, then it contributes to a more pleasant environment. A walkman covering only one ear and set low enough to allow normal hearing of the environment falls in the latter category, IMO.

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> cool Music soothens one's emotions. It should be > mild and not loud. No voice. Just > music...Solos. > > We have used this successfully > in our plant. Every hour we have a two minutes > break to give rest to our operators who use > microscopes for all the work. During this time, > they close their eyes and relax. > > We decide the > music ourselves. > > But walkmans will certainly > divert the attention. > > bye

I just argree with GregP. As I saw in the past. People enjoy their walkman and ...fall to sleep. Even got caught with in conveyor (no injury but scare enough). Sometime as the Operator leaned over for the better look.. their headphone got laid on the wet paste and smear and dragged the parts out of the pads (poor quality). As if I am working with an outsource team to visit your company (any contractor) This would be on my reports to the boss that is those operators are relaxing. So, Can we trust them on the Quality in First time Passes? I know each one got their own opinions, ideas and diff. way to manage and operated. to me Its should be banned. They got paid to coming and do the works and moving around assist others. Not Playing!

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Hi

This has been an interesting topic.

I agree and I remember an older guy or two, some of which I knew, who agreed that common sense isn't exactly common place. The idea always drove me crazy, for a while.

YiE, MA/NY DDave

This message was posted the Electronics Forum @

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