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Nolan’s Notes: A Tribute to Iola—and Automation

In the 1960s and ’70s, when the west side of the Portland, Oregon, metro area was dominated by Tektronix, my grandmother worked as one of the “assembly ladies.” Known as “Tek,” the company was an economic juggernaut, driving the economy of the cities of Beaverton, Tigard, and Hillsboro. The only employer larger than Tektronix was the state of Oregon itself; virtually every Portlander had some connection to Tek.

Fun side note: It was so large that the company published its own newspaper, TekWeek, every Friday, and classified ads were Beaverton’s pre-internet version of Craigslist. Even if you didn’t work at Tektronix, you would seek out a copy of TekWeek just so you could shop the classifieds.

In those days, through-hole parts were the state of the art, and assembly meant hand-soldering. For a huge OEM like Tektronix, that translated into massive single-story industrial buildings with open floor plans across the metro area. These were just big empty shells, filled with rows of soldering workbenches, and assembly operating around the clock. 

My grandma, Iola Searles, worked in assembly from the late 1950s until her retirement in the mid-’80s. She would tell me stories about Howard Vollum, co-founder and president, using the back of a pickup truck in the parking lot as a stage to talk to his staff, and she marveled at the growth of the company from a thriving startup of 200 people to an industry megacorp.

Each day, Iola dutifully took her place at a bench and soldered components. The sight of a “bench farm” of stations, nearly all of them occupied by women hunched over and soldering components to boards, must have been something—and a long way removed from the assembly lines of today.

She worked the day shift, with an occasional stint on swing shift, and was often reassigned to a different building. Over the years, she worked in Portland, the main campus in Beaverton, in Wilsonville, and even at the site on Walker Road. Through all those years that she soldered, Iola Searles and compatriots were the heartbeat of the electronics manufacturing machine in that era.

I visited those assembly floors periodically, and I remember the look and smell of the floor—flux, solder, fresh circuit boards—and the characteristic hum of human activity. I’m reminded of that every time I step onto an assembly floor today.

But the technology changes are stark. Surface-mount packages began appearing in the mainstream just as Iola was retiring. For her skill set, she got out at exactly the right time. Shrinking semiconductors meant smaller packages but more component leads. Surface mount technology created the assembly capital equipment industry we know today, and those bench farms converted to SMT assembly lines. Of course, hand soldering hasn’t disappeared completely, but it has become a niche within the wider assembly process now dominated by automated lines of ever-evolving machinery.

For this December issue, we aimed to further explore the latest developments in automation on the shop floor, fully expecting an issue packed with tactical information and product updates. What we got was even better: Everything came gift-wrapped in paper made from market dynamics and strategy.

EMS expert Mark Wolfe shares sage advice on how AI is reshaping automation. Josh Casper offers guidance on when it’s time to replace your SMT equipment. Jeanine Norlin and Roberta Foster-Smith discuss Nordson’s offering in selective soldering equipment, and we bring home some perspective from the inspection manufacturers at Omron and Koh Young.

Yet, while the technology for soldering has evolved, material handling has not changed as significantly. Perhaps more accurately, companies may not have prioritized automating their inventory management like they managed their lines.

We might be due for some significant material handling automation. David Ly at Inovaxe helps us understand the automation of material handling. Complementing Inovaxe, you’ll enjoy a wire harness piece with Kipo, titled “Cutting Through the Noise in Component Sourcing.” Finally, Stan Rak continues his insightful electric vehicle reliability series, this time focusing on intelligent power management.

My grandma Iola was born on a farm just outside Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1939, after her parents lost their farm to the Great Depression she traveled west to Oregon in a family caravan with her parents, 11 siblings, and her husband. My mother was born in an Idaho tent on that journey. Later, my grandpa and all of Iola’s brothers served in World War II. All but one brother returned home safely. That’s when Iola began her own small contribution by tirelessly assembling the Tektronix oscilloscopes that helped this industry become what it is today. Iola passed away at the turn of this century.

We’ve come a long way. Iola, this issue is for you.

This column originally appeared in the December 2025 issue of SMT007 Magazine.