-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- pcb007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueAdvancing the Advanced Materials Discussion
Moore’s Law is no more, and the advanced material solutions to grapple with this reality are surprising, stunning, and perhaps a bit daunting. Buckle up for a dive into advanced materials and a glimpse into the next chapters of electronics manufacturing.
Inventing the Future With SEL
Two years after launching its state-of-the-art PCB facility, SEL shares lessons in vision, execution, and innovation, plus insights from industry icons and technology leaders shaping the future of PCB fabrication.
Sales: From Pitch to PO
From the first cold call to finally receiving that first purchase order, the July PCB007 Magazine breaks down some critical parts of the sales stack. To up your sales game, read on!
- Articles
- Columns
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - pcb007 Magazine
The Critical Role of Materials
June 19, 2024 | Marcy LaRont, PCB007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 1 minute

Materials and substrates are an ongoing discussion for PCB fabricators today, offering PCB designers and fabricators much more choice than was available two decades ago. When it comes to running a printed circuit board company, material management is a critical piece for operations. When you are doing high mix, lower volumes, material management can be an even greater challenge. This discussion with Anaya Vardya of American Standard Circuits sheds light on best practices, innovative approaches to vendor relationships, inventory management, and panel optimization, highlighting the critical role materials play in the success of electronics manufacturing today.
Marcy LaRont: Anaya, ASC is a high-tech PCB manufacturing facility that works with many different product and material types. What is your approach to material management?
Anaya Vardya: On the supply chain side of material management, we have a large range of materials used for the products we manufacture. For standard FR-4, we are fortunate to have a handful of different material vendors that stock in the Chicago area. This means we can minimize the amount of inventory we're holding inside our facility, which saves space and inventory dollars. We typically have multiple deliveries a week from these suppliers. In the worst case, we can drive over to the supplier and pick up material.
LaRont: Local sourcing is certainly key to just-in-time inventory management if you aren’t holding everything in-house. But what about less standard material types?
Vardya: Beyond FR-4, our strategies for holding stock and managing lead times are, out of necessity, a bit different. Because we have such a wide variance of materials and lead times, we proactively inform our customers of material lead times when we're quoting the job. If a specialty material needs to be manufactured, we determine the manufacturing lead time, shipping strategy, and cost and communicate that at the quote stage. Of course, it's the best information we have at that time. We live in a dynamic world, as you know.
To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the June 2024 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.
Testimonial
"We’re proud to call I-Connect007 a trusted partner. Their innovative approach and industry insight made our podcast collaboration a success by connecting us with the right audience and delivering real results."
Julia McCaffrey - NCAB GroupSuggested Items
Curing and Verification in PCB Shadow Areas
09/17/2025 | Doug Katze, DymaxDesign engineers know a simple truth that often complicates electronics manufacturing: Light doesn’t go around corners. In densely populated PCBs, adhesives and coatings often fail to fully cure in shadowed regions created by tall ICs, connectors, relays, and tight housings.
Marcy’s Musings: Advancing the Advanced Materials Discussion
09/17/2025 | Marcy LaRont -- Column: Marcy's MusingsAs the industry’s most trusted global source of original content about the electronics supply chain, we continually ask you about your concerns, what you care about, and what you most want to learn about. Your responses are insightful and valuable. Thank you for caring enough to provide useful feedback and engage in dialogue.
September 2025 PCB007 Magazine: The Future of Advanced Materials
09/16/2025 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamMoore’s Law is no more, and the advanced material solutions being developed to grapple with this reality are surprising, stunning, and perhaps a bit daunting. Buckle up for a dive into advanced materials and a glimpse into the next chapters of electronics manufacturing.
I-Connect007 Launches Advanced Electronics Packaging Digest
09/15/2025 | I-Connect007I-Connect007 is pleased to announce the launch of Advanced Electronics Packaging Digest (AEPD), a new monthly digital newsletter dedicated to one of the most critical and rapidly evolving areas of electronics manufacturing: advanced packaging at the interconnect level.
Panasonic Industry will Double the Production Capacity of MEGTRON Multi-layer Circuit Board Materials Over the Next Five Years
09/15/2025 | Panasonic Industry Co., Ltd.Panasonic Industry Co., Ltd., a Panasonic Group company, announced plans for a major expansion of its global production capacity for MEGTRON multi-layer circuit board materials today. The company plans to double its production over the next five years to meet growing demand in the AI server and ICT infrastructure markets.