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Taiyo Gains Market Share in Europe: Campisi Interview
September 28, 2010 |Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
As Taiyo America continues to grow market share in Europe, more and more companies are converting to the world's leading solder mask. It is interesting to notice the similarities--as well as the differences--between the North American market and the European market. Steve Campisi, Taiyo's technical sales expert, having just returned from an extended, but successful, sales trip to Europe, sat down with Dan Beaulieu last week to discuss what it's like for an American-based (Japanese-owned) company to do business in Europe. Dan Beaulieu: Steve, how long have you been working in Europe?
Steve Campisi: I first started providing technical service back in 2005 in addition to my regular duties for North America. In 2008, Europe became my number-one priority.
DB: How do you like it?
SC: As you can imagine, Dan, it was very challenging at first, with long trips lasting two to three weeks and learning the differences between European board shops compared to North American board shops. But, now that we have gone through the learning curve and we are picking up new customers all the time, it is a lot of fun.
DB: Are you guys making some pretty good inroads into that market? How are things going?
SC: We are making great strides in gaining new customers and market share. Last year, we picked up 13 new customers and we expect to gain another 10 to 15 new customers this year. It's really nice to see all of the hard work finally paying off. The first couple of years we were doing lots of visits and trials and now the visits are about conversions.
DB: From everything I read and hear, the European circuit board companies are working in some pretty interesting technologies. Do you agree?
SC: Yes, the European shops are doing some really cool stuff. I don't want to go into too much detail, but, as we have developed our relationships with many of the shops and Taiyo is able to offer some solutions to their challenges, the European shops are inviting us to see some of the high-tech work and--let me tell you--they are doing some really cool stuff with LEDs, dielectric materials and incorporating new designs that many only talk about.
DB: Can you give us some examples of the technologies you are seeing in Europe?
SC: I see work being done with LED, touch screen panels and solar technology. When LED started to surface onto the market it was single-sided work. Now you see aluminum subs embedded between double-sided work and even multi-layered boards. In the touch screen market, copper foils are laminated directly onto glass and then etched. Companies continue to push the boundaries in developing products.
DB: Obviously this presents a challenge for Taiyo. How are you helping these companies with their new and innovative technologies?
SC: Taiyo has a lot of resources worldwide. John (John Fix, is Taiyo's European Technical Sales Manager) has developed great relationships with our sister and parent companies and we have been able to bring some of the products developed in Asia to Europe. Recently, we have converted a few customers to an Ink Jet Legend Ink, IJR-4000 MW300 that was originally developed by Taiyo Korea that has best in class adhesion to cured solder mask. Also, Taiyo Japan continues to develop new products for LED and high-end packaging solder mask. So, the PCB shops in Europe recognize that Taiyo has a lot to offer regarding new technology and being well entrenched in Asia.
DB: My understanding is that while other solder mask companies are cutting back their technical sales support Taiyo is increasing theirs. Is that true? How so?
SC: Dan, our focus at Taiyo has always been about providing the best service and products to the industry. We take pride in saying "Once a Taiyo Customer, Always a Taiyo Customer." John and I spend a lot of time in Europe, just ask our wives! We will continue to increase our technical service visits and we work hard to train our distributors. We have put together a great team in Europe with Umicore, Gea, Lamar, ATIS, Schneidler and Tech-Knowledge in Israel. We're excited about our future in Europe and I think the European PCB shops will see the advantages of using Taiyo, as well.
DB: One of the things I like about Taiyo is that you are such a focused company. While in other companies solder mask is only one of their products, at Taiyo, it is your only product. Can you elaborate on that?
SC: Yes, it is true that we are very focused on solder mask products. It has been this focus that has led us to being the number-one solder mask in the world. But, we also have some great hole filling products and a brand new ink jet legend ink. Our hole filling product, THP-100 DX1, may also be the number-one hole filling product in the world, as well.
DB: Is it true that there are over 100 R&D engineers working at Taiyo worldwide?
SC: Worldwide we have R&D activities going on in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China and the U.S. Each area seems to have a specialty and we are able to offer these products to the world. As I mentioned before, we are offering an ink jet legend ink that was developed by Taiyo Korea. It has many advantages over the other ink jet products and we expect it to become a market leader also. Taiyo Japan has developed some new conductive metal inks and pastes that we are planning to market, as well. It's nice to know that there is some great R&D work being done by all of the Taiyo facilities.
DB: What is Taiyo's worldwide market share?
SC: Dan, we are at 45% worldwide market share for solder mask and we are closing in on 50%.
DB: What is your market share in Europe? Are you growing?
SC: Our market share in Europe continues to grow; our goal is to be at 20% by the end of next year.
DB: With your market share increasing in Europe how is your competition responding?
SC: Initially, it seemed as if they were just ignoring us, but now that we have taken many customers away they are getting a little feisty--even to a point where they are taking it personally. Our competition has always been price-driven whereas we emphasize product performance and technical service. At Taiyo we welcome competition because it forces us to be even better.
DB: One last question, in your opinion where is the industry going in terms of technology? We've learned in this interview that you are seeing a lot of new technology being developed. Where do you think this will lead us in a year, in five years, in 10 years?
SC: This is a tough one. In the last two to four years I've heard a lot of talk about printed electronics and nanotechnology. It's exciting stuff, but a lot of it is still in the R&D phase. In the PCB sector one example is the research being done on ways to embed some of the components within the layers. The driver behind this is OEMs increasing their offerings on the gadgets they develop. Heat dissipation is the big hurdle with this type of technology. It's really hard to say where we are going to be in five or 10 years. Personally, I believe as the emerging markets of the world continue to grow, energy will continue to be a big factor. The electric vehicle will continue to evolve and become more affordable; technologies will be developed that will make homes more energy efficient and self sufficient. Our information highway (telecom) structure will have to go through a major change as more computers come on board. We'll have to wait and see where the trend takes us.
DB: Steve, this is interesting stuff, it's also heartening to hear that you have so many positive things going on in Europe. I know lately in North America everything has been doom and gloom from the recession, but what you guys have going in Europe is very encouraging. Although you are focused mostly on Europe these days, I know you are located in Canada, more specifically, the Montreal area. How do you see things for Taiyo in North America?
SC: Dan, there is some good news there, too. We have worked very hard to gain market share in North America over the past five years and I'm happy to say that we now have over 80% of the North American solder mask market.
DB: Wow, very good. You guys must be doing something right.
SC: We just try to figure out what our customers need and give it to them.
DB: Steve, thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us today. I do appreciate it.
SC: No problem, Dan, any time. Thank you.
Note from Dan: I really liked talking with Steve, as I told him, it was refreshing to look at a company that is "working the plan" so to speak. Taiyo has developed an aggressive growth strategy for Europe; they are now implementing that strategy and making it work. It's a good thing.