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Switzer: Yes, absolutely. We have all of them including ISO, 55110, 31032, ITAR, UL MBE, DBE, SBA, and NMSDC; and of course, for our employee certs, we have IPC-A-600, IPC-A-610 and J-STD-001.
We take these things very seriously at PNC. We feel that multiple certs/registrations can be a big advantage for our existing and prospective customer base. It builds flexibility to our customers who are looking to break into new markets or industries, such as bidding on DBE projects, knowing that we are a registered DBE. This is only one scenario in which we can say we have the advantage over our competition.
Beaulieu: Do you do any R&D work at the company?
Switzer: Yes—many R&D projects. Over the last two to three years, there has been a big push for new and different materials. Examples would be board-on-board, hybrids, carbon and resistive polymer inks, and controlled depth routing to create ledges or cavities in the PCBs. We participate in an array of R&D, in fact we welcome the opportunity to work with our customers on their future projects to help them with the process and make sure they are building the best products possible.
Beaulieu: A while ago you mentioned a large investment in the company. Can you go into detail on how much you spent and on what?
Switzer: I certainly can, because this is something we are very proud of. During the past few years we have invested more than $2 million on the board side of our business and more than $1 million on the assembly side. Some of the equipment we purchased were: A new screen printer; a universal pick and place machine; and eight-zone reflow oven; a BGA rework station; AOI and a selective soldering system. We also added 8,000 square feet of manufacturing space for additional SMT assembly lines.
Beaulieu: That’s a significant investment. What was your thinking on doing that?
Switzer: We also own an assembly facility in Chicago, which we use for production runs. But with that facility we could not compete with quick-turn turnkey projects so we decided to add additional lines in our Nutley facility. This has grown to the point where we had to add additional square footage here in Nutley. Our goal is to have four assembly shops throughout the U.S. in the next few years. We have accomplished two of those in the last 3-4 years.
Beaulieu: What types of companies as customers are you best suited to work for?
Switzer: Over the years, we have diversified our work with multiple industries. We currently work within the medical field, power supply, music, automotive, microwave /RF, and military. Can’t say that one is better suited for us over the other, since PNC’s model is to service all industries with printed circuit and electronic assembly needs.
Beaulieu: So tell me Calvin, what are your plans for the future?
Switzer: Our five-year plan is to have an electronic assembly facility on the East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, and the South. At this point we have SMT lines in the Midwest and on the East Coast.
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