Elementary, Mr. Watson: Design Data Packages—Circle of Concern or Circle of Influence?
Fresh PCB Concepts: The Power of a Lunch & Learn for PCB Professionals
The Shaughnessy Report: Solving the Data Package Puzzle
Navigating the Global Materials Supply Chain: A Roundtable Discussion
December 3, 2015 | Andy Shaughnessy, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 15 minutes
Shaughnessy: Mark, we'll start with you. What would you say are some of the biggest challenges you face in dealing with customers from a varied base?
Goodwin: Really, everything outside of Asia is now a quick-turn, high-mix business. We have to have the right materials in the right place to supply our PCB customers like Schoeller, generally speaking, with a very short lead time. That ranges from a few hours to a couple of days, but not much longer than that. I'm here to provide technical support and backup services to those customers as well. That includes full lab service capability to enable us to verify our products and our customers’ prices.
Keuthen: I absolutely agree with that. What comes out of the industries, specifically out of the automotive industries, logistically is now brought into the supply chain anyway and whatever logistical concepts we need to fulfill for our customers. Things like VMI and managed consignment stops without customers—all of these things actually need to go into our supply chain and be integrated vertically down to our suppliers as well. That's why for us it is very important having more than 1,300 different materials on stock (which sometimes is not even sufficient in daily business), to have reliable suppliers that are able to support our logistical system and have the right materials, of course.
Pattie: Yes, I can see that. Increasingly, with complexities that you have in materials, PCB manufacturers really have to be in partnership with their laminate suppliers. I think for a few reasons. One: we're all in this quick-turn market, so if you don't have material in stock, you lose that opportunity and your competitor may have that. That's very important. We become our customers’ inventories at times.
I think also the partnership with the PCB factory is very important because we need to know what direction you’re going so that we can plan. It's such an increasingly competitive market that if you're going to live on “me too” products, you're not going to be very successful in that company. We're always looking for where to guide the technical direction of our company so that we can plan for not now, but for five years from now. The partnership is really important in many different ways.
Page 2 of 6
Share on:
Suggested Items
Legislative Update: Is the SEMI Investment Act Inclusive of PCB and Substrates?
05/13/2025 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamIn response to this week's news about new U.S. legislation being put forth by SEMI to support our domestic electronics supply chain—the Strengthening Essential Manufacturing and Industrial (SEMI) Investment Act—IPC’s Richard Capetto, senior director of North American Government Relations, made the following statement.
Delta Builds First IPC-CFX Demonstration Line in Asia-Pacific
05/14/2025 | Chuck Li, IPC North AsiaAs a key standard in the global electronics manufacturing industry, IPC-CFX has been implemented in various regions worldwide, providing the foundation for digital factory solutions. In the Asia-Pacific region, IPC actively promotes this standard, helping enterprises enhance efficiency and competitiveness through digital transformation.
Hunting for Clues: Feng Xue Solving Circuit Board 'Crimes' With AOI Standard
05/08/2025 | Linda Stepanich, IPCWhen residents in sleepy English villages needed a top-tier detective to solve a murder, they called on Belgian super-sleuth Hercule Poirot, author Agatha Christie’s fictional detective famous for using his “little grey cells” to solve crimes. In the same way, IPC standards development committees, when creating a standard to detect defects in circuit boards using Automated Optical Inspection (AOI), call on IPC A-Team, Hercule.
IPC Strengthens Global Focus with Promotion of Sanjay Huprikar to Chief Global Officer
05/08/2025 | IPCIPC, the global electronics association, announces the promotion of Sanjay Huprikar to chief global officer. This newly created position reflects the association’s forward-looking strategy and industry needs to strengthen the electronics supply chain.
Navigating Global Manufacturing in an Era of Uncertainty
05/07/2025 | Philip Stoten, ScoopThe EMS industry faces unprecedented challenges as global trade tensions rise and tariff announcements create market uncertainty. In an overview of IPC Europe’s podcast, MADE IN EUROPE, industry experts from GPV and Zollner examine how these developments impact our businesses and customers, and what strategies will prevail in this new landscape.