Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1038326
OCTOBER 2018 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 87 fun for me when customers come in here with healthy skepticism then leave skipping out the door. It's just cool, and it's contagious. Goldman: That's fun stuff. Brown: I'm doing what I want to do right now. That, and I try to get these younger folks here to understand what they've got in front of them. Goldman: Right, you have such great opportunities in front of you. Brown: And for the younger staff, this is normal. They don't under- stand what normal really is in this industry. Goldman: Jim, earlier you were tell- ing me about the groups that have been hired here who are like family members. Tell me a little bit more about that. Brown: It is part of the culture and, to me, it's a positive thing because it provides harmony within the company—it mirrors the family re- lationship. It translates to both places. Hus- bands and wives, fathers, sons, get to go home at night and talk about work, and they know what each other is talking about. For the younger employees, this is such a unique place. We have people who have board experience and sometimes that's helpful, but sometimes it's a hindrance. Experienced staff have a preconceived concept of how to build a board, how the operation works. They come here and there's a paradigm shift that they must go through. Goldman: It's not just the look of the facilty, al- though that's a huge thing, but the attitude. Like you said, the enthusiasm. Brown: Right, and that's where we're going to rely on Alex as the visionary. Get him out of the day-to-day stuff and start to look at the roadmap for the next three to five years. Get Alex working with our suppliers, anticipating what the customers are going to be looking for two years or three years out, then start de - veloping it now. Goldman: Knowing GreenSource and Alex, once he develops a roadmap, the customers may respond with something like, "Okay, so now we know where we want to go." Brown: Yeah, there is a bit of a catch-22 to that. One of the customers commented, "I can't wait to give your capabilities to our engineers and see what they can do with it." And he went on to tell us that their engineers are limited right now by the capabilities that exist within the industry and shops in North America. He said, "You're taking it to a whole other level." We're on the edge of semiconductor technology right now. With the semi-additive process (SAP), the line is blurred. PCB technology used to be down here, and semiconductor was up here. We're closing the gap. That's why a lot of the equipment that we have for in-process checks is semiconductor equip- ment. That Impex proX3? That's semiconductor- grade equipment. If you look at the equipment that the industry is using right now, the gauge error of the equipment is greater than the toler - ance customers are asking us to hold. So how do you validate that you're meeting the customer's requirement when the error in the measuring equipment exceeds the criteria? It's interesting times. Goldman: It would seem you and your cus- tomers are forming the same kind of partner- ship that you have formed with your suppliers. GreenSource has pulled the suppliers up, now you're pulling your customers up, and then the customers will keep pulling you up. Everybody goes forward and that's great to see and feel. Brown: We all acknowledge that all boats rise with the tide. It's exciting. Goldman: It is definitely exciting. Thanks so much for giving me a lift! PCB007