Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1319500
56 PCB007 MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2020 our personal lives and in society. We continue to have challenges in our business that we've faced over the last few years, including in- vesting in our growth for the future, deciding where to invest in our business, and trying to anticipate what technologies are going to grow faster than others. We've been fortunate in the last three years to have a growing market in North American PCBs. Before that, it had been a declining mar- ket for 15+ years. That presented its own set of challenges as well. But with some confi- dence, and with a growing market ahead, we continue to invest in our businesses. There's also a continuing increase in compli- ance requirements, particularly with the mar- kets that we serve. And while we're pleased to demonstrate the compliance of the products that we build to all the specifications and ex- pectations of our customers, that demonstra- tion of compliance is increasingly stringent. And not only does this involve documenta- tion of compliance to requirements but also additional laboratory testing, such as reliabil- ity testing and things of that nature. It has pro- liferated from the sample level to every board and panel. With this continuing expansion of compli- ance requirements, there's a significant cost associated with that. It requires us to invest in additional people, test systems, lab equip- ment, and similar items to continue to ship at the same level. If I were to buy a drill machine or a lamina- tion press or invest in plating, I could drive incremental dollars for that investment. When in- vesting in meeting additional re- quirements that is not the case. It's investing just to continue to operate at the same level. Johnson: What's driving the increase in compliance? Sure, compliance is often a cost of do- ing business; it's a requirement if you're going to land some of those deals, and it becomes a factor in organic growth. What's happening on the customer side to drive that increased need in compliance? Whiteside: In the markets that we serve, in- cluding the military market, there's an ever- greater emphasis on mission assurance, which is laudable, and that's what we want. And on the medical side of the business, there's an emphasis on zero defects, which is the same in automotive and aerospace as well. It's all about safety and mission assurance, which are all things we care about. There are times when we have to ask our- selves from a business standpoint, and I en- courage customers to ask themselves, "Are we well past the point of diminishing marginal re- turns here at some point?" Continuing to ask for more verification, demonstration, inspec- tion, and record keeping—at some point, you have a reasonable assurance that the product is good and compliant, and it's going to be very reliable. Sometimes, I wonder if what's being asked for is over the top. Johnson: When I was listening to one of the IPC automotive executive forums a couple of years back, it became clear that automotive was going to need at least an order of magni- tude, if not two, in the volume of production. Plus, at least in order of magnitude, if not two, in better reliability and reduction in field fail- ures. Those two numbers going in opposite di- Summit's Santa Clara, California office.