Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1398328
20 SMT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2021 Feature Interview by the I-Connect007 Editorial Team In this interview with contract manufactur- ing expert John Vaughan and design expert Kelly Dack, they discuss the EMS/designer relationship and the communication that must take place for that to be successful. Nolan Johnson: In the designer and EMS rela- tionship, what really should happen during job set-up? Kelly Dack: I can chime in here with one word: communication. It should be communication beforehand, communication during, and per- haps feedback aer. Barry Matties: Kelly, we've heard communi- cation for years and years. ere are different levels of communication; one note is that most oen communication is needed when you're switching to a new EMS or you're bringing a new job into an EMS. But if it's an ongoing relationship, is communication the big issue? John Vaughan: Obviously, there are a cou- ple of types of relationships in the business. Some are transactional, and some are part- nership driven. It begins at the business cap- ture stage. I put a lot of responsibility on peo- ple who sell the product for our company, so it needs to be treated as the discovery phase. We tend to do a lot of military-related busi- ness. I want to know what the prime contract is, and what the funding looks like out of the DoD. As far as the NDAA is concerned, I want to know where the product is in their life cycle. I want to know their appetite for change. en you really get into the communication phase. I want to understand the existing supply chain alignments, particularly as it relates to compo- nents and any pricing registrations that they may have. My experience has been that the most suc- cessful companies have really strong cross- functional alignments across the program and/or project. To Kelly's point, the OEM engineers need to be in constant communica- tion and working closely with the design and layout guys who in turn have to be working EMS/Designer Relationships: Building Communication