Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1398328
42 SMT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2021 nicate with assembly companies. is conver- sation is more essential than ever in a Total Concept approach because we are not only talking about the bare board, but also the com- ponent callouts as well. "How is all that going to work?" I asked myself. ese designers did not even want to talk to the people building the bare board. What the heck were they going to do with the assemblers who are one step further removed? It was a tough situation, to be sure. ings have gotten much better than those days of yore. For one, designers and board shops are communicating better than they ever have. at's because both entities genu- inely want to learn about the other. ey want to work together and understand one anoth- er's disciplines. We see many more designers visiting board shops to get a better understanding of how boards are built. We are seeing more board fabricators offering webinars, seminars, and lunch-and-learns so designers can get a better understanding of how the boards they design are built. I have seen several articles, features, and presentations where designers and board builders are working together and learning from one another. Now, with the increase in demand for Total Concept, designers, board builders, and assemblers are not only communicating, but they are doing so in the spirit of mutual respect and cooperation. It's as if they have all finally realized that, in the end, they can produce a much better product by developing a coopera- tive relationship. In some cases, the three entities are working so well together that they're building products concurrently rather than consecutively. e designer is providing board parameters to the board builder before the design is even com- pleted, allowing the builder to buy and prep the material in advance. e designer is also working closely with the assembler to make sure they agree on which components to choose so those can be ordered in advance. In these times of laminate and component shortages, this cooperative effort between the three disciplines is more effective and benefi- cial than ever. e board builder can advise the designer about which laminate to call out based on availability; it's the same for the assembler and the availability of components. is only makes sense. is new kind of cooperative spirit could not have come at a better time. Our post- COVID (I hope) world has created several factors that require this cooperation. First, there are the shortages of laminates and com- ponents that I just mentioned, while a true explosion of new and innovative products has created a need for very quick and efficient new product introduction (NPI) services. e best way to accomplish that is the ability to go from concept to reality in days; the best way to do that is to work with a company that either provides all the services under one roof or has a strong partnership with the other two disci- plines, like a board builder that has a partner- ship with a designer and an assembler. Maybe the days of failure to communicate are gone and buried with good old Strother Martin, may he rest in peace. SMT007 Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group, and an I-Connect007 columnist. To read past columns or contact Beaulieu, click here. We see many more designers visiting board shops to get a better understanding of how boards are built.