Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/536970
10 The PCB Magazine • July 2015 patty's perspeCtive Patty Goldman is a technical editor at i-connect007. an indus- try veteran, Patty's strengths are in market/strategic analysis, practical problem solving, organization/ex- ecution, and research. And this brings me to our lineup in this month's issue. As an excellent starting point, Steve Williams gives an all-encompassing over- view of supply chains and supply chain man- agement, starting with a little history and pro- gressing right through the nuts and bolts of a good SCM program. Learn how it is in every- one's interest, up and down the whole chain, to know and embrace the concepts, and then put them into practice. We always ask for comments in our sur- veys, and readers offered a number of obser- vations pertaining to the difficulty in obtain- ing specialty laminates. So, we went to several sources and checked it out. As a result, we have Barry Matties' interview with John Pav- lak of Rogers Corporation. Along a somewhat similar line, Barry also interviewed Insulectro's Ken Parent and Jason Marsh. They had a lot to say about working with not only their customers, but their custom- ers' customers, via their "Accomplish Change Together" (ACT) program that addresses rigidly defined material specifications. A third supplier, Ventec also chimed in with their perspective on this month's topic. Finally, Fred Long presents the distributor's point of view: It's all about ser- vice and balancing the needs of both supplier and customer. Our flex columnist, Dave Becker, points out some other characteristics of suppliers to look for that you may not have considered. While he obviously writes from a flex supplier point of view, the points made could apply to any sup- plier up and down the chain. Finally, for those of you mainly interested in problem solving, Karl Dietz addresses dry film photoresist in his regular column. Since this is The PCB Magazine, most of the articles were contributed by suppliers to PCB manufacturers. You may also want to check out what other parts of the supply chain have to say in our July issues of SMT Magazine and The PCB Design Magazine. PCB Table 2: what would you like to learn about regarding supply chain management? (horizontal numbers represent percentage of respondents, multiple responses permitted.) "SUPPLy CHAIN MANAGEMENT": OvERUSED, UNDERUSED OR JUST MISUNDERSTOOD? continues