Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/972396
38 FLEX007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2018 Feature Interview BY THE I-CONNECT007 EDITORIAL TEAM For this first issue of Flex007 Magazine, we interviewed John Talbot, president and owner of Tramonto Circuits. Headquartered in metro Minneapolis, Minnesota, Tramonto manufac- tures flexible and rigid PCBs for a variety of industry segments. Editors Andy Shaughnessy, Patty Goldman and Stephen Las Marias asked John to discuss the challenges and opportu- nities in the world of flexible circuits, and some of the trends he's seeing in this market. Andy Shaughnessy: John, what trends are you see- ing in flex this year? John Talbot: I think wearables will be a big topic for the next three or four years. We're seeing a lot of interest in aerospace and automotive right now. Assembly is something near and dear to my heart; even though the flex industry has been around for a long time, it's still a really small part of the overall indus - try, and we still have customers who are not comfortable with the assembly portion of flex circuits. Shaughnessy: Do you all offer flex assembly and design? Talbot: Yes, we build bare circuits and we do assembly and design. We still don't see a whole lot of customers that are looking for design help. They tend to design the circuits as they would a printed board, and then get some help from us to just adjust it or revise it to make it manufacturable in the flexible circuit world. Patty Goldman: How much of your design work is for flex? Talbot: Maybe 10% are designed from the bottom up. Everything else is at least a design put in front of us and then we help them adjust it. Goldman: So that 10%, do they just say, "Here, design something for us please?" Or are they just throwing up their hands and saying "We don't even know how to design this"? Talbot: Not quite. It's more like they don't have the time, or they've designed circuit boards for a long time, but now they're starting to get into flexible cir - cuits and they just need some help figuring things out, typically with the standards. For years and years, Experts Discussion with John Talbot, Tramonto Circuits