Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1047182
26 SMT007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2018 manufacturing challenge for us. It's sort of the surrounding processes, whether it's cleanli- ness or sterilization or things like that, that would be the biggest concern. Obviously, for any custom chip or device, we'd have to look at placement and soldering technology, so that's really where I think our focus would be. Reilly: We're also seeing a shift in technology, especially in the silicon market. This new shift will play a big part in how technology is being delivered through new products. We're work- ing closely with companies who are develop- ing these next generation of silicon chips, to be used in printed circuit boards which will help delivery this innovated technology. These are exciting times for the electronics industry and Vexos is proud to be associated with this cutting-edge technology. As Kaspars said, our customers find that the more they engage with Vexos from a develop- ment and design standpoint, it's crucial to the time to market, and it's crucial to the mile- stones and roadmap that they have in mind for their product. So again, we are seeing a lot of this new technology. I'm more engaged with our customers in the early stage, and they're seeing the benefits of it from that stand- point. Goldman: We hear that a lot, that if you can just work together with your customer all the way back to design, how much better that is, shall we say. Reilly: Yes, because we may have customers, but we are very much a part of their organi- zation. We are their manufacturing partner within their organization, and they leverage the expertise and knowledge we have from an engineering, quality and manufacturing standpoint. Also, they rely on the feedback we provide them from our DFx services in the form of DFM, DFF, DFT, and DFSC. These services allow them to focus on the next-gener- ation product knowing they have a manufac- turing partner who's helping them deliver their current product to market. Fricbergs: That's a good point that Tom raises, that the early engagement allows for poten- tial product design for manufacturing from the outset. That frees up engineering resources from sustaining activities to actually do new product development. As an EMS provider, we see some of both, products that are well designed and ready to manufacture, and we've had products that have been brought to us basically with errors in the design. What you end up with in these cases are challenges in first pass yield and throughput. Then, you end up going through the design and regulatory hurdles of trying to address what was a funda- mental design flaw in the first place. So, we want to help our customers avoid that. It's also the same from a testability point of view. I've talked about that as well, but we offer as part of our EMS services, design-for- test feedback services. A product that is laid out properly for both an in-circuit test, or a functional test, which we also have the devel- opment capability for, will yield better results. If you provide the proper access on the PCB, you can actually go that much further in reduc- ing any manufacturing or component defects before you do the system integration. Then, once you've done the system integration, you can also perform a comprehensive functional test. The better planned you are for that, the more successful you are, and you can reduce your failure rate internally and externally. And the best way for reducing external failure is by eliminating the potential for defects in the first place. Reilly: Another point I'd like to bring up is what we are seeing in the industry, with regards to These are exciting times for the electronics industry and Vexos is proud to be associated with this cutting-edge technology.