Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1067105
60 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2019 Stevenson: Yes. When the amount of strin- gency on the order increases, then we do need a little bit more time on average to make sure that the customer is getting what they had intended. As a run-as-sent product, we're able to accelerate those through the shop. We can eat 12 or 24 hours of hold time and not have it impact those orders. But when the scrutiny on the manufacturing floor has to be a little bit higher—like we're looking at print notes and customer specifications, and they're actu- ally looking for IPC-6012 Class 2 or 3 require- ments—then we do need to pass the time on to the customer, especially on the shorter lead times. On a three or two week, generally not, but with something that's a week or less, we may have to add a day here or there depend- ing on the holds. Matties: What trends are you seeing in the tech- nology in terms of what people are ordering? Is it growing in density or is it layer counts? Stevenson: Our run-as-sent service is kind of a model where, "Just send us your files, and we'll build what's there. We're not going to scruti- nize the design or manufacturability." If you have a three- or four-mil trace, we're basically going to build it as is, and the outcome may not always be perfect for those parameters outside of the service capabilities. That type of prod - uct has remained relatively unchanged over the last few years. About two years ago, we did open up the layer count from a six-layer to a 14-layer maximum, and we have seen people take advantage of that on some higher layer counts where they're prototyping. Density is getting tighter on that type of product, some of it's probably due to changes in our pricing model. They're able to get those tighter pitch parts through our run as sent services where that required a full NRE build, etc., before. So, we are seeing a shift towards tighter pitch, smaller holes, more surface-mount components, and a lot fewer through-holes. If you look at our product overall, some of that is our own doing—we've done it by design— and some of it is the industry and where things are going. Matties: In terms of your manufacturing processes, what sort of investment in technol- ogies are you looking at right now? Stevenson: In 2017, we spent a lot of money on equipment. We bought an LDI. We upgraded our soft gold to accommodate a lot of the RF products. We updated our ERP and websites, etc. We added a new Orbotech AOI this year, which has been great. In 2019, we have several capital equip- ment purchases scheduled already to help elevate our current technical capabilities as well as update our existing processes. But we have noticed that more and more high-speed designs, even these short little lines, require impedance control to keep the clock times accurate without the signal-loss and bounce- back effects. So, we are upgrading our technol- ogy there for 2019. Matties: So, that's a trend that you're seeing on the types of products being ordered? Stevenson: Exactly. There are still quite a few prototypes and designs that don't require controlled impedance, but it is becoming table stakes if you will. Johnson: That's why there's a move to more high-speed type designs throughout the indus- try.