Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1073397
48 FLEX007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2019 MivaTek or anybody else—has to do with removing the A/B registration from an oper- ator standpoint, and moving it into a digital camera-driven technology. You have better repeatability and control over your line width so that you can have a more predictive cir- cuit at the end of the day. The other aspect with some of our systems is that you can go to larger and have longer cabling to reduce the connectivity from one circuit to the next. Thus, you don't need connectors and can have much longer ribbon cables if you have a more extensive format system. Matties: How does his designer learn about this or integrate this into their thinking? Hogan: That's a job for us in the marketing department to make sure we get out there and start writing more technical articles. The latest development of reel-to-reel technology is only starting to hit the market. We should be doing a better job, I suppose, of direct access through fine magazines like your own. Matties: Thank you for that. What are the major points that they should consider when you say, "We need to tell the story more for them to understand us?" What is critical for them to know? Hogan: Perhaps doing broader research than only talking to the circuit producer would help, so looking at some other standards and trying to understand what technologies are out there. The hard part about things like equipment technology is that as they emerge, a select few know about it. It's very difficult to access the entire market simultaneously, so it's kind of the job of the designer to be aware of what's coming so that they can get into the design pattern. There's a significant lag in the design loop—the lag time between design and pro- duction for the producer. By the time it hits the market for them, the product may be already outdated in terms of manufacturing technol- ogy and the best approach. Matties: If somebody is looking at bringing flex into their product mix for the first time, do you have any advice for that? Hogan: Well, that's an interesting discussion because the transition from rigid panels to flex is an art form—it's another animal. Participa- tion in some of the industry groups is a valu- able asset. Tap into the existing knowledge that's out there, like IPC APEX EXPO in the U.S. or HKPCA in China, which both have a variety of training sessions on trade informa- tion. Establish best practice for that transition. There are a lot of new technologies and manu- facturing methods coming. We participate in an organization called the CHIPS consortium, which is a group that formed to find new manufacturing methods. It's out of the Uni- versity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the U.S. We're also part of a group with Apple and Google trying to find lower-cost methods for manufacturing these high-tech products. Participation in those groups seems like a cost factor because it's not the high priorities that we're all driven by, but it adds a lot of benefits for long-term planning. Matties: I would think that when most design- ers look at information sources, they don't look at a direct imaging supplier to a PCB fab- ricator. What lessons can they learn by talking to somebody like yourself? Hogan: It's a duality where we need to get bet- ter educated about the problems of the end user—not bypass our customers, but partner with our customers to better understand their problems at the customer level. Then, their The other aspect with some of our systems is that you can go to larger and have longer cabling to reduce the connectivity from one circuit to the next.