Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1078362
FEBRUARY 2019 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 43 No, these are technologies you have to have in-house. Some understand better than others, and some are going to learn when they miss the boat. Every time I meet with a CM or a potential supplier, I say, "These are the few things you need to look at. I'm not going to spell it out; it's not rocket science." What is this LiDAR technology? There is laser, and there are optics, cameras, and boards. Like most technology products, the size is going to get smaller and smaller. In addition, what kind of certifications do you need to have? That's most of the ques - tions. They have to sit down and have a task team and ask these questions. Some CMs have started thinking, "We have to get in the game!" Johnson: Which is much better for them. Ramanathan: Exactly. Johnson: It's worth the preparation. You men- tioned where the brick wall is on the timeline. By that you mean that's the point in the sched- ule where you're pitching it over the wall to production, and they have to be able to manu- facture it or not. Ramanathan: Yes, and not just manufacturing, but manufacturing an automotive-grade prod- uct. To elaborate, our mantra is very simple: QCDC—quality, capacity to scale, deliver on time, and cost. Cost is the last piece at this point. It's going to shift, but it's never going to exceed the quality because it's about people's safety. Quality is first, and the capacity to scale is next because if you prove something small, you have to take it to the market in volume. For example, for a phone launch, if you get out to market with 100,000 or 200,000 units, and then you stop shipment for two months, it will be a disaster. Instead, once you get it right, scale it to the maximum—you make the most out of that market—and then you can do iterations after iterations to improve the product because now you have the market. If you cannot increase the capacity of your production at the right quality, you will not hit the volume delivery. Your cost will increase and you will have all kinds of problems. For us, if a vendor who par- ticipates in the quality and scalable capacity and can deliver on time at the right cost, they are the partner I want to go with. Johnson: That makes sense. Can you tell me a little bit about the kinds of technologies you've incorporated in the PCBs in your products? Ramanathan: I cannot give out details. Predom- inantly, we use FR-4 boards in the first genera- tion. I can tell you it's all going to get smaller in size, even micro/micro-e and automotive grade that withstands high temperatures, shocks, and vibrations. Also, the major area where CMs will have to learn is the technologies on the laser side because the laser also has to get smaller in the near future. And 905 is not eye safe, so they have to take a lot of precautions (1550 is eye safe). Thus, before the 1550nm supply chain grows bigger, CMs should get on the boat early on by doing the right investments. The message I want to pass on to CMs is this: Take early-stage growth companies seriously. If an early-stage company has series B funding, then they are getting some good work done. If the same company has products with OEMs and is talking to large players in the industry, take them seriously. A lot of CMs will ignore early-stage companies. Don't ignore them be- cause Facebook, Uber, Google, and many other companies were at that stage not too long ago. Johnson: For my readers who work in the PCB fabrication side of things, could you give them a benchmark? When you're finishing your prototype and getting ready to go to produc- tion, what kinds of geometries, sizes, and layer counts do you work with now? Where do you think you're going to be three to five years? In other words, if you're talking to them about wanting to be ready when you get to the brick wall on the schedule, where do they need to be with capabilities to even start? Ramanathan: Right now, we are developing our next-generation product. It is 50% smaller