Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1091269
16 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2019 In Suzhou, Ventec COO Mark Goodwin gave us a tour of the highly flexible manufacturing facility. When it comes to laminate production, you don't usually think of it as a high-mix, low- volume business—especially in China—but that's exactly how Ventec sees it. The factory is tooled with equipment capable of meeting their customer's everchanging delivery needs. When we asked Goodwin about their strat- egy, he explained it very simply. Read on to also hear Goodwin's thoughts on supply chain integrity, UL testing and approval, standards, and the impact of Brexit. Mark Goodwin: Our strategy is to make the right prod- ucts available to custom- ers quickly. It doesn't work to have great products with long lead times to deliver them; customers lose inter- est. Thus, our whole strate- gy is not just to bring new products to the specialty sectors within the market, but to deliver them fast in relatively small quantities. We have presses down to 10 Ventec Focuses on High-mix Manufacturing Feature by Barry Matties I-CONNECT007 The I-Connect007 team recently toured Ven- tec International Group's Suzhou factory where a modern, flexible manufacturing concept de- signed for fast delivery is enhancing their es- tablished volume manufacturing of specialty, high-reliability epoxy laminates and prepregs. The ongoing investment in the facility to offer flexible world-class high-mix manufacturing ca - pabilities for polyimide, thermal management, low-loss, and signal integrity material solutions supports Ventec's growth strategy in these spe- cialty niches with fast global deliveries. After a quick 20-minute high-speed train ride from Shanghai to Suzhou, we arrived at Ven- tec's headquarters and lamination production facility. The facility also houses their highly ac- tive R&D center. Ventec, now a publicly traded company on the Taipei Stock Exchange, was founded in 2000. Since that time, they have established a global presence with additional manufacturing locations, service centers, and sales offices in key locations across Asia, Eu- rope, and America. Mark Goodwin