Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1116895
MAY 2019 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 57 do a better design of circuit boards. It's a very young program that we've been talking about and investing time in over the last few months, and we're about to take one giant step forward on that front soon. Johnson: That's great. Parent: About your question on how to edu- cate the design community, there are very good PCB design chapters across the country. And with Megan and our new hire, we expect to spend a lot more time on that front, learning about what designers need and providing tools to those designers that we know are available through the relationships that we already have. Again, we are going to increase the level of re- lationships with those design houses. Johnson: Interesting. Are you doing some chapter-by-chapter work with IPC Designers Councils or other similar organizations? Parent: Yes. We think that's a good use of our time. It has been one of the more exciting things that I've had to work on over the past few months. Over the next 24 months, you'll hear about the next steps we're taking in offer- ing those design services. Our intention is not to have designers on our staff, but to connect designers and OEM programs that need design work earlier netting fewer revisions through the prototype build stages. Johnson: That makes a lot of sense. Earlier, you mentioned the ACT! Program. Is that the same program you've been talking about? Parent: No, but we learned through our ACT! Program that this was a missing opportunity for us. ACT! started because of the new ma- terials coming to market. But the PCB fabri- cators didn't want to use the materials until an OEM specified them. And the OEMs didn't know how to specify them because they didn't know enough about their properties or which qualified PCB shops could process the materi- als. ACT! is an opportunity for Insulectro to connect our fabricators and OEM contacts. Our goal with ACT! is to always work through our fabricators. We know our PCB fabricator customers, their sales teams, and what's going on with their OEM targeted cus- tomers. They know the programs coming out of that OEM and need circuit boards for them, so they're getting involved early on with some prototype builds. We work with our custom- ers' sales teams and field application engineers as much as possible to educate OEMs on new materials that are available and may provide a solution—electrical, mechanical, thermal, cost, delivery, etc. There are all sorts of oppor- tunities, and sometimes, more often than not, it's a combination of multiple attributes that an OEM is working to improve upon. We're taking our message of what materials are coming to the market that can solve chal- lenges to the OEM through our fabricator cus- tomer. And we're building better relationships with them and their sales teams, so that they know that the material we're bringing to them is something that their circuit board shop has approved. We want them to have enough pro- cess knowledge to get through their shop with the fewest problems possible. It's all about getting the circuit board shop qualified on the material, and then having their sales team be confident enough to talk about those new ma- terials to their customers. We want to build that trust. Johnson: That's good because it seems that en- gineers and design teams are turning to their There are all sorts of opportunities, and sometimes, more often than not, it's a combination of multiple attributes that an OEM is working to improve upon.