Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1156271
AUGUST 2019 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 31 they're on to the next design. It's an endless cycle of product evolution and environmental restriction, which are both crucial. With wet process, R&D departments move a lot. Johnson: Are the designers driving the market and what happens in chemistry development? Do you involve them? Milad: Maybe the statement that the designers are driving everything is not totally accurate. It's not the designer really, but the marketplace. The market says, "I need to go to 5G and make a more sophisticated prod- uct. I need it to be smaller, lighter, faster, and able to carry more memory." That is market demand. Then, after the market demand, they go to the designer to design the product, and the designer is restricted by what is available to them. What's available to them is what we (Uyemura) produce. We say, "We can give you these chemistries," and so they work with that and respond, "I need more," which forces us to consider new alternatives. Again, it's a continuous cycle. Johnson: I understand what you're saying there, but I don't think it's an overstatement because the designers are the ones who have to take the conceptual market drivers and turn them into a real product. There is a point there where they are somewhat in charge. They're the implementers. Do you involve the design- ers in your market research? Milad: No, we don't. We try to engage the OEMs themselves and understand what the needs are and what the next-generation prod- uct is going to look like, and then we acquaint them with our capabilities. We have a rela- tionship with the OEM, which is designed to keep the OEM abreast of our capabilities and keep us abreast of their future requirements. Of course, everything comes into play; they want a more sophisticated product, or they want to meet the environmental constraints. They say, "This is the chemistry you're using today. I would not be able to use that in a cou - ple of years from now. You need to develop a replacement for it." Johnson: As you're talking to the OEMs, do you find that they're more concerned about new capabilities and throughput? Milad: Yes, they're concerned about everything that comes into play, including capabilities, throughput, cost, etc. They're trying to make products, and they want to make sure that they're affordable and available. And they do not like a good product that's only made by one manufac- turer. They want to have choices and be able to source overseas if needed. They want to get compet- ing bids. So, if somebody has the best process by itself, that doesn't ex- cite an OEM; they want multiple suppliers. A single source doesn't excite them at all, even if the product is the best thing after sliced bread. Johnson: If they're held captive to that and something goes terribly wrong, it's a big prob- lem. That makes a lot of sense. How do you— as primarily a chemistry supplier—work to make sure that those processes are as repro- ducible across the globe at as many different facilities as possible? Milad: It's a challenge. Different parts of the world do things differently. Some shops that we refer to as "bucket shops" do work but they're not high-quality or reproducible. Then, you have very sophisticated shops that do very high-quality work as well as small, remote, and big shops. There is a very wide variety of manufacturers, and we work with all of them. A big part of what we do is tech service. Our employees set up the shop and say, "Here is what you have to do." But shops have differ- ent levels of engineering sophistication. Some