Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1193979
DECEMBER 2019 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 75 ing some new supplier partners that are more focused on advanced technologies, such as higher layer counts, high-frequency laminates, backdrill, bendables, pure flex, rigid-flex, ther- mal management solutions, and heavy copper. We see more of these designs from our cus- tomers, and it's important to us that we have the supplier partners in place that can service them. If you're going to engage in these sorts of higher-technology boards, you must have your engineering backbone behind it first. In the U.S. and Canada, when you start to talk with the network and the storage spaces, you need to have a supplier partner who can engage and has years of experience and dedicated ca- pacity in like technologies. These two things have become very strong building blocks for our team as we expand our businesses in the U.S. and Canada. Especially in Silicon Valley, where there are some of the largest and high- est growth network and storage companies in the world located in one small region. I'm ex- cited that I have the engineering and the sup- ply base backing to confidently go into these customers with a strong technology offering. Johnson: What do you see as your sales rev- enue trajectory at CML? This all speaks to the expectation of significant growth. Minard: Like anything, it's a moving target. Our managing directors have a very long view of where they want the company to go and what we want to be in as far out as 12 years. I can't comment specifically on anything that's going to happen in 2020, but this does make a good segue into the impact of tariffs. The China-U.S. tariff situation has impacted our PCB suppliers and us in selling into the U.S. market. There were several projects that we were working on with certain customers that were going to be serviced out of China, especially Sichuan. When the tariffs didn't get lifted by March, as everyone thought at the beginning, everybody thought, "This isn't temporary or something that's going to go away quickly. What do we do?" Wisely, In the early part of 2019, we be- gan scouting in territories like South Korea and Thailand, where we'd had supplier partners in the past and had great relationships with. We got an early start on finding a solution for our customers. Shaughnessy: We hear companies talk about what a nightmare the tariffs are now. Minard: A lot of customers said it wasn't the tariffs themselves that were the biggest factor; instead, many talk about the red tape and pa- perwork required to pay the tariffs. If they hap- pen to ship PCBAs out of the U.S., there was a secondary process to refile paperwork to get the tariff money back. They said it became an overwhelming dedication of resources to man- age the tariff situation internally. I think we're all looking cautiously to 2020 to see if the U.S. and China resolve their is- sues related to trade, whether the confidence comes back into the marketplace or whether the spending rebounds. Things have slowed on a global basis. Anything that changes the Chi- nese economy creates an impact for anybody located in China, as we are. But the good news is we moved ahead with well-thought-out