Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1236528
APRIL 2020 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 27 the USA to supplement the local inventories. Airfreight costs are rising considerably, and available freight capacity is being restricted by the airlines. The Ventec team is working incredibly hard to secure the nec- essary immediate airfreight capacity, whilst minimizing where possible the added costs that need to be passed on. At the same time, Ventec has already started shipping ex- tra volumes of these critical materials by sea container in order to further build up regional inventories. Ventec COO EMEA and USA Mark Goodwin said, "Technol- ogy companies around the world are responding vigorously to this crisis, delivering equipment for various roles such as administering treatment, protecting caregivers, and as- sisting research. Ventec is proud to be a part of the unprec- edented global response, as we continue to strive for the upper hand over this threat." With strict infection control procedures in line with gov- ernment advice implemented at Ventec's facilities around the world, the company's robust supply chain is helping en- sure the materials for fabricating essential circuit boards for critical subsystems arrive at manufacturing locations on time, meeting high quality and performance standards. These include laminates and prepregs, and thermally en- hanced substrates. The company's technical experts are also available around the clock to provide advice on their design and use. (Source: Ventec) The electronics industry is playing a major role in sup- porting increased requirements for critical medical devices during the current COVID-19 health emergency. As such, Ventec International Group (Ventec) has been identified by key PCB manufacturers around the world as a critical sup- plier of materials and services to support these activities. Ventec states that it is completely separate from and un- connected to Ventec Life Systems Inc.—the company based in Seattle, Washington, currently working with General Mo- tors to produce medical ventilators. Ventec, a world leader in the production of polyimide and high-reliability epoxy laminates and prepregs and spe- cialist provider of thermal management and IMS solutions, has a critical role supplying its materials to companies and consortia currently making various types of equipment to help handle the global COVID-19 crisis. Today's medical devices—including ventilators and equipment for many other roles—contain one or more elec- tronic subsystems for functions, such as sensing, system control, and power conversion. In the fight against COV- ID-19, initiatives are underway worldwide to increase the production of equipment to existing designs or accelerate the introduction of new and more effective products. As a consequence, there is currently an increased demand for certain materials—particularly VT-481 and VT-47 laminate and prepreg for 4-, 6- and 8-layer PCBs, which require ur- gent airdrops to support customers in the U.K., Europe, and Coronavirus Crisis Statement From Ventec International Group make those adjustments. Communication flow is extremely important in these types of periods. So not only should you be communicating with your financial institutions, banks, and lenders, but you should also be communicating up and down the supply chain as frequently as possible with the most accurate information as possible. I think one of the things we always find in these events is that accurate information tends to be highly correlated with current information and the frequency of information. And we al- ways want the most up-to-date information that we can get during these types of periods. So continue to share that information, it's very im- portant. And that's really, I think, one of the overarching goals of trade associations during these periods, companies or groups like IPC is to disseminate that information quickly to membership to ensure that members are work- ing off of the same information and the most ac- curate information that's available at that time. Matties: Well, Shawn, we certainly appreciate your time today, and your expertise, and we'll look forward to some future updates with you. Thank you very much. DuBravac: Great. Thanks. PCB007