Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1265351
88 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2020 out that big pharma was buying their drugs from China. Who knew or, more importantly, who wanted to know? The fact is we have lost a lot of electron- ics infrastructure in the U.S. The Chinese did not come over here and take it; we went over there and handed it to them on a proverbial sil- ver platter. Our large OEMs loved the idea of getting the cheapest PCBs, drugs, components, and just about anything you can imagine— all to the detriment of our own self-sufficient manufacturing infrastructure. Remember how we took comfort when Apple said, "Designed in America?" It made us feel good, but we all knew what was missing: "Manufactured in China." In the future, I see us being more care- ful. Hopefully, this will be a lesson learned. Let's keep some of the important stuff in the U.S. Now, I believe in a global economy and I work with companies all over the world, but I believe that economics—like water—seeks its own level and that commerce is more power- ful than politics and government. But for heav- en's sake, practice some prudence. Don't give everything away so that the U.S. has nothing left. Use some common sense, I dare say. The predictable trend is that we will see more onshoring, especially with essential products being built by essential companies. Look for- ward to what that will bring, including: • Keeping more production in the U.S., which means increasing the size of orders that stay within the country. • More interest in establishing new factories of the future in the U.S. (less than a handful of new factories have been built stateside in the past 20 years). • Faster new product introduction (NPI) because new products must get to market faster than ever. • A growth spurt when it comes to tech- nology. With innovation comes new and more demanding technology, something we are seeing right now. • The return of the captive PCB shop as large OEMs realize they still need to have better control of their supply network. For the sake of R&D, proprietary processes, and intellectual property, they will have their own PCB shops—or at least labs. They could also have these shops build total concept products (design, fabrica- tion, and assembly, which—in their own control—could vastly improve their time to market). • PCB cooperatives where three or four non-competing OEMs come together and build their own PCB shop exclusively for their own use. • More remote workers—especially engi- neers, designers, inside sales, customer service people, and CAM operators. • More innovation. We are already seeing a slew of new products being developed. There is nothing like a good crisis to bring out creativity and entrepreneurship. • Medical electronics exploding in the next 18 months. • A higher demand for QS—a medical spec- ification. Look for a rush of companies applying to qualify for their QS. • Complete synergistic service offerings. Because of innovation and QTA, NPI customers will want to work with companies that are able do everything design, fabrication and assembly very quickly. If you are able to do this already, get out there and market your services; if not, figure out how you can. • Companies looking for trusted vendor part- ners. There will be much more of a depen- dency on their PCB and PCBA vendors as they look for companies they can work with, filled with people they can trust. In the future, I see us being more careful. Hopefully, this will be a lesson learned.