Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1269815
JUNE 2020 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 27 Stepinski: There is an advantage, if you customize it enough. We looked at our original model and designs and custom- ized the factory for the way they were de- signing and the way they planned to de- sign over the upcoming years. Whatever capability we could incorporate for free, we did it, or with minimal cost to future proof it. And this same approach holds for OEMs. You have jobs with layer counts, laminations, panel sizes, and materials. Where do you see the trends going? You make a plan. Generally, this does not look like a typi- cal job shop. Job shops are typically a jack of all trades. Here, you gain with specialization and customization. You can gain a lot of effi- ciencies, as well as final finish selection, mate- rial selection, and things like that. If you do it on your own, you tend to think differently than if you're going out to the market where you're at the mercy of what the suppliers can offer. And if you did it yourself, you might only have one or two final finishes. If you outsource something, maybe you have three or four be- cause you don't put that constraint on your de- sign department to say, "Everything is going to be ENIG, and that's it." Instead ,you say, "Do whatever you want. We want a good price. We need it on time, and we need it to be reliable." Usually, that constraint isn't there. You give people slash sheet options instead of specific material options, and if you customize every- thing, you can negotiate contracts that benefit from economies of scale for yourself. We've found it's much more cost-effective to do ev- erything internally. Matties: Have you found an end-product ad- vantage in terms of designer functionality be- cause you have your own manufacturing facil- ity now? Stepinski: There are a few points. With our in- ternal company, we couldn't even source some parts on the outside, so we had to build the parts for them, and we continue to support this. Additionally, you have much less varia- tion when you do it yourself. When you go to the job shop world, typically, you need to have multiple suppliers for leverage. And because of this, every supplier has a different result. The processes are not the same in PCB shops. Everybody has a mishmash of things. It's not just equipment, but it's their people, approach, techniques, and how the whole history of the company developed. Everybody is a little bit different, so your product is not going to be the same between two suppliers. And with the specs that typically flow down to job shops, I haven't found a case where I see a specifica- tion that's close to what can be achieved. Most specifications are quite wide in a lot of areas. There's always some key point where they want to focus on a couple of different variables and keep those tight. But it's hard to find a print from any cus- tomer where every single thing is super tight. Usually, some things are per IPC, and when you look at IPC, you see it's wide open with general specifications. This runs across the variation from multiple shops, and it can be a critical variation. Matties: And, of course, the obvious thing is that you have better IP protection as well. Stepinski: That's another key point, especially if you're trying to bring new products up. Not too many board shops are going to reverse engineer and get into another OEM, but it is possible. Matties: It's not even so much that the board shop is going to reverse engineer it, but you