Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1309864
NOVEMBER 2020 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 93 and industry groups for these answers is a fun part of the job. Johnson: You have a steady drip of information to educate people. Who do you want to reach? Coll: We have strong relationships with the copper-clad laminate manufacturers. They all know us quite intimately. Where I don't think we are well-known anymore at all is with their customers, the fabricators. We have a great partnership with our distribution partner, In- sulectro, who manages these fabricator rela- tionships for us, and they do a fantastic job. But we want to make sure that the North American PCB industry knows there is still an ED copper foil factory in Camden, even though it's un- der a different name. And we are still produc- ing the same high-quality foils, with the same team. That's important to us. Getting to that next level customer, the OEMs, is where we need to do a much bet- ter job, especially with product education. We need to do a better job communicating that we have a new partner in Japan that plans to in- vest in U.S.-based technology. We are a local source of knowledge and information on cop- per foil, and we want to support our customers through their supply chain. Johnson: You don't need to educate your di- rect buyers since they all know you, but it's time to start educating their buyers and cus- tomers on what mat- ters and why so that they can make more informed decisions. Based on my back- ground in PCB fabrica- tion, normally, fabrica- tors are change-averse. When one of their cus- tomers consults them, saying, "This is what I need to do with my de- sign. What sort of sub- strate would you rec- ommend?" The fabricator will usually only recommend materials they've already worked with, which blocks out a lot of possibly much better material, cheaper material, or both. That becomes a place where you need to have the conversation to some degree, at least for the foil part of that. Coll: Absolutely. We're very cognizant of that. When we were purchased by ND, it was crit- ical that we retained the use of all the same copper foil names, specifications, and reci- pes. We're manufacturing the same copper in the same way under the same names. The only difference is the name on the side of the building. We need to make sure the U.S. market knows that, even though we changed names, the products and commitment to qual- ity have not changed at all. Now, through the ownership of ND, we have access to unique products and technology that we believe will allow us to provide even greater value to cus- tomers. Johnson: Mike, thanks for joining me today. Coll: Thank you, Nolan. It was my pleasure! PCB007 All images used in this article provided by Denkai America.