Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1319500
DECEMBER 2020 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 57 rections create a need for some- thing fundamentally different than just incrementally docu- menting yourself into a higher yield. At some point, something needs to change with regard to the approach to production if you're going to get those kinds of results. Whiteside: I completely agree. And all the while, we have very good quality systems and very good quality metrics in each of our plants. The emphasis is al- ways to improve that, and that's always there. Documentation, validation, demonstration, and all that doesn't necessarily help us improve our product quali- ty; it just helps us convince our customers that we continue to make good products. Johnson: Where are you focusing your atten- tion for capital equipment and improving pro- cesses? Whiteside: We've invested for growth along the way. We've invested in enhancing our technolo- gy. As I mentioned earlier, we've invested in our ability to be efficient at meeting these higher lev- els of compliance requirements. Looking ahead, we're going to continue on that same path. We're expanding in one of our locations and taking on some additional floor space that will enable us to significantly expand our HDI ca- pacity. We also recently closed on our acquisi- tion in Toronto at ITL Circuits, and we are work- ing with them on defining strategic growth ini- tiatives and investment required. Johnson: Do you have issues or concerns right now with things like cybersecurity? We talked already earlier in the conversation about track- ing and compliance issues. What about cyber- security and protection issues? Whiteside: That's a good question. Cybersecu- rity is a real focus for all of us, both in our pro- fessional and personal lives, and it's certainly a concern on the part of the U.S. government. Many of the commercial OEMs that are contin- uously innovating want to protect their intel- lectual property. We all understand the need for cybersecurity. It's something that we're complying with, and we have a plan to contin- ue that. We're currently NIST 800-171 compli- ant from a cybersecurity standpoint. The new CMMC standards supplementing the NIST requirements are something that we are working on very diligently. I can tell you for a company our size, we're going to be spend- ing a significant amount of money on this ef- fort to further improve our cybersecurity and meet the defined standards. I'm concerned, on behalf of the industry, that companies that aren't our size may choose not to make that in- vestment—particularly a company that doesn't do a lot of defense work but still services some critical requirements. If they can otherwise re- place that business with commercial business and not have to make that investment, a com- pany may choose to stop supporting defense business. I'm also concerned that the cost of comply- ing with CMMC across the defense industrial base is going to be excessively burdensome to smaller companies. I read an estimate today that between the DoD and the defense indus- trial base, the aggregate investment is going to be north of $90 billion total. It's an evolving topic right now because the requirements are Summit's Anaheim, California office.