Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1357726
26 SMT007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2021 sense now, make sure we have space for future automation, and then we can invest in new technologies depending on where our designs go. Matties: From a supply chain point of view, this must have been just a breath of fresh air. Now everything is under your control, even your time- line. What advantages do you expect to have from a supply chain perspective? Maceri: It will ensure that our demand is cov- ered, because we have a large volume of PCBs that we use every day. Another thing that's interesting about SEL is that we have a five- day lead time from the time we get an order from a customer until we're shipping it. Not that we don't have great partners, but this will ensure—since we have such a short lead time— we can tie that PCB demand straight into our assembly and out the door. It's bringing the whole process closer. Matties: I would think that the cost of the cir- cuit board itself has gone down a certain per- centage. What savings, on a percentage basis, do you think you'll gain here? Maceri: We don't know exactly. We have mul- tiple different layer counts and so, at the lower layer counts, we're looking at a much higher percentage, but we don't know exactly what that would be. As you go up in layers, the per- centage comes down a little bit. Matties: You're going back to yesteryear, if you will, when there were a lot of captive facilities and then they moved away from PCBs. A rea- son they moved away was the environmental aspect, and I know Alex has been working on zero waste systems. Is that what you're adopt- ing here as well? Hall: Yes, that is one of the things that was ver y attrac- tive to us about working with GreenSource: the zero-water discharge. ere is waste that comes out of the facility, but it is non-hazardous industrial waste, primarily salts and dry film. No water from the manufacturing processes will leave the factory, and that is very appealing to us. Matties: Were permits required? Hall: I can't say for sure that there won't be any permits. It will depend on our environmental health and safety engi- neer who is leading that aspect of the proj- ect. He has been talking with local regulators and he doesn't have concerns. He is getting a good understanding of what we need to have in place in case we do need any type of permit. Matties: Do you have your own in-house circuit board design team as well? Hall: We do, and when Diane was talking about lead times and our manufacturing philoso- phies, there are a couple that are important to us. One is that we manufacture in the U.S., and we source as many of our components as possi- ble in the U.S. at's very important to us. e second is the world class manufacturing phi- losophy, and part of that is shortening feed- back loops. We have vertically integrated many other things at SEL, which shows us that by understanding how our components are made, it helps us do better designs, which leads to innovation in the component and the manufac- turing process, or back into the design. We will do our own PCB designs, our own CAM work, manufacturing, and then through assembly. Matties: I bet the designers are quite thrilled to have a test bed, if you will, for their new proto- types without needing all that lead time. ey Diane Maceri