Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1357726
APRIL 2021 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 27 can design it in the morning and have it built in the aer- noon. Hall: Yes. ey are very excited. Matties: ere's some competi- tive advantages that will come with this new circuit facility. What competitive advantages do you see, other than cycle time? Hall: Innovation. We consider the PCB to be a critical com- ponent and so by understanding how they're made we will be better at innovating. Also, by understanding the manufacturing processes, we'll be investing time and learning about new technologies that feed into manufacturing PCBs, which could open up other possibilities in design. It's just that really cool circular loop. As Diane mentioned, we have close relation- ships with our partners—the factory will be located just 10 miles from where our design- ers are sitting, and it's also 10 miles from where the PCBs are used. When a problem occurs, whether it's in assembly or in the manufactur- ing of the PCB, we'll be able to resolve it even faster because I can make a call, whether it's a process engineer or whoever, and ask, "Can you be over here in 20 minutes?" And they can. Maceri: Now we're going to be working with the PCB component suppliers, those sup- plier partners that we haven't worked with before. How oen do they get to work with the designer, the manufacturer, and the assembler of that PCB material? What kind of innovation are we going to be able to do with those com- ponent suppliers? It's just something we don't know yet, but we're opening up those discussions. Usually, they're supplying materials to a PCB manu- facturer potentially building boards for a PCB assembler or contract manufacturer—who knows who has designed it— and then it goes to a customer. Now, we're bringing that all together and that's exciting. Johnson: Is there a pool of fab- rication expertise in your area for hiring? Maceri: PCB fabrication? No, not in our area. Johnson: How have you tackled that challenge? Hall: Part of it is our partnership with Green- Source. John Hendrickson is going to be the leader for this factory, and he has 21 years of design experience. He's worked extensively with our suppliers, as well as visiting many other suppliers. By working with GreenSource, we've also been working with our other sup- plier partners. We've already hired our chemi- cal engineers and we are in the process of hir- ing other technical staff; they'll be working at GreenSource at least half the time until the fac- tory comes online, running our boards, learn- ing how to run the processes and how the equipment works. And then, when they're in Pullman, [Wash- ington], we'll have them working either on Jessi Hall The Schweitzer Engineering Laboratory headquarters in Pullman, Washington.