Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1415897
18 SMT007 MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2021 Halvorson: On the growth side of the business, we're really looking at the type of equipment that provides capacity to meet our customer's product needs. at is a bit of a moving tar- get. With the talents of people like our VPs/ GMs Brett McCoy in Chicago, Jack Evans in Anaheim, Mike Graves in Santa Clara, Barry Ling in Toronto, Bill Sezate in Orange, CA, and the rest of our team, they're really iden- tifying equipment that is multi-use. So not only can we target an immediate need or a need that's in the imminent future, we also look to position as a company that is flexible enough to provide a wide range of technology. John Vaughan: Greg alluded to customer road- maps, and increasingly it's all about minia- turization. So that drives a lot of our deci- sions as we need to process even more com- plex via structures and smaller space and trace width and miniaturization to meet all the size, weight, and power reduction requirements, particularly by the military sector, but also by the electronics industry in general. Barry Matties: When you start looking at the equipment, I understand market opportunity and adding capacity, but in the decision-mak- ing process, how important is the smart pro- cess or smart factory consideration as well as cycle time reduction? Where does that fit into your CapEx strategy? Halvorson: I think both of those aspects are very important. Obviously, there's a labor shortage out there, so we're always looking at ways to maximize productivity, create a smarter facto- ry, and create tools that build-in their own pre- ventive maintenance programs through online monitored equipment performance. Matties: As you're ranking your capital equip- ment list, does that go to the top of the list? Halvorson: No. I think the more important thing for us is productivity, reliable service, and proven tools. For the tools we install in the factory, we're looking for a supply base that is stable. When it comes to the smart factory, there's a little bit more of a risk profile because it's still in its infancy. When we're looking at the type of products that are being manufac- tured, especially in defense, they're not usually extremely high volume, so our equipment has to have a lot of flexibility. Matties: What about the life cycle of equip- ment when you're looking at an expense? Do you have a range of service expectation for that piece of equipment? Halvorson: at's really tough to answer be- cause it's all over the map. Some of the equip- ment is targeted at a particular reliability of- fering to the customer. Some of the customers are adapting and adopting these types of re- quirements into their delivery requirements, but without it being a widespread industry requirement, it's hard to say if it's going to be something here to stay. We're very careful on that, and we'll also utilize outside services to Greg Halvorson, SVP, COO.