Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1440051
40 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2022 Feature Interview by the I-Connect007 Editorial Team Barry Matties and Nolan Johnson talk to Sun- stone Circuits' Matt Stevenson, Kelly Atay, and Dawn DelCastillo about the current supply chain challenges and how they are adapting. ey also share insights on market conditions. Barry Matties: Let's jump right into the sup- ply chain. What sort of changes are you mak- ing and how are you helping your customers through the supply chain challenges? Dawn DelCastillo: We're finding more ways to help our customers through some of the chal- lenges, and not just parts, but the overall sup- ply chain issues. Can we help find parts? Can we do something else for you? We are being more of a full-service supplier. Matties: Have you noticed the ways your cus- tomers are working through this? Matt Stevenson: We have heard several inter- esting approaches. ere's one customer who has five revs of a single board, for example, and they will order a rev depending on which parts they can get. Matties: Are you seeing your overall customer base grow? Kelly Atay: Yes, in fact our number of new cus- tomers is increasing recently. ere was a lull in that metric throughout much of 2020 but we are starting to see it come back. Matties: Does the reshoring mentality influ- ence new customers? DelCastillo: Reshoring is a trend we've been watching, and we've done some marketing around it. I think now is the time to capitalize on that. ere are plenty of people out there who are exhausted from the challenges of doing busi- ness offshore these days, and many of them are willing to bring their designs back to the United States to avoid these unpleasant challenges. Matties: It feels that the supply chain issue, es- pecially with ships stacked up at the ports, is Sunstone Growing With Supply Chain Strategies