Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1453746
36 PCB007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2022 Brassard: Calumet is still a job shop, just like every other PCB manufacturer. But will PCB manufacturers survive or thrive without a par- adigm shi? As the pressure mounts to move manufacturing back to the U.S., OEMs are asking big questions about capability, capac- ity, lead-times, and how much it's going to cost them to build in the United States. OEMs will need PCB manufacturers that can provide expertise, solutions, and take the journey of innovation with them. We have been working for years to break the mold and become some- thing more than a job shop, which is how we found ourselves venturing into additive manu- facturing, a very exciting and unexplored man- ufacturing technology in the United States, and we want to bring our customers and sup- pliers along for the ride. LaBeau: Yes, Todd uses this analogy about Cal- umet being a focusing lens for industry, where OEMs and electronics supply chain work closely through our company to develop novel solutions where everybody wins. Brassard: We are working to emulate the idea of an industrial commons. If you travel back 30 years, you will see vertically integrated manu- facturing that afforded rapid innovation. Over the past three decades, the U.S. industrial base has been fractured and distributed across the country and world. Innovation requires manufacturing to be close to allow rapid iteration, failures, and suc- cesses. With the puzzle pieces to inno- vation scattered across the country and world, Calumet has been working to bring together OEMs with big prob- lems and supply chain with big solu- tions, where Calumet is the crucible to execute the iterations. I can say with- out a doubt that we would not be learn- ing as much as we have without OEMs giving us tough problems to solve and our chemistry, materials, and equip- ment suppliers pouring on their exper- tise. We all want to do it in America. What we could use is a little help from the government so we can move faster. Also, all parties must find clear paths to generating new revenue from these new technologies. Matties: is must be a lot more fun for you guys as fabricators, to begin with, being in this path. Brassard: Well, there is fun and there is prof- itable. e latter will prove to be most impor- tant. LaBeau: We are first and foremost a high-vol- ume board shop when compared to other domestic manufacturers, maybe fih largest for volume in the country. is is our bread and butter and generates all the revenue that pays for the R&D. Funding R&D from opera- tions is not attractive to most PCB shops, many of whom who are making money for the first time in 20 years in the current strong market. ey do not need any distractions, as they have more demand for their conventional products than they know what to do with. With respect to a new market of products enabled by semi-additive processes, we are see- ing that U.S. designers lack experience design- ing at the smaller scales. Designers that are exploring additive manufacturing are doing so