Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1476200
AUGUST 2022 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 17 work with sells automation equipment, which is basically material handling. Nothing as sophisticated as GreenSource Fabrication, but everybody wants to. It's a matter of being able to afford it. Everybody understands it's automation, that we're probably not going to get the luxury of the labor force we once had, and it's going to be a no-touch or mini- mum-touch manufacturing process. at's only logical. Matties: Do you see interest from capital com- ing into the industry? Are there investments being made in circuit board fab? Beaulieu: Yes. You see that, but more in buy- ing companies out. For example, if Dave said, "I want an influx of $5 million, and I'm willing to give 25% of my company," we're not seeing that. On my M&A side, I'm not seeing that. In the headlines, you see the Summits and peo- ple like that, who are vacuuming up the board shops. ey're not interested in owning half a board shop. It's not like, "Hey, I want to buy some equipment. I'll sell you 20 shares of Pro- totron." I've had people ask me about that. We did research with PE (private equity) sources and found out that's not going to work. ere's no interest in it. Matties: Are we seeing a trend of no quotes based on poor file data coming in across the industry, Dan? Beaulieu: As Happy Holden has said, only about 10% of data packages coming into board shops are complete. Shaughnessy: Or even less than that. With new customers, is that about accurate, Dave? Ryder: at's a good point. Aer a customer has maybe a half a dozen or a dozen part numbers under his belt with you, then suddenly things get a little easier. ey understand terminol- ogy. I guess you get a better working relation- ship. You become an extension of their R&D, and they trust you. Matties: Do fabricators need to be much more selective about the work that they're taking? Ryder: Certainly, you must be super cautious of that. Maybe at Prototron, we're overly cau- tious of that. You must watch out for the bot- tom-line numbers, but you also need the top- line numbers. Matties: But as we know from the past, and as you just mentioned, you can take a job and you would've been better off just not even turning the factory on because you're giving $20 out with every board you ship. Ryder: at's right. We've taken on jobs before, where we would've been better off writing them a check before we even took the PO. Matties: I'm thinking you have to be extra vig- ilant about the type of work that you bring in. Ryder: To Dan's point, we got a lot of negative feedback that it could take quite a while to get a quote out. But at the end of the day, I'm con- fident that I could build that board, and that board is what the customer is looking for when we deliver the quote. Aer a while, the custom- ers come to understand there's serious value in that extra time. Matties: With the reduction in the quick-turn market, are buyers more likely to accept a six- You must watch out for the bottom-line numbers, but you also need the top-line numbers.