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18 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2022 Q&A with Chintan Sutaria To help PCB designers and design engineers get a clearer picture of the stress points in the industry, particularly from a company that deals directly with EMS providers, we reached out to CalcuQuote CEO Chintan Sutaria with a list of questions. e following Q&A explores trends in the PCB supply chain and heady advice for dealing with long lead times and counterfeit parts. What trends are you seeing in the PCB supply chain now? ere seems to be some relief in the last month or so, but is a celebration premature? e supply and demand imbalance is naturally evolving to correct itself, but I would not start celebrating yet. We still see a non-stock ratio of X% on customers' BOMs, which is well below normal levels. With each non-stock component representing an incom- plete assembly, this continues to be a top concern for the electronics supply chain. But there is still some relief happening. Part of that is coming from customers who have bet- ter adapted to the new normal by identifying and evaluating the viability of alternatives and developing resilience into their BOMs. ere is also some optimism from the industry at large with a renewed interest in investing in domestic manufacturing capabilities. at will surely help in the long run and is a reason for celebration, but it does not address the imme- diate needs of manufacturers who want to ship finished assemblies to their customers. While celebration may be premature, there is still an Some Relief, But Hold Off on the Party