Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1493797
MARCH 2023 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 25 For instance, every y e a r i n P u l l m a n , Washington, we host hundreds of our sup- pliers for a multi-day supplier conference, where we make clear not just our expec- tations but the why and how of achiev- ing tho se goals— w h i c h m a y a l i g n with the already high standards in CMMC— within the context of our partnership. Where appropriate, the CMMC standards will be part of those expectations. Which CMMC certification are you planning to attain? Harrill: It really depends. Implementation will differ because we have different environ- ments, different specifications. We'll have certain requirements that require us, in certain environments, to certify to level three controls. John, I'm curious, how does a captive shop best leverage your one-customer relationship to optimize your processes? Hendrickson: It goes back down to getting really integrated and driving our design capa- bility back to our customer. In some cases, that looks like predicting their needs, sim- plifying our designs. We started this jour- ney a long time ago in terms of how to best design our products to meet current fabrica- tion. We did a really good job of incorporat- ing that into our design practices in research and development. It's continuing to evolve our capabilities. We didn't just look at what our needs were at the time, we considered what our needs might be in the next five or 10 years, and we've picked equipment sets and pro- cesses that that we believe will scale to meet those needs. Jessi Hall: We're in a unique po sition. Not only do we have R&D under the same r o o f , b u t w e a l s o have the assembly folks who are using t h e b o a r d s . Fr o m design to assembly into the final prod- uct, we're able to r e a l l y u n d e r s ta n d what our challenges have been in the past and what they currently are today. Are you simplifying the processes on the assembly side also? Hall: Yes, we're designing and manufacturing boards that complement our assembly prac- tices and processes. Automation How much of a role has automation played in setting up your facility? Has that been a consideration when it comes to finding talent to operate the equipment? Hendrickson: We don't focus on automa- tion for the sake of automation. I've been in a lot of board shops around the world where I've looked at their Pareto list of defects. Handling damage is typically at the top of that list. At SEL, we focus on quality and the dignity of our employees' work. ose are some of the ideals that have driven our automation focus. Yes, the factory is heavily automated. Most of our lines have loaders and unloaders but we've purposely le certain areas not auto- mated, like drill or AOI. Final inspection areas are still very manual because we want to make sure that we're not automating just to auto- mate. We want to learn that process and make sure that if we do automate it, it's done in the correct way. Frank Harrill Jessi Hall