Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1494936
12 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2023 all, the North American PCB industry itself is well positioned. We pay close attention to the IPC book-to- bill ratios. e EMS numbers have been cruis- ing up in the 1.50+ territory for a year. ey're at 1.44 now, which means you're booking $1.44 for every dollar you're getting out the door; I lay much of that strong book of business at the doorstep of the component supply chain chal- lenges, yet they have been able to book busi- ness, so the demand side is certainly there. It's tougher to get to the revenue for our EMS cus- tomers when they don't have the parts, so that certainly influences the book-to-bill ratio. We've also certainly observed order phasing by the EMS providers. e conversation goes something like, "John, if I can't get the chips for 38 weeks, why do I need to buy circuit boards that you deliver in four to six weeks?" So, they time phase those orders. We can see that trend, particularly with the EMS custom- ers. On the PCB side, the overall PCB indus- try book-to-bill is running close to parity right now. It's a 0.94 book-to-bill ratio, so the indus- try overall is a little challenged to build back- log. I think that as the component flows sta- bilize through the EMS providers, the board bookings will follow for most, so I think you will see an uptick in PCB orders with more component availability. Over the past 40 years, my background has been equally split across EMS and PCB, and my first rule of EMS supply chain management is always: When you have new business that you booked with an OEM, you buy the fab- ricated parts first; you buy the metal and the printed circuit boards immediately. ere will be all kinds of technical queries. It's a largely tradesmen and manual process—things will go wrong. Given the complexities, the opportu- nities to have to rebuild that product are cer- tainly there. e quality requirements are very stringent, and the technology is challenging. You want to solve for that on the front end, not try and precisely time your PCB deliveries to your planned last component receipt date. e EMS companies' order phasing also cre- ates an artificial delivery pressure that doesn't really need to be there. If a component part is quoted at 30 weeks, some EMS companies are Summit Interconnect's facility in Orange, California.