Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1514628
60 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2024 Interview by Barry Matties I-CONNECT007 Ventec International COO Mark Goodwin and technology ambassador Alun Morgan had quite a bit to say at productronica 2023 about slash sheets, IPC standards, and how to bring the PCB designer closer to the supplier. As Mark says, what matters to designers, man- ufacturers, and even consumers, is that the products meet compliance standards, such as REACH. ey don't need to know how some- thing is built. ey just want performance and availability. Barry Matties: Since our last conversation regarding your recommendations with slash sheets, where are you now? Mark Goodwin: At IPC APEX EXPO 2023, we learned that the whole industry has been mis- understanding the descriptive information at the top of the IPC slash sheet; it actually has no relevance. It is not part of the material spec- ification. Alun Morgan: e slash sheet structure was good 30 years ago when you could define prop- erties by family groups, with only three or four resin types available. Today, we no longer have resin systems that are only one resin type; we have fillers and mixtures and all kinds of per- formance enhancements. e future moved on from that framework; it doesn't fit anymore. The Flexibility We Need in Standards-driven Manufacturing