Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1519075
62 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2024 times. IPC's data shows two consecutive years of declining demand, which I believe is a run- out of the COVID-era tech refresh and compo- nent shortages. Still, it's great to see the indus- try investing for expansion, and I believe all this new capacity will be utilized in the com- ing years. Do you see the PCB growth in the United States as something we can sustain? I continue to be very optimistic about long- term growth in the North American PCB industry. But truly healthy and sustainable growth must come from multiple market sec- tors, not just defense. It's good to see growth in the commercial space and medical sectors; this will help provide balanced growth in our domestic industry. Can the U.S. regain its role as a technology leader? I believe we will regain more relevance in tech- nology leadership over time. At the board- technology level, we continue to be challenged by not having newer and purpose-built facto- ries like those in Asia. Much of the equipment supply chain has focused on Asia over the past two decades, but as our market continues to grow and draw more investment capital, I think the situation will continue to improve. However, I believe North America continues to maintain a leadership posi- tion in building for smaller vol- ume, highly complex applica- tions with high-reliability com- pliance requirements. What is the most exciting thing happening in our industry? What are the biggest challenges ahead of us? I've already mentioned some of the sectors where we expect growth and the exciting pros- pects that will come. Some- thing we focus on is partnering more closely with our customers to provide engineering and solutions development given our critical role in their supply chain. Our big- gest challenge is workforce development from engineering to the manufacturing environ- ment, but we are constantly getting better at addressing these challenges through internal efforts and involvement with IPC's training and Emerging Engineers program. What's next for Summit? Our company was formed only eight years ago, and we have an amazing group of facili- ties and capabilities that provide an incredi- ble value proposition to our customers. Over the past two years, we have focused on opti- mizing our business and building differenti- ated and sustainable platforms within our com- pany that will help us serve our customers even better into the future. We have also expanded our capabilities to provide customers with a broad portfolio of PCB services. Design engi- neers now come to Summit for nearly all their requirements, from early-stage prototypes to mid-volume production and even quick-turn assembly. Our aspiration is to be our custom- ers' best manufacturing partner; it's been an incredible journey, and there is still a lot of work ahead of us. PCB007 Shane Whiteside