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38 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2024 purchases. ey have been a great tool for us, and we continue looking for additional ways to use them in our business. SMT007 Resources 1. Some of the most helpful of the books we reviewed were: • Information Dashboard Design, by Stephen Few • Business Dashboards, by Rasmussen, Chen & Bansal • Ownership Thinking, by Brad Hams • The Strategy-Focused Organization, by Robert Kaplan and David Norton • Envisioning Information, by Edward Tufte • Excel 2007 Dashboards & Reports for Dummies, by Michael Alexander David Hollingsworth is retired VP of business development and a founder of Ascentron. by Anaya Vardya, American Standard Circuits Now more than ever, as new and innovative tech- nologies for printed circuit boards are in demand, we need collaboration between PCB designers, fabricators, and assemblers. Close partnerships with PCB designers and assemblers are key to developing and producing PCBs with boards with new and innovative technol- ogy. These collaborative partnerships, along with the partnership with the end customers, are more critical than ever before. Achieving the highest level of innovative technol- ogy will only happen if we all tear down our prover- bial silos and start working toward one common goal: to produce a better product for today and the future. Companies can no longer keep their cards "close to the vest." Instead, they must open themselves up to candid conversations about how they can help each other and their end customers produce bet- ter products that will meet the demands and chal- lenges of today's marketplace. Here are some steps companies should be taking to get the most from their collaborative partnerships: • Early consultation: PCB designers should consult with fabricators and assemblers early in the design process to ensure manufacturability and assembly feasibility. By the same token, these designers should have a complete understanding of the PCB processes, and of course, the PCB fabricators need to have a complete understanding of the assembly process. Everyone needs to have a thorough understanding of the customers' needs. To read the full column, click here. Standard of Excellence: Collaboration—The Right Path to Innovation