Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1522641
JUNE 2024 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 9 Marcy LaRont is the editor of PCB007 Magazine. Marcy started her career in PCBs in 1993 and brings a wide array of business experience and perspective to I-Connect007. To contact Marcy, click here. segments. Materials management also pro- vides us with nuance and the need for a multi- faceted and holistic systems approach for suc- cess. Beyond supply management, panel uti- lization and handling are critically important yield considerations. When you are building high mix/low volume and high technology products, materials management and overall cost containment are even greater challenges. us, it is no surprise that the discussion around the base substrate materials for PCBs is ongoing and robust. is month's issue features an interview with Anaya Vardya, CEO of American Stan- dard Circuits. He illustrates this delicate dance by outlining his facility's approach to tightly managing inventory while balancing supplier lead times and customer requirements. In an enlightening interview with Ed Kelley, CEO of Four Peaks Innovation and former CTO of Isola, we discuss the continuous develop- ment of new material types and how this broad spectrum of hybrid and bondply materials has allowed traditional high-speed designs to be manufactured using non-traditional "RF" materials. Flex circuit fabricator Flexible Circuit Tech- nology highlights how one's engineering and procurement employees are highly empow- ered to affect your overall material cost. ey also address the increasingly important role of automation in material handling, speaking to quality and yield, especially for flexible circuits. Columnist and industry veteran Mike Carano is back in the house, continuing the material discussion and breaking things down to the core: Dk, Df, drilling, and metalliza- tion. Mark Goodwin, COO of Ventec, an inter- national laminate supplier, discusses material management from a large material supplier's perspective, reinforcing the need for an open and trusting relationship between the cus- tomer and their suppliers to secure manufac- turing supply chains. Also in this issue, read my interviews with Tom Edman of TTM, newly appointed chair of the IPC Board of Directors, and Shane White- side of Summit Interconnect, newly appointed chair of PCBAA. Dovetailing well with this, columnist Travis Kelly, CEO of Isola, signs off as PCBAA chair and welcomes Shane into this important advocacy role. He notes that this association and the industry are just get- ting started with the important work of secur- ing government support for the U.S. PCB sup- ply chain. Prashant Patel, CEO of Alpha Circuit and newcomer to the PCB manufacturing industry, talks about the partnership he has built with his suppliers and how this has been critical in his ambitious endeavor of building a brand new facility. Don Ball's column this month is a perfect lead into our August issue about control of your wet processes, and Happy Holden's monthly Tech Talk column declares that analog computing is making a comeback. Finally, workforce challenges are top of mind for all of us, so please read my interview with IPC VP of Education David Hernandez. Among his impressive credentials, he spent many years encouraging young people to enter technical fields. He speaks candidly about our current workforce challenges and what we must do to solve them. e interview is based on IPC's most recently published white paper on that topic. It's nearly summer, and I hope the sun is shin- ing where you live. You may be taking some much-needed vacation time but remember that the industry's frenetic and exciting pace never slows down. PCB007 References 1. "Materials management," Wikipedia.