Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1524164
62 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2024 than the four walls is brand new, including the flooring, lights, HVAC, roof, and equipment. We did the factory floor layout and sourcing of equipment ourselves. With over 25 years of experience and expertise in the industry, our engineering team knew what they were look- ing for. You have to know the right questions to ask for each process. If it's a wet process, how do we want the nozzles? How do we want the angles? How do we want the brushes? ey are the experts, so I let them define exactly what we wanted and needed. My part was to find the manufacturers that could give us the best equipment that met all our requirements, including what kind of service they would offer. How soon can a technician get to you if something is not working? Service was the sec- ond most important consideration. Aer those two variables, it was lead time. When could we get the equipment? What can we live with, and what can't we live with? You bought the nearby Alpha Circuit facility in Elmhurst in January 2021 and then started building this. Are you building this facility so that you can offer high-tech, leading-edge products that will be built here? is new facility is almost 46,000 square feet compared to our other location, which is about the same size. Yes, this new facility is meant for more high-tech work—smaller lines and spac- ing, smaller BGAs. e new equipment we have can do all of it. Of course, the equipment doesn't always run itself. You need capable people and a good management team in place to run it. Our gen- eral manager, Steve Smith, came from APCT, where he oversaw all their plants in all their locations. We are currently doing engineering trial runs on the equipment before we take on live production orders. How long have you been running and testing the equipment? e equipment has been tested between nine and 12 months. We have worked on calibrating and certifying all to our standards. Customers have toured the facility, and we are now in the process of doing pilot runs for them. We want to make sure we are not putting customers at risk. That's smart. Obviously, you're bringing peo- ple over from your other facility, and they're trained in the different manufacturing disci- plines. Talk a little bit about your onboarding and training processes. Our training is mostly done in our Elmhurst location, which is our live location. When some- Prashant Patel