Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1541985
58 PCB007 MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2025 suppliers to explore other potential opportunities. It is always a balancing act when building smaller quantities, considering the equipment you have versus acquiring new equipment with better tech- nology offerings. When machines are legitimately timing out and you move toward acquiring new equipment, will you adopt different processes or technologies? Yes, we are actively discussing alternative ways to streamline some of our current processes, espe- cially as volumes are increasing for certain products we are building. Now, on the topic of reliability, how do the require- ments for critical products that must work 100% of the time—and for a long time–differ from what is required in consumer electronics? At the end of the day, reliability is a much bigger deal in many U.S. applications. Many of our custom- ers require D-coupon testing to manage the reli- ability of every single panel. We are D-coupon test- ing every single panel, or we do an IST test. Some customers require both. How reliable is D-coupon testing? It is good, but the problem will always be whether the coupon truly correlates to what's going on in the board. It's possible to have a bad D coupon that fails the board or a bad microsection at the corner of the board, but the board is still fine. You have to really make sure you're managing around the coupon in addition to the actual board. Does having less real estate make the board more expensive? Is it pushing the cost up? Yes, that is what's happening. If you cycle back just 10 years, military customers were not at the lead- ing edge of technology. Historically, the military has often lagged behind in adopting technology due to its need for safety and security. But in the past five years, military customers have made a pendulum swing. They've gone from trail- ing to leading technology, and at this point, it's diffi- cult to find commercial boards that are as complex as many of the milaero boards we're building. The tables have totally turned, and the military and defense sector is now pushing technology and packaging forward. In fact, with some of the milaero boards we're asked to build now, I see the design and just shake my head, wondering, "Who dreamed this?" It's a classic example of, "Just because you can build it on a computer screen doesn't mean you can actu- ally build it in the physical world." Or there is simply so much risk associated with creating it that the pric- ing becomes exorbitant, and it ultimately becomes unfeasible. Anaya, you've led ASC for over 18 years, consis- tently pushing technology forward. What philoso- phy or business mindset has led to your success?