Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/327747
18 The PCB Design Magazine • June 2014 The result of an FPC sales meeting is a docu- ment that reads something like, "based on your drawings and specifications, and assuming we get X and Y by Z date, and that the dam don't burst and the creek don't rise, we will (may be able to) deliver by the third week of...." "Sales" is what you think is going on but the much more truthful "contract negotiation" is really how an FPC project begins. FPC cus- tomers come to the procurement meeting with an idea of what they want—those drawings and specs—not a catalog number. Selling other prod- ucts involves a catalog and a price list; FPC sales involves discussion and estimation of new re- quirements based on similar products and past production experience and ends with a quota- tion that is embroidered with many clauses and contains much wordsmithing. Suppose that we look at selling as practiced at Paradise Bolt & Screw and compare it with what goes on at InterGalactic Flex. PB&S has a warehouse full of bolts and screws of known quality and production cost, ready to ship. The selling price and profit are already de- termined because any wrinkles in the process have been ironed out and the cost to produce is already known. Long ago, and well before the sales meeting, somebody did a market sur- vey, decided which bolts and screws to make, fired up the machinery and tuned up the process so that high-quality product fell out the end at high yield and lowest cost. If you're looking for nuts and bolts, you simply get with a Par- adise salesman who shows you samples, quotes prices, and guaran- tees delivery. It's cut and dried. At IGF, the quoting-negotiating-order clos- ing process, although carried out in similar lan- guage and with the same goal, (i.e., "closing the sale") is completely different. At IGF, each order taken is a ticket to a custom manufac- turing adventure. There's nothing in stock, no samples of product to fondle and discuss, and the cost to produce is unknown because each design, regardless of how well vetted to indus- try guidelines or scrupulously productionized, is a mystery until a pre-production pilot run has been made. Quality requirements can be scoped out by the use of standard classifications and requirements, but unexpected interactions be- tween design, materials and production equip- ment can lead to ugly surprises. Much of this uncertainty disappears with a repeat order, but the basic problem remains: The partners to the deal are buying and selling something that does not exist yet! Delivery A hugely important difference between procuring custom manufactured products and commodity products is delivery. In our example let's assume that IGF has a well-equipped facto- ry, one that is just as good as PB&S's. Neverthe- less, unless this is a repeat order, IGF's factory has no experience at all in the production of the new design. And if InterGalactic is any good at its business, the factory is already loaded with orders and delivery commitments to other cus- tomers. Delivery estimates assume that not only will the new design run smoothly, but that none of the existing orders will run into a disaster. Remember that existing orders, particu- larly those from established customers, are already on the factory floor; if they get into trouble, they will take prior- ity. At PB&S, the factory is ir- relevant—it could have even burned down—since your parts are already in stock and need only be dusted off, pack- aged and shipped; at IGF you and your project are just entering a complicated production process, vulnerable to Murphy's Law. You may argue that we're comparing ap- ples to jetliners because the complexity of flex manufacture is far greater than the production of nuts and bolts, and you'd be correct. Nuts and bolts are hogged out of stable, naturally- occurring raw materials with a BOM calling for two items—a base metal and a surface finish, if any. FPC manufacture involves many more WHY PRoCURINg FLExIBLE PRINTED CIRCUITRY IS DIFFERENT continues feature Remember that existing orders, particularly those from established customers, are already on the factory floor; if they get into trouble, they will take priority. " "