Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/536970
34 The PCB Magazine • July 2015 just stick with us for a few more months. They didn't walk away and a lot of that is based on trust that we were telling them the truth and they understood what we were doing. We did a lot of communication with the fab- ricators and a lot of communication with the OEMs to make sure that they understood there was a plan to get out of this; we laid out a rough timeline so they knew when the additional ca- pacity would be available. Every time we made a milestone in that plan, we did our best to communicate to key fabricators and the OEMs that we made this milestone and here is where we are now on output. We made sure that they were connected with us. We did not want to leave them hanging out there, so we put a lot of work into the communication with the customers. Another key point with the demand being so high was making sure that the demand we were receiving was real, and to make sure there was no over-buying going on by somebody. So we had checks and balances built in between what the fabricators were or- dering and what the OEMs' volumes were, which we call the "zero schedule," and we made sure that we had the right allocations set based on the OEMs feedback. Communication was the key through all of it. We had to stay tight with both the fab- ricator and OEM to make sure that everybody was singing out of the same book, and that allowed us to get through the period. We feel we came through it okay, only the customers can tell you how they feel about it, but from our perspec- tive we thought we did a good job of managing through this tough period with them. Matties: Right, so now you started with the lead times over 55 days, and what are you currently at? Pavlak: All RO4000 laminates had peaked at 55 days. We were in that for over six months and then we reduced it to 45 days a month ago. Re- cently we reduced it to 35 and we have plans to get it down under 15 days by the beginning of Q4. Actually, we are ahead of that schedule right now, based on what we are seeing. We think we can get there quicker, so we are making a big drive to bring down the lead times. Matties: The message then to the industry is, "We're almost there." Pavlak: Yes, we're almost there. There is an- other planned RO4000 lead time reduction for early Q3. Matties: You'll be on par with pretty much every- one else by Q4? Pavlak: Yes, and the new ca- pacity we are putting in, all the new equipment, is de- signed to take us out to the next three years of demand as we see it. We stepped up lamination, we stepped up the pre-preg production for RO4000 lamination and we are also bringing on a brand new coating line in Arizona for the RO3000 product line that is being released for an OEM application at the end of June. That new line is go- ing to give us 100% more ca- pacity on dielectric paper for RO3000 materials. Now we'll be discussing the next wave of capacity we want to put in place, when and where. Matties: You don't want to find yourselves in the same position six months down the road. Pavlak: Exactly. We are going through another market evaluation cycle in the next couple of months, saying, "Where is the next capacity we need to be at, at what location on the globe, and what product lines do we need to provide additional capacity?" We are also taking a look at the former Arlon products, understanding every time we made a milestone in that plan, we did our best to communicate to key fabricators and the oems that we made this milestone and here is where we are now on output. We made sure that they were connected with us. " " AN UPDATE ON THE ROGERS MATERIAL SUPPLy LINE continues Feature