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40 The PCB Magazine • July 2015 you open to non-compliance, and worse. Not all laminates are created equal, and if you don't know where they are coming from you may open yourself and your customers up to reli- ability issues in the future, which can be at best expensive and at worst fatal. This can be further exasperated when vendors provide laminate from multiple sources. What starts as a simple request to one part of the supply chain, can end up quite confused at the far end of the supply chain when relayed through a number of parties. Like the example given by a general in the trenches, who said, "Send reinforcements, we're going to advance," and the message that reached his command back at base was "Send three and four pence, we're going to a dance." There Must be a Better Way! Of course there is, but it's not as simple as auditing lots of vendors and seeing what they have to offer and what solutions they can provide to unpredictable demand, risk mitiga- tion, customization and traceability. The only real solution is to work with a vendor that owns the supply chain, providing you with the ability to customize that supply chain to meet all of your commercial, technology and service needs. Many regional agents under- stand their market well enough to develop a one-size-fits-all solution to cover most of the aspects of local demand, but very few can an- swer all of these questions. What's more, very few distributors, possibly none, have their own laboratory in region, something that we think is critical. I don't buy off-the-peg suits, so why would I use an off-the-peg supply chain and put up with the compromises that go with that? Not having the right laminate at the right time is much worse than a jacket that won't button up properly after a big lunch! What it Means to "Own" the Supply Chain An exceptional supplier will "own" the sup- ply chain—every part of it from the laminate and pre-preg production to the final interface with the PCB fabricator. Because of that, they can design and customize that supply chain to suit any demand mix. This could mean supply- ing direct containers from China for constant price sensitive demand, all fully logistically sup- ported. It might mean quick-turn from regional inventories to manage peak and variable loads, or even consigned stock to provide immediate availability. It might even mean regional panel format pressing, all cut and marked for com- plete traceability. This approach, together with an extensive product range creates the optimum mix of qual- ity, service, technology and cost, in a demand- ing market, whilst maximizing availability of the materials required, fulfils fabricators and the end customers' demands. Forecasting is often just an educated guess. But with some science to that art and by consid- ering past consumption, it is possible to predict some key elements of future demand. It will not provide a complete picture, but with this, and a combination of regional stock, quick-turn manufacturing capability and market intelli- gence, an exceptional supplier should be able to achieve the required delivery more than 99% of the time (OTIF, on time in full). Now, if that same company owns the mate- rial, wherever it is in the world, in a laminate press in Suzhou, on a boat in the Pacific Ocean, or in other local facility throughout the world it means that no matter where the vendor is in the world, the person that you are talking to has access to the full global inventory. Suppliers must use industry knowledge, robust systems, clever software and total vis- ibility to build a supply chain agile enough for any PCB fabricator. Consigned stock, local cus- tomization, regional hubs, short manufacturing cycles, controlled processes and highly evolved systems are just a few of the tools needed to de- velop custom fit solutions that flex and move with the needs of the fabricator and their cus- tomers. You can only design the supply chain when you own the supply chain. PCB A WELL-DESIGNED LAMINATE SUPPLy CHAIN HAS TO OWN IT! continues Mark Goodwin is chief operating officer usa & europe at Ventec international group. Feature