Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/713934
August 2016 • The PCB Design Magazine 31 • Large, well-known customers that they can use in their advertising to attract new cus- tomers. This is especially valuable for smaller suppliers that are looking for revenue growth. • Technical capabilities that can be lever- aged to other customers. If the customer's re- quirements drive the supplier to develop new technology, then the supplier will be able to at- tract other customers. • Entry into new markets. Suppliers that fo- cus on specific markets (e.g., consumer electron- ics, semiconductors, automotive, aerospace) are at risk due to economic and demand cycles. A diversified portfolio of customers and markets provides more stability. • Predictable demand for better asset utiliza- tion. Suppliers are just like any other business— they like being able to confidently plan into the future. This is so important that some suppliers are willing to give a discount if the customer is willing to commit to use a fixed level of their capacity over a period of time. Most suppliers operate with very small profit margins, and if they are in a position to choose their customers, they have to consider the cost to service each customer. If you can't give them a reason to value your business, then you shouldn't be surprised or disappointed if they don't go the extra mile. _____________________________________ Andy Shaughnessy Managing Editor, I-Connect007 (Chapter 18) When Happy Holden asked me to contribute to the 7 th edition of the Print- ed Circuits Handbook, I jumped at the chance. I still have an older edition of the book that I was given when I first started covering this industry, and just being associated with the movers and shakers of the PCB world is a real honor. I've edited Happy's articles for 17 years, so it was a little bit of a role reversal to have him edit- ing my content. But Happy and Clyde couldn't have been easier to work with, and they really have this process down to a science. They were great about dealing with my schedule. I still don't know how I found the time to put this chapter together. I remember working on weekends, and on Thanksgiving be- fore and after our turkey dinner. But it was a lot of fun. Have you ever been on a video confer- ence with Clyde and Happy? Much of this chapter focuses on tools by the "big guys" of EDA, since they do have the lion's share of the market. But I was struck by the number of inexpensive and free PCB design software tools available. And these are solid tools that actually work well. Some of these free and budget tools are robust enough that the big EDA companies may be getting a little worried! I'm glad to see the handbook expanding to include EDA tools and supply chain manage- ment. I think Clyde Coombs and Happy Hold- en deserve all the credit for updating this "Bible of the industry." If they ask for my help on the next edition, count me in. _____________________________________ Bill Hargin President, Z-zero— PCB Signal & Power Solutions (Chapter 20) Q: What would you have done differently in this Hand- book? A: I do believe that the chapter Mark Mon- trose and I created adequately captures intro- ductory educational material that's well-suited for people just getting into signal integrity, power integrity, and EMC. I've been doing that since the mid-'90s, and Mark, an EMC consul- tant, has been doing it even longer than that. I do wish there was more time to revamp the me- chanical design section. That may be the focus for the next spin. With the aging of baby boomers, like my- self, I see educational materials like this book, which I use myself sometimes, as filling a criti- cal need in the PCB design and fabrication world. In fact, my own company, which is an electronic-design software startup, is targeted, in part, to bridge that gap—taking about 20 THE AUTHORS OF THE PRINTED CIRCUITS HANDBOOK SPEAK