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February 2017 • SMT Magazine 73 ing ourselves, 'Are we really going to be able to do this?'" Campbell's state-of-the-art pedestrian safety systems, which allow traffic agency technicians to control their equipment via remote web- based management, currently meet IPC-A-610, Class 2, specifications. State and federal regula- tions, which already require performance test- ing at extreme temperatures ranging from -70°F to +150°F, are soon expected to demand Class 3 compliance, due to the mission critical nature of the equipment in a full range of environs worldwide. Campbell is an ISO 9001:2008 cer- tified company that undergoes semi-annual au- diting and stringent inspection of their SMT as- sembly processes and quality control methods. "To be honest, the whole process of bring- ing our production in-house was much, much easier than I anticipated," said Hill, "and the learning curve was way shorter than I expected. We had some through-hole experience, but 80– 90% of our crew were very green when it came to SMT." Hill credits industry associations like IPC for the standards and education they pro- vide but is also quick to point out that, "the initial training and continued support provid- ed by our equipment supplier has been invalu- able. Any time we have a problem or question, technical help is always available." the raw materials (bare PCBs and components) that the company purchased at the best possi- ble prices and supplied to the subcontractors in kits to help reduce costs. "Now, it's almost the opposite," Tate explained. "Completed product now accounts for only about 30–40% of our in- ventory and we build it at a much lower cost than what we were paying our subcontractors. Also, we are now very vertically integrated. We can be building PCB assemblies at the same time we are building the mechanical parts. This allows us to build smaller lots (and by small, we're talking quantities of 1500–2000 pieces at a time) of various products each month to keep inventories low, while still meeting demand and keeping up with sales volume." Less than a year and a half after bringing their production in-house, Campbell Company has reduced the cost of their total electronics in- ventory (finished PCB assemblies + components and bare PCBs) by a considerable 35–40%. According to Suzanna Sims, Campbell's con- troller, in-house SMT production has been in- valuable to the company's Lean manufacturing initiatives and a boon to cash flow. "To meet price points, we used to have to place blan- ket orders for 25,000 pieces of one board that would tie up $150K-$175K in one shot," said Sims. "We'd make our best estimates to coor- dinate delivery schedules based on sales fore- casts, but we'd often end up paying for product that would sit in inventory a little longer than planned." Large cash outlays for subcontract services were also a burden for Verbos Electronics. "It's a tremendous relief to not have to pay for prod- uct that has to be built in batches larger than orders demand. Setup charges from subcontrac- tors necessitate a certain minimum volume; otherwise the cost per assembly becomes quite prohibitive," said Verbos. Quality Control For companies with no previous experience in SMT manufacturing, the thought of bringing production in-house and being able to main- tain product quality can be somewhat daunt- ing. "When we finally made the decision to take the plunge," said Campbell's Production Supervisor, Clark Hill, "we were all kind of ask- BRINGING SMT ASSEMBLY IN-HOUSE Figure 4: The high-mix board for Campbell Com- pany's Advisor Guide Accessible Pedestrian Station contains approximately 160 different components and is just one of 25 unique designs they now as- semble in-house.