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36 The PCB Magazine • July 2017 MIL/AERO ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN FACING NEW CHALLENGES agnostic and bi-partisan at the same time. The administration changes are going to be benefi- cial, but what's more important is to look be- hind the curtain at the programs and focus on pursuing and obtaining a seat at the table on programs that are funded. There are 40+ pro- grams that we're active with for now, all funded through 2022. Regarding the changes in the ad- ministration, and you just kind of peel through it, it starts with Trump, the China issue, North Korea, and the stated objective to pivot to the Pacific and increase our naval assets. Then you've got the CIA with Mike Pompeo, the new director, and that's highly focused on signals in- telligence, which translates into a lot of high- er technology, RF circuit builds and data collec- tion. And General Mattis, Secretary of Defense, is a former commander in Iraq and at some point, with increased troops on the ground, that drives the IED defeat-and-detect market. Commander Kelly is the former command- er of SOCOM (Special Operations Command). The administration is pro-military through and through and that certainly bodes well for those of us focused on the mil/aero/defense segments of the market. Then you roll all that together, coupled with a request in the DoD budget to in- crease it by 10%. That would take us back pre- sequestration levels and the appropriations di- alogue should be complete by the end of this month. We should have a pretty clear picture of where the dollars are flowing soon. Again, from our viewpoint, it's been proactive planning and striving to pick the programs and pick the tech- nologies that are going to be required to sup- port whatever effort the administration decides to lean toward." Towards Successful Partnership When it comes to key criteria that OEMs should consider when evaluating an EMS part- ner for their mil/aerospace project, here's what Zentech's Turpin has to say: "First and foremost, many of the mil/aero companies lack the funding and the time, and sometimes the expertise to properly qualify EMS companies. They have commodity buyers, and certifications are important. In our world, on the EMS side, obviously, the IPC has recent- ly rolled out what they call a Validation Ser- vices QML (qualified manufacturers list) trust- ed source, which helps companies really un- derstand that, not only does a company have a good quality management system, but they're able to produce good products. Zentech is one of maybe 10 companies in the U.S. with a trust- ed source process. Additionally, if you're a mil/ aero company, you must make sure that the EMS company you deal with is ISO 9100 certi- fied. Most EMS companies are not. "I would say, separately, NIST 800-171 is also important, and I think it's going to be increas- ingly more important with all the cyber sen- sitivities out there. I'd say that would be one. Companies tend to focus on equipment, but any idiot with a dollar can buy equipment. It takes more than money to produce good prod- ucts. What kind of processes and procedures do you have to operate equipment, solve problems for the customer and get it right." PCB References 1. IRAD: Independent Research and Devel- opment. Government subcontractors use this term to identify when they are spending their own money on a project vs. fulfilling a govern- ment contract. 2. "Protecting Controlled Unclassified In- formation in Nonfederal Systems and Organi- zations, NIST Special Publication SP.800-171 Rev1.pdf. 3. Environmental stress screening test. 4. MRL: Manufacturing Readiness Level. " The administration changes are going to be beneficial, but what's more important is to look behind the curtain at the programs and focus on pursuing and obtaining a seat at the table on programs that are funded. "