Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/924542
10 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2018 Apparently, we neglected to include "to im- prove quality" as an option because this was mentioned repeatedly in the comment section. Additionally, you are researching your equip- ment needs and purchases through many ven- ues like publications, tradeshows and, most notably, by benchmarking with other compa- nies (Figure 2). Let's move on to our line-up for the month, starting with our discussion on the decision- making process for choosing the right equip- ment. We invited a couple of veteran indus- try people, Matt Turpin, president and CEO of Zentech Manufacturing, and Kathy Nar- gi-Toth, president of Eltek-USA. They provide some sane advice on evaluating your equip- ment needs in line with your customer-part- ners, the value of creating a roadmap and hav- ing a plan, and, as always, open communica- tion lines with your supply chain. As I mentioned last month, the buzz around is all about Whelen Engineering, certainly a top equipment purchaser in our industry. Natural- ly, we've got an article by Alex Stepinski, pres- ident of Whelen Engineering's newly formed division, Greensource Fabrication. Alex's vi- sion is clear as he delineates the steps he has followed to build a new PCB manufacturing plant here in the USA. Considering the magni- tude of this undertaking, it was imperative that a strict evaluation process be followed. A sidebar interview with Jochen Zeller and Henk Van der Meij, VPs at AWP Group, one of Alex's major equipment suppliers, is also in- cluded—which may or may not be illuminat- ing. As Alex says, they are doers and thinkers, not talkers. But one can clearly see they extent of the partnership that has been formed. Taking a slightly different tack is Chemcut's Jim Hall, who carries us through the thought process for choosing conveyorized equipment, from physical parameters and construction material choices to the less obvious require- ments like ease of maintenance, expansion ca- pability and IoT extras. Here in the middle of the magazine is our IPC APEX EXPO 2018 pre-show special, includ- ing a series of interviews with the people at Figure 1: Reasons for investing in new equipment.