Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/935136
68 SMT007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2018 that we are adding value and providing our customers with a sustainable strategic advan- tage. Our ultimate goal is to grow with our customer, providing a win-win relationship for our collective organizations. Las Marias: Please highlight some best practices to improve the electronics assembly process. Hebson: We are diligent about maintaining flex- ible and responsive production time to meet our customers' needs. From new product intro- duction (NPI) to an entire program lifecycle, Vexos' unique and innovative hybrid manufac- turing solutions create options best suited to our customers' products' markets and matu- rity level by utilizing the geographic strengths of each of our global locations to effectively support their products through their entire life- cycle. Las Marias: How important is the technical expertise of the customer service staff? Hebson: Having a dedicated, technical team that understands our manufacturing process is critically important. All our customers are assigned a specific Program Manager to manage the commercial and operational aspects of our business relationship. Each Program Manager resides at the manufacturing facility and over- sees the entire relationship from NCI, NPI to full production. Having one point of contact is extremely important, we want to be certain that our customers has a "go to" contact for ease of communications. Las Marias: Is there anything else you'd like to add? Hebson: One of our primary strengths is that we have the size and capabilities of a larger Tier 2 EMS provider while maintaining the flexibil- ity and advantages of a Tier 3 manufacturer in this space. It can offer customers higher qual- ity of services—at a comparable price point— that they would get from a large Tier 2 firm, but with the ability to support new product introductions more quickly and provide expert support with a deeper understanding of the customers' business mindset. What makes us different in the Tier 3 space is a strong focus on engineering expertise and supply chain, as well as a global footprint to support strategic supply chain migration of our customers as they ramp up their own produc- tion. The culmination of those three things makes us very attractive. Las Marias: All right, thank you Greg! Hebson: Thank you. SMT007 Karthik Vijay is the head of Indium Corporation's application support team in Europe. In his role, he is at the center of the complex material challenges faced by the world's biggest automotive manufacturers in their creation of PCBs and power modules. I-Connect007's Barry Matties interviewed Karthik at last year's productronica about his responsibilities, industry challenges, trends and opportunities, and standards creation in autonomous vehicles. Everything from stencils and laser cutting to flux technology and jetting were also discussed. If you want to know about where material technology currently stands in the automotive landscape, read the full interview here. Indium's Karthik Vijay Talks Engineering for Automotive Applications