Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/937683
30 PCB007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2018 the part manufacturers to supply their parts di- rectly to the library, and crowd sourcing with engineers to get new parts in the library. We've got millions of parts and it's a couple of clicks to download them out of the library, out of SnapEDA, into your CAD tool. They're sup- porting most of the major CAD tools includ- ing PCB123. And that process means that it's like using iTunes to get your parts definitions and know that you've got good ones that have been certified and validated as correct. Giving me, the designer, up-to-date information as far as how available that part is and the peace of mind that you didn't just spend two days de- fining a brand-new footprint for your library that is wrong. So those are some of the places where I think that's a little bit overlooked through the manu- facturing supply chains. The more we can get those decisions to be made well in the CAD tool, the fewer conversations we have to have further down the street. At least that's one way that we've been approaching it with PCB123. Las Marias: Dan, what is your advice for our readers when it comes to ensuring 100% cus- tomer satisfaction? Maybe you can talk from the perspective of PCB fabrication and the con- tract manufacturer's side. Beaulieu: It's an understanding and it's listen- ing. I like to tell my guys to make sure they not only understand the product they're building for, whether it be a box build or it be the board itself, but also understand the customer. What does the customer need for success? What is their market? Whether it is medical, defense or security, or commercial where it's very com- petitive. Get the characteristics of the custom- er and apply those to the product in the end and it makes a lot more sense. I also like to en- courage people, say it's a circuit board for ex- ample, to think what that circuit board is see- ing when it enters the customer's facility. Even to the point of the receiving, because as you know, documentation has become more vital now than ever. Put yourself in the customer's shoes. Seeing what the customer faces, what their challeng- es are, and what it takes for them to be suc- cessful in their marketplace. Because if you do that, you become completely valuable to your customer. And if you do that enough, after a while, that customer is going to give you lee- way on pricing. I used to say when that hotshot accountant shows up and says that your solder mask is 20% more per kilo than the other guy, you'll want the guys in solder mask and engi- neering to tell him to shut up and talk about all the value they're getting with that product. And it's the same thing with circuit boards. Su- percede the pricing with value. Johnson: I think Dan's right on the money there. One of the things that I talk about with our team often is just pulling one of Steven Covey's seven highly effective methods, and that's "if you wish to be understood, seek first to understand." There needs to be a dialogue that we create in both directions. Not just us understanding our customers, but also helping our customers stop and step back and seek to understand what happens as soon as they've handed their design over. That dynamic, once you have that going on in your relationship with your customer, then everything that Dan was discussing starts to happen pretty organi- cally. Las Marias: Gentlemen, thank you very much for your time and insights. We greatly appreci- ate you speaking with us. Beaulieu: Thank you. Johnson: Thank you very much. PCB007