We have met some of our technicians from our local companies, and asked them about their work at NCAB Group.
Jeffrey Beauchamp – Technical / Engineering Manager at NCAB Group USA
Jeffrey has been with NCAB since 2003. What are your responsibilities as Technical / Engineering Manager? I am responsible for supporting our customers with technical guidance, mentoring and assisting our team of technicians across North America and qualifying and maintaining our Domestic supplier base. What is the most interesting part of your role? The most interesting part of my role is that at any given moment of the day one of our customers can call me with a new project they need help with. I can work on PCBs across multiple applications throughout my day and I never know what the next project will be. What do you see as the biggest challenge in your role? The balance between lowest price and highest reliability is usually the most challenging part. I can have a high-reliability project followed by a low cost project and the balance keeps me on my toes for sure. What do you think are the most important factors in creating a high reliability PCB for your customers? IPC Class 3 copper plating for me is the most important feature. This one change typically is a small cost adder but it helps to avoid so many additional concerns. Having this as our standard makes our PCBs significantly better than our competitions and also helps us avoid so many potential issues related to the through-hole plating. When we send a PCB out to our customers this addition provides us with the confidence to know it’s going to last in use for a long time. What emerging trends do you see or have you been working with more recently? It’s not necessarily an emerging trend but we have seen a significant increase in flex and flex rigid this year. It has been a big increase over previous years and it’s good to see so many companies from different backgrounds using the higher level of tech to further their product base. What is the best thing with a career at NCAB? It has to be the level of pride we get from not only offering a solution but going further and helping our customers. We frequently get a project where another PCB supplier had issues with building them reliably and we get the opportunity to help get our customers not just with supplying them with PCBs but helping to get them out of a bad situation. Countless times we get these requests and it’s a great feeling to truly help.
Mario Cianfriglia – Field Application Engineer at NCAB Group Italy
Been with NCAB Group since 2018. What are your responsibilities as Technical / Engineering Manager? For the group I cover the role of Field Application Engineering and reference for quality as I am also an IPC A 600 Trainer, therefore I support customers for the technological part and for the qualitative aspects. I do a lot of training through internal seminars for my colleagues and clients also in recently in WebEx due to COVID-19. Why did you start working for NCAB Group? In my professional life I have always wanted to take on new challenges, and NCAB Group has still given me the opportunity to deal with technology and people on a global level. What is the most interesting part of your role? Being an integral part of the group is engaging. It provides me with continuous stimulus and above all the comparison with others. Being a point of reference is very stimulating, as is being part of NCAB’s Global Technical Council, which was created to collaborate, share and continue to stay abreast of emerging technologies internally. What do you see as the most important part of your role? There are several aspects. First of all, I believe that the passion and knowledge that I have acquired during my career in the PCB industry can contribute to my colleagues’ professional growth. Secondly, it is important to make this knowledge available and to be a point of reference for our customers, directing them on the right path for the development of their projects. The healthiest way to do business with respect for everyone. What do you think are the most important factors in creating a high reliability PCB for your customers? Here too there are different aspects to focus on. What struck me immediately was the strong attention paid to qualitative aspects, to the point of imposing parameters on our factories that go beyond IPC specifications. I have always worked in environments where technology and qualitative aspects were the important points, particularly with military, avionics, etc. Here at NCAB I found this aspect even more extreme. I find this is a very important condition for the reliability of the PCB, all in compliance with the rules for business sustainability. What emerging trends do you see or have you been working with more recently? Certainly the arrival of 5G is significantly changing the development of PCBs for these applications and bringing with it new demands such as:
New high-frequency materials come into play with improved variables to support the higher signal speeds.
More complex HDI build-ups with a higher number of lamination sequences.
Controlled impedances not only on the external sides of the PCB, but throughout the entire stack-up.
The need to dissipate the heat generated by the active components, etc. driving an increase in thermal dissipation requirements.
This is definitely an important technological integration, for which we must be prepared, therefore it is important to be in contact with suppliers of raw materials, interact with the factories in order to be able to provide the right support to the designers of our customers. What is the best thing with a career at NCAB? Having the opportunity to interact globally is the best thing! This opens your mind. People are an integral part of the company, and no one is precluded from growing and proving their worth.
Hüseyin Anaç – Technical Support Manager at NCAB Group Germany
Been with NCAB Group since 2013 What are your responsibilities as Technical Support Manager? I have quite a few responsibilities including:
Internal training for sales and technicians
General technical support for customers
Project related technical support
Being a representative at trade shows
Professional speaker/presenter for seminars / workshops / webinars
Bonding relationship to suppliers
Visiting and educating with the customers
Why did you start working for NCAB Group? From the beginning I had the good feeling that the employee is most important at NCAB Group, and after 7 years I can still agree this is the NCAB way. What is the most interesting part of your role? To help customers find solutions. What do you see as the biggest challenge in your role? Time management is a big challenge for me. What do you think are the most important factors in creating a high reliability PCB for your customers? Deep knowledge of the PCB and the communication between customer and factory. Furthermore it requires also an intelligent factory management system in place. What emerging trends do you see or have you been working with more recently? Miniaturization is continuting to be a big trend in our marketing. What is the best thing with a career at NCAB? It never gets boring and is always challenging! If you want to develop yourself then you always have support. And of course to work in a great team with lovely peers.
Mickaël Cavoleau is Technical Manager at NCAB Group France
Been with NCAB Group since 2016. What are your responsibilities as Technical / Engineering Manager? I am in charge of technical support for French customers during project or design stage. More and more customers need complex technical support in order to identify what is needed to achieve quality and reliability. I also visit customers in order to understand the project and select the “best” PCB corresponding to their need. I organized some technical seminars and also webinars. I am also in charge of quality (Certification of Compliance, claims, customer’s audits, etc.). Why did you start working for NCAB Group? Prior to this role, I was a NCAB’s customer. I audited NCAB factory management process and factories in China, and I was impressed with NCAB’s ability to manage factories and the technical knowledge of NCAB. During this audit, I really felt the importance of the customer for NCAB and how quality is a fundamental value. Since this visit, I am convinced NCAB has never been a ‘trader.’ After 10 years working for an EMS company, I had an opportunity to work for French office, and I took this opportunity.What is the most interesting part of your role? Working with customers on new projects is very exciting. Each PCB is different and all these projects are so interesting and I get excited and invested for the customer to introduce the final product. It’s very important to introduce NCAB at the beginning of the design in order to reduce risk and the potential cost and time of product redesign after volume production has started. What do you see as the biggest challenge in your role? To achieve the best compromises for the PCB design. Most importantly is to define a PCB achievable with reasonable cost and lead-time while the balancing the customer’s needs. Finding the best solution for the customers is very satisfying. What do you think are the most important factors in creating a high reliability PCB for your customers? Before NCAB I worked for an EMS company. So I know how the quality and reliably of the PCB are important and vital. If you don’t build a reliable PCB or you don’t work with the best factories the financial consequences can be dramatic. What emerging trends do you see or have you been working with more recently? Customers need more miniaturization of electronic functions, so they have to choose complex components with small pitch (BGA). In this case an HDI board must be used. I recommend to download our guidelines, and contact us in order to select the best constructions. We also see more rigid flex boards needed for 3D integrations. What is the best thing with a career at NCAB? Like each NCAB employees, NCAB Group provides me with the freedom to take my own decisions based of the values of the company (Quality first, Strong relationships, Full responsibility).
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