This week, Bob MacRae, Eastern Regional Sales Manager from Taiyo America, discuss what is he seeing from his customer base and what is driving the industry.

Dan Beaulieu: Hi Bob. Good talking to you. How are things in your territory? What is driving the industry?

Bob MacRae: Hi Dan, The Eastern Region is driven mainly by Quick Turn, High Tech electronics, supplying Military, Medical and Telecommunications. Considering the economic uncertainties our country is dealing with, the board fabricators in the East are busy and holding their own. Most try to have a diversified client and product mix to weather fluctuations in the industry.

Dan: Can you give me the lay of the land in your area. I know that there are fewer shops there now right?

Bob: Board fabricators in general are a pretty resilient breed and they have proved over the years to be able to adapt and carve out niches in the industry where they can thrive. Most of the board fabricators in the East are prime examples of this.

Dan: Who are the biggest players in your territory at this time?

Bob: Our biggest players are those which supply advanced, high layer count PWB’s to military and medical end users. The use of Taiyo products are ideal for these applications because of our broad industry acceptance and product final properties.

Dan: What products are the most successful?

Bob: Our PSR-4000 LPI products are used everywhere in the industry and are still the most popular solder masks in the world. Our THP-100 DX1 Series hole plug materials also have huge popularity because of their outstanding final properties and the fact they are made locally in the USA.

Dan: Which products are up and coming going forward?

Bob: There is so much interest in inkjet solder mask from both PWB Fabricators and OEMs, and Taiyo America is at the forefront in this area too. In fact, we are manufacturing many of the IJSR-4000 inkjet solder masks in North America. Another product getting a lot of attention is our ThermoCool line of thermal management products, which have up to 10.2 W/mK of thermal conductivity.

Dan: What end product technologies are driving your sales right now and in the future?

Bob: We see huge demand coming from many areas, including both the military and medical industries, as well as EV and automotive, where advanced, high layer count PWB designs are leading the way.