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CCMP: America's Mass Lamination Company
October 2, 2012 | Dan Beaulieu, D.B. Management GroupEstimated reading time: 8 minutes
I recently had the chance to talk with Bill Schwerter, vice president and co-founder of Copper Clad Multilayer Products, Inc. (CCMP) about his company, the industry, and the future. I enjoy talking to innovators, those who are willing to take a risk for something they believe in and are passionate about. Such a description definitely fits Schwerter.
Beaulieu: Bill, thanks for taking the time to talk to me today. Mass lamination has always been something I have been interested in and I’ll tell you why: I like anything that can help a board shop take on as much business as they can. Any product or service that can make the board shop “bigger” than its physical plant is a good thing in my book. Let’s get started with a little bit of history. Tell me something about yourself and your company.
Schwerter: I started working for Century Laminators, North America's first mass lam supplier in 1983, the same year my daughter Janine was born. Every year, when celebrating her birthday, I am reminded that it is one more year for me in the business. She recently turned 29 years old. That’s how I got into the industry. A few years later, in 1994, we started CCMP. We started it very much on a shoestring and fought for all the business we could get. You have to remember there were seven or eight other mass lamination companies at that time so the competition was pretty fierce. Nevertheless, we felt that we could make a go of it so we went at it.
Most of our original equipment was hand-me-downs from friendly customers, but we still made a go of it and put together a good product. CCMP grew every year from 1994 to 2000. During those years, North American PCB makers were still making volume commercial boards for personal computers and cell phones. In those days we were running hundreds of panels of one part number in the same press load. (Our press has 15 openings.) We still run hundreds of panels in the same press load, but now it’s dozens of part numbers and for all different customers
Beaulieu: It’s my understanding that CCMP is the last company standing, so to speak. You are the only remaining mass lamination company in North America. Talk to me about that.
Schwerter: Being the last standing North American mass lam producer for 10 years and counting is significant. We received ISO recognition back in 1996 which was a pretty big deal back then. So we have certainly kept up with the times. The move by our customers’ customers to Asia has certainly taken its toll. We've felt the effects as well--that’s why we are the only mass lam company left. But, as we try to explain to our customers and potential customers, we can help them to be competitive even in the higher volumes. I know we are currently working with a couple of North American board fabricators who are now gaining ground on the Asian companies by using our services.
Beaulieu: Really? Tell me how that works?
Schwerter: Well, you have to remember that when you buy mass lam from us, you can become very competitive because we are pressing such large panels. In fact our business was designed to handle volume work. So, from the board shop's point of view, they can get panels all the way up to drill at a price that is much more economical than if they had fabricated them in their own facility. They not only get them at a better price, but they get them at 100% yields. The responsibility for yields is in our court, not theirs. And think about that: How many board shops can say that they have 100% yields through drill? Let’s face it: Even the very top-notch board houses have most of their fall out in the stops prior to drilling, so by using us they eliminate all of them. Then, of course, there is the capacity issue; as we like to say, we can make any board shop seem much bigger than it really is, and we can extend their capacity exponentially.
In terms of our own capabilities and capacity, we have made and shipped a 42-layer panel, 24” x 40”, and we’ve done it many times. We used to produce 800 to 1,000 inner layers per day, which became 1,600 to 2,000 panels per day (we run four layers in “half sheet” formats) We are still producing 800 to 1,000 layers which now translate to 160 to 200 panels, and we can do twice as much as that if we need to. Heck, we can just about match any capacity requirements our customers need.
Combine that with the fact that China’s prices are rising. North American customers are more inclined to buy from North American fabricators if the price is close and all of a sudden things start being equal…we can help level that playing field.
Beaulieu: Bill, what is the biggest challenge you face doing business today?
Schwerter: There are two basic challenges that we face every single day. The first is keeping up with the capital investments; we need to stay on top of the technology curve. Investing in capital equipment and facilities is a leap of faith, but a matter of survival rather than a sound business decision because the return on investment is so poor. Our tradition has always been to pour everything back into the business so that we can stay as up-to-date as possible. We like to say jokingly, or maybe only half-jokingly, that it is a good thing that CCMP is run by passionate and starving PCB artists rather than investment bankers.
And then the second biggest challenge we face is forecasting business levels for the next day, week, month, etc. There are times that we book an order in the morning and ship it to our customer that night. Our business used to be focused on supplying a handful of large accounts with their overflow needs. Today we are dealing with a much larger number of smaller PCB shops, and often they don’t know where their next order is coming from so it makes it hard for all of us.Oh, and there is a third challenge we are facing, but trying to do something about, and that is getting the word out about our company. So many times the board shops have forgotten that we are still around. For a while now we have been existing by word of mouth. But, like I said, we are working on that with interviews like this one for example.
Beaulieu: I know you touched on this a little bit before, but could you give me your opinion about the global business landscape and how it has affected your business?
Schwerter: Both CCMP and our customers find ourselves routinely competing for orders of less than 10 panels with suppliers offshore. I have spent enough time in the overseas PCB factories to know that they really have absolutely no business messing around with those 10-panel orders. None. This is a classic example of a round peg in a square hole. They only go after those smaller orders to get the big ones. This is why we are encouraging our customers to come to us for not only those smaller orders, but some of the bigger ones as well. We are in a position where we can not only handle those smaller orders, but, in many cases, we are now getting competitive on some of the larger ones as well. I mentioned our capacity earlier and I’d like to remind you that we have million-dollar presses with 15 openings that are able to reach temperatures of over 500 degrees with the desired heat-up and cool-down rates. We also have four AOI systems and lots of automation so that we can handle just about anything a North American fabricator can throw at us.
Beaulieu: So Bill, are you saying that you could help the North American shops handle more volume business if they would use your services?
Schwerter: Yes, Dan, I am absolutely saying that. We are willing to go into any North American board shop and talk to them about whey volume and technology orders they are bidding right now and show them how they could widen their sweet spot and bid and win much more business by partnering with us. I can guarantee that.
Beaulieu: As you look into the future, what are some of the things you would like to see a year from now? Five years from now?
Schwerter: Another 20 years would be nice. I would like to see the U.S. PCB industry return to its place at the top of the world, both in size and in technology. Most experts predicted that the U.S. PCB industry was dead 20 years ago and of course they were wrong. As long as we maintain our passion and fighting spirit I think we'll be fine.
Beaulieu: On a more personal note, Bill, what do you enjoy most about your work?
Schwerter: I really enjoy coming to work every day, no matter what the business levels are doing. It is such a challenge. I love the fact that every one the original 12 (the Dirty Dozen) employees who started with us is still with the company. I love the summer when my sons can come back from college and work here at the company and learn what it is all about. I love the idea that, as Americans, we are always optimists; no matter how tough things get, we always find a way to not only survive, but thrive. I am certain we, and the industry, are on the verge of succeeding and thriving once again, I just love that.
Beaulieu: And, finally, what advice would you like to leave us with today?
Schwerter: Simply this: To all the board shops out there who are having a hard time competing in this global economy, take heart. We can help you, we can especially help you widen the kind of business you can win, and we can make you bigger than you really are. We can partner with you and increase your capacity so that you will win more business. Just give us a call and we’ll work with you on this. And, oh, one more thing, one more word of advice: Stay hungry and stay foolish!
For more information, visit www.ccmpinc.com.