Streamline Circuits: Investing in the Future of its Customers
February 4, 2014 | Dan Beaulieu, D.B. Management GroupEstimated reading time: 7 minutes
Streamline Circuits is like no other board shop in the United States. Just over 10 years ago, three seasoned PCB professionals, each with a proven track record for success, purchased a tiny board shop and in just a few short years transformed it into one of the industry’s leading PCB companies when it comes to both advanced technology and quality.
The company also has the distinction of being one of the fastest growing board fabricators in the business. “We felt that we had our finger on the pulse of the market when we started Streamline,” said co-founder and CEO Chuck Dimick. “We knew that if we provided our customers with the cutting-edge products needed today, and also need in the future, we could and would be successful."
Dimick continued, “We knew that we were going to have to invest millions of dollars making sure that we had all of the equipment that we would need to always stay ahead of the technology curve. We were prepared to spend that money from the get go.”
Adds fellow co-founder and President Greg Halvorson, “That’s right; the way we plan our future technology is exactly what sets us apart. We continue to invest millions of dollars in new equipment and processes knowing that the technology we are investing in is a technology of the future and the demand for it will not occur for as many as two or three more years. Streamline is investing in not only our future, but our customers’ future as well. "While many other board shops are riding out the technology wave until it passes them by, causing many of them to have huge manufacturing issues with consistency and reliability, we at Streamline are always focused on the future. We study trends and we stay in close touch with our customers to make sure we understand where they are today and where they will be in the future. This keeps us ahead of everyone else and makes us valuable to our customers. I am a great believer in the statement that says 'If you don’t determine your future someone will do it for you.'”
Dimick adds, “A good example of working closely with our customers is the way we are currently working with the advanced chip companies on their future HDI designs, which include micro BGAs down to 0.4 mm, 1.9 mm, and 0.08 mm. This allows us to get a head start on their future requirements for technology and allows us to speed up the overall learning curve so that when our customers start their development design we will be there for them. By doing our homework in advance, we'll be able to use our knowledge and experience to manufacture the board they want with the reliability and consistency that they need and at a very cost effective price.”
Third co-founder and Vice President of Sales Tom Doslak explains how this make his job easier: “By working alongside our customers, making sure that we will always be able to provide them with the technology they need today and in the future, we create tremendous customer loyalty. Think about that for a minute. How many other shops out there are doing that? How many of our competitors spend the time and effort--not to mention the money--to make sure they are keeping up with their customers’ needs? Not many, according to our own customers. They tell us that the reason they work with us is that we are doing just that; that instead of being externally driven, we are driven by our customers. Look, no matter how you cut it, we are building someone else’s design--someone else’s product. Our only product is our knowledge, process, and technology so we have to make sure those things are always kept up so we will always be able to provide our customers with expertise in the processes and technology they require to be successful. We work hard so our customers can sleep at night, knowing that we are looking out for them.”
In just the past few years the company has invested over $7 million in new equipment to ensure they are the most advanced shop in America today. And all of this equipment was purchased with the customer in mind. Streamline is one of the few companies to have four laser direct imaging (LDI) machines, allowing them to consistently build PCBs with lines down to 2 mils.
Halvorson says, “LDI is the only way to go. We are at a point where all of our imaging, including that for solder mask, is done on these machines. They are very efficient--not to mention the savings we have incurred due from not having to buy film. Considering what things were like in this business when I started, LDI is truly a machine of the future that we are lucky enough to have at our disposal today. I think the LDI technology is a true game changer when it comes to allowing us to build what our customers need. The imaging on the boards is the same from the very first board to the last one. This is critical when you're dealing in the parameters our customers require.”
Streamline Circuits is one of a just a handful of companies in this country producing competitively-priced HDI microvia boards combing their four LDI machines with their seven Yag and CO2 laser drill machines give them the ability to produce all of the fine-lined microvia work their customers require to meet their market’s technology demands.
“It’s no accident we are located right in the heart of America’s high-technology belt. Our neighborhood is populated with some of the leading electronics companies in the world. When you leave our facility and head to the San Jose Airport you pass by most of this country’s--hell, the globe’s--leading technology companies. This is our world, the world we live in and if we are going to not only survive, but thrive out here, we have to take care of our neighbors first. And taking care of them means being able to handle the most sophisticated PCB technology challenges in the world. We feel very fortunate to live and work here. Being here provides us with the environment we need to stay on the cutting edge. We get to work with companies that are constantly pushing the envelope when it comes to tomorrow’s technology today and we’d better damn well keep up if we want to succeed,” added Dimick.
Where once North America was the true leader when it came to PCBs, the country now produce less than 4.6% of the almost $60 billion market. Where we were once the technology innovators we are now at the bottom of the list. We produce only a small percentage of the world’s high-end PCB products at about $400 million. The same applies to flex and rigid flex boards: We only produce about $350 million of the world’s $9 billion production. To the American high-tech companies requiring these technologies these number are particularly frightening. There are not many companies left who are dedicated to taking care of their needs on a local level.
“This is why we are particularly grateful to have Streamline Circuits right down the street,” commented one of their customers. "I feel that we are buying too many high-tech products from Japan and Korea. That isn’t something that I’m very proud of, but I have no choice. There just aren’t enough companies like Streamline who are willing to make the investment to keep up with our PCB needs. I admire them for that, but I’m also sad that there are not more companies like them.”
Where once there were almost 2,000 board shops in this country there are less than 275 left. Where once almost 75% of all PCBs built in the world came from America, now less than 5% come from here; and where once just about all of PCB technology was developed and produced here by a good number of companies, there are now only a handful of those companies and Streamline Circuit is leading the way.
“Our slogan is 'Time and Technology' and we live by that slogan. We are always trying to find ways to build the highest technology products in the shortest amount of time and at a competitive price. We feel that our job is to be valuable to our customers, something we think about every day when we come to work. We know that America has fallen on tough times of late, but we also know that it does not have to be that way. We live in Silicon Valley, the highest technology companies and customers in the world are here--not to mention in Texas and New England and Alabama and The Midwest--and it is not just our job, but our responsibility to provide them with world class, high-technology PCBs that are built right here in the United States. That’s why we bought Excel Circuits so many years ago and that’s why we keep investing in our facility. We feel that an investment in Streamline Circuits is also an investment in America as well,” concluded Dimick.