Opportunities and imperatives in screen printing

DEK's new managing director discusses opportunities and imperatives as he joins one of the world's leading screen printing solutions specialists.

In July 2001 DEK appointed John F Hartner as its new managing director, having joined Dover Group sister company Universal Instruments at the beginning of the year.

His arrival at DEK also follows successful international positions with Rockwell and capital equipment business FMC Technologies.

We spoke to JFH to get a feel for where DEK could be headed in the future.

Current market conditions notwithstanding, DEK is clearly an extremely successful business.

Having grown from origins in Weymouth, UK, it now operates centres in the USA, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, Singapore, mainland China, Japan and Taiwan.

It has an installed base of over 3000 (265 platforms) screen printing machines and counts many of the world's largest and most successful manufacturing organisations as customers and partners.

DEK has won global accolades for innovative new technologies and these have been snapped up quickly by customers and, in the case of ProFlow DirEKt Imaging, also by licensees.

Screen printing machines are currently manufactured at the state of the art development and production facility based at the company's Weymouth headquarters, with a further facility in Dongguan, China recently established to serve the strong Asia Pacific market with the DEK 248 and ELA platforms.

At the helm of a global organisation with an extremely strong brand and a reputation for technical leadership and innovative customer service, surely all that is needed is a steady hand on the tiller? "Every business must move forward and do new things", says Hartner.

"And after what's happened in the markets since 2000, the organisations we see emerging the downturn we have experienced will operate in different ways to those that went into it.

Personally, I believe manufacturing businesses will come back stronger and less dependent on a relatively few blockbuster products; in contrast to the business model typified by the PC and mobile phone booms of the last decade.

"I've managed electronics businesses and capital equipment businesses in several regions of the world, and I've experienced the cyclical nature of each type of market.

The challenge to DEK lies in moving to buffer our business from those cycles as much as possible, and getting into the right shape to deliver the services that our customers will need in the coming era.

He explains his major priority is to aggressively develop the DEK Process Support Products business, which has grown from a relatively small design and production unit supplying DEK customers with emulsion screens and laser cut stencils, into a comprehensive developer and supplier of quality consumables for the entire screen printing process.

The portfolio now adds electroformed stencils, PumpPrinting stencils, premium USC papers based on DuPont material technology, tooling options such as FormFlex, Vortex paperless underscreen cleaning systems and replacement cassettes.

The offering also includes a range of wipes and swabs and Printer Caddy storage units, all designed with the benefit of DEK's long experience of close involvement with users of high performance screen printing equipment in real-life commercial applications.

"DEK has always focused on staying close to its customers, and not disappearing soon after the equipment sale has been secured.

The focus of the DEK Process Support Products business unit represents, in my view, the most important opportunity for us to stay in touch with what customers are actually doing, and what they actually need day by day.

For DEK to thrive as a supplier of leading edge capital equipment, we need to encourage that kind of ongoing, results driven relationship.

I'm not talking about a weekly or monthly courtesy call - we need to be right there, working alongside to meet real process targets and also feeding that experience back into our own organisation.

This is how we will ensure that our new technologies and customer service concepts deliver exactly what the user communities most keenly want and need".

So does this mean less emphasis on technology from the company responsible for such surface mount milestones as the pass-thru printer, the industry benchmark DEK265 platform, ProFlow DirEKt Imaging, and most recently, Vortex underscreen cleaning and FormFlex tooling? "DEK is recognised as the technology leader, and has contributed enormously to today's SMT processes.

This is very important to the industry as a whole, and there is no question of DEK 'holding back' on ideas.

DEK Process Support Products provides the framework to build even closer relationships with our customers, meeting their needs on a daily basis.

Because our customers not only need the right technology behind them, but must also optimise their processes and meet stringent logistical demands to thrive in the modern marketplace.

Hartner comments there is scope to deepen the role of DEK Process Support Products, and that, ultimately, it may contribute around 50% of the organisation's overall sales revenue.

"This will reinforce our business foundation as we move into the future", he adds.

Deepening the role of DEK Process Support Products to align the organisation more closely with the next generation customer model is obviously a key priority for Hartner.

But he stresses that DEK's success to date has been achieved through its people, and that the company will always value their contribution.

"Attracting and retaining good people is always a challenge, and in that respect DEK is no different to any of the other businesses I have managed", he says.

"I know we have been talking recently, in the press and at exhibitions, about that elusive quality called attitude, and I have to say I've found plenty of the right attitude so far, as I've been getting to know everybody.

I really believe we've got something here that makes us different, and that comes from the skills and commitment of people working in every corner of the company".

However, when market conditions are as difficult as many are experiencing now, investment in staff slips down the list of priorities.

"Yes, and that really is a mistake", he comments.

"As companies are currently seeking to burn off excess capacity and reduce overheads, head counts are urgently slimmed and staff retention tends to become less important.

But people are what make our organisations different; DEK's great reputation is the product of its great people.

And our ability to deliver on our business promises in the future will depend on how we act today to retain and develop our great people and further build them into a cohesive, global team".

So far, these comments on alignment with customers and focus on human resources issues have provided some insights into John Hartner's priorities for the immediate future.

"I'm looking to build on what we've got, extend our lead in key markets and steer towards a more stable business platform to answer the cyclical nature of the capital equipment market.

"As far as DEK and our customers are concerned, globalisation keeps happening; and it's good".

Opines Hartner: "It means that when customers come to us for a particular service, they see a consistent pre-placement process: consistent customer service, and consistent quality.

But how we deliver has got to be local.

For example, a global EMS partner may come to us for help in rapidly transferring a successful process from North America to a newly constructed facility in Asia.

Around the world DEK people would respond to deliver that process and help make our customer successful.

Our Americas team will have characterised the process in detail including machine requirements, process tooling requirements and the application services required.

Our European operations responds by shipping the specified machine and all the required process support tooling in matter of days.

Our direct Asian service team, understanding the process to be delivered, is onsite to bring together our machine, process tooling, training and services to deliver that process successfully all within a few weeks, Finally and maybe most importantly, we are there in the long-run responding with process support products and service and continuing to meet the ever changing needs of our customer".

Sharing a more philosophical view on globalisation, Hartner says it's definitely a more exciting way to do business.

"It's about meeting new people, understanding different cultures and finding ways to dovetail our principles and approaches.

I have experienced many cultures in my professional and personal life, having lived in the USA, China and now Europe.

When I was with FMC Technologies, I was president of the Asia Pacific region, which spanned India and Pakistan to Greater China and Japan.

In fact, my three children were born in Asia.

I have spent 8 years working in Asia and have developed a feel for the customers, markets, cultures and commercial situations that come into play.

Taking an international stance and understanding the realities of many cultures is a prerequisite of leaders expecting to engender success on a global level.

It's also an exciting and varied environment, where success brings a deep personal satisfaction".

Current predictions are indicating that Asia is achieving eminence in a number of important markets, such as mobile communications, Internet usage and take up of broadband services.

It's no surprise that Hartner sees Asia as crucial to DEK's future plans.

"The sheer size of the populations means immense revenues are available to major operators", he says.

"DEK has done well in Asia, but we have not fully deployed our capabilities.

We are still growing, and growing aggressively.

Machine production at our manufacturing capability in Dongguan, China has expanded to include the ELA platform as well as the 248 we initially began producing there in relatively small numbers during 2000.

The ability to deliver locally built machines within a short timeframe should substantially increase brand recognition and equipment sales throughout the region, and we aim to gain a significant market share both in terms of new machine sales and consumables sales through DEK Process Support Products".

In Europe DEK's position is extremely strong, especially given recent market conditions.

According to Hartner, "No-one in Europe can deliver the total pre-placement process solution that we offer.

Even though it's not a time to sit back and congratulate ourselves, we have achieved a lot and have established the strongest presence compared with our competitors.

"In the Americas, we have also done very well, especially with larger, globally recognised manufacturers.

The immediate target is to broaden our coverage in order to achieve growth in that market.

"In all world regions, I see the role of the Process Support Products business as the key route to getting closer to customers, building our brand and enhancing the quality and timeliness of the new technologies we bring to the market in the future".

So far we have talked extensively about DEK's established business in the surface mount manufacturing sector, but what opinions has Hartner formed about its emerging role as a provider of advanced semiconductor packaging solutions? "DEK has been working in this area for more than three years now, developing processes for solder sphere attachment and wafer bumping that underpin packaging techniques such as flip chip, BGA and CSP.

We are now making rapid progress into the market.

It's very exciting because semiconductor manufacturers have long been in need of better, more cost effective processes to produce those new generation packages in high volume".

But as a new area for DEK, some may believe the company is moving away from what it knows best.

"Not at all", he replies.

"In fact, the processes we have developed are very much based on the experiences and intellectual property we have built up since introducing ProFlow to the surface mount market.

The first few years have been an "incubation period" during which we methodically acquired the necessary market and process knowledge.

Winning the Advanced Packaging Award, which was presented to Neil MacRaild and the DirEKt Ball Attach team at Semicon West 2001, demonstrated that we have succeeded in those two objectives.

The third, and longest, phase of the plan is to gain widespread customer acceptance.

Success stories are already emerging as we move rapidly to strengthen our position".

"It's really important to me that businesses deliver on the promises they make.

I know I'm in the right place here, because I know DEK is also likewise committed to living up to its own high standards.

We share very similar views on business ethics; on being open and straight with people, with our customers and with the market in general.

That's one more reason why I am pleased to be here, and why I've chosen to move my home and my family 3000 miles from the Americas to the UK.

And I've also heard the sailing here is very good!".

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