Shane Whiteside of Summit Reflects on Today's PCB Landscape

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Summit Interconnect began as a printed circuit board manufacturing company just eight years ago and has seen impressive growth organically and through acquisition. Summit President and CEO Shane Whiteside takes a few moments to share his thoughts on the growing PCB industry in the United States.

How do you feel about the current landscape in the United States for manufacturing and electronics? 

Shane Whiteside: I see improvement in the North American electronics sector resulting from an increase in awareness by OEMs and political leaders toward supply chain risk. Geopolitical trends and COVID have shifted mindsets toward addressing this risk. Our manufacturing base continues to be challenged with engaging the new workforce, but I think a lot of progress is being made in acquiring and training talent and re-fortifying our industry.

Some reports indicate that there is a record amount of growth through new and expanded PCB shops in North America. Given Summit’s growth trajectory over the past several years, does this feel true to you?

Our industry has grown from its low point more than eight years ago, but cycles continue, and growth can be difficult to attain at times. IPC’s data shows two consecutive years of declining demand, which I believe is a runout of the COVID-era tech refresh and component shortages. Still, it’s great to see the industry investing for expansion, and I believe all this new capacity will be utilized in the coming years. 

Do you see the PCB growth in the United States as something we can sustain?

I continue to be very optimistic about long-term growth in the North American PCB industry. But truly healthy and sustainable growth must come from multiple market sectors, not just defense. It’s good to see growth in the commercial space and medical sectors; this will help provide balanced growth in our domestic industry.

Can the U.S. regain its role as a technology leader?

I believe we will regain more relevance in technology leadership over time. At the board-technology level, we continue to be challenged by not having newer and purpose-built factories like those in Asia. Much of the equipment supply chain has focused on Asia over the past two decades, but as our market continues to grow and draw more investment capital, I think the situation will continue to improve. However, I believe North America continues to maintain a leadership position in building for smaller volume, highly complex applications with high-reliability compliance requirements.

To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the April 2024 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.