That first crash you heard was reality striking Earth, smashing the PCB industry in the process. Then came the shock waves of the thousands of disgruntled employees who just lost their jobs. And in the past quarter came the sound of the skids of boards you built a few months ago as they were dropped back off at your loading dock. More and more, we are hearing reports of millions of dollars of inventory being returned to PCB manufacturers (some even to shops that are closing their doors). OEMs, saddled with full shelves, are simply bringing boards back, and none too ceremoniously, either. As one salesman for a major PCB manufacturer told us, the discourse is something like, "Hey, you dropped this near our plant. Want it back?" Inevitably, the finger-pointing begins, the lawyers are called in, and everyone loses. Now - again - we're facing the usual questions: Who's responsible, and how do we avoid this from reoccurring?
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