Laser cut stencils have improved in quality and capability over the years due to advancements in laser technology and the core materials available. We are, however, seeing a continued and increasing requirement for higher end stencils which are either hybrid technologies with various coatings or, ultimately, fine resolution electroform stencils with ultra-smooth aperture walls.
There is a strong market for the more commoditized and economical laser cut stencil, but for the more challenging applications and finer aspect ratios, high end electroform technology always wins through.
Photo Stencil has been the industry leader for many years, but to meet these challenges we have invested heavily in R&D as well as in expanding our fully equipped lab and engineering support. We continue to innovate for the electronics assembly market, and our broad offering of laser cut, chemical etching, coatings, and our core proprietary electroform process allows us to deliver some very unique products.
Throughout this year we will continue to recruit personnel, specifically in the area of process engineering/R&D to support customer applications. As well as this, I am exploring growth opportunities for Photo Stencil through potential acquisitions of companies with strong synergy to our core business.
