Confidee's answer to shortages: full transparency and the freedom to cancel orders

From the outset, Confidee was built around compliance and transparency as its primary competitive advantage. In 2026, a year marked by material shortages that have pushed lead times towards 2028, that strategy has begun to pay off.

"We know what it takes. A PCB may be designed in one country, manufactured in another, purchased in a third and sold in a fourth. That requires a very different level of control," Bech told Evertiq.

Today's market, however, looks very different from what it did four years ago. The AI infrastructure boom is creating unprecedented demand for materials, resulting in supply shortages that could reshape several European industries.

Three waves of compliance

Bech divides both Confidee's customers and the industry's compliance requirements into three "waves".

The first consists of defence-related products. According to Bech, Sweden applies export controls to virtually all PCBs specifically designed for defence applications, and Confidee can document its compliance through recorded meetings with the Swedish Inspectorate of Strategic Products (ISP), demonstrating how these processes are managed.

The second wave covers dual-use products that may be used in both civilian and military applications. Here, Bech believes the industry still has room for improvement. In his view, any product that could potentially be classified as dual-use should undergo a documented assessment at executive or board level, regardless of whether it is ultimately used in a civilian or military application. He points to US regulations as an example worth following.

"If you have a product that could potentially be classified as dual-use, management or the board has a responsibility to carry out a documented assessment. Companies in the United States have solved this better than most. If a product is considered dual-use, it is simply treated as defence material, with the same documentation requirements throughout the process. I believe Europe has something to learn from that," Bech said.

The third — and, according to Bech, least recognised — wave concerns what he describes as critical infrastructure, including telecommunications, power generation and other essential systems. He cites companies such as Ericsson and Nokia as examples where compliance requirements effectively extend all the way down to component level.

Bech argues that critical civilian infrastructure, such as power plants, should be treated with the same regulatory seriousness as the defence sector, given the security risks associated with unsuitable components or PCBs ending up in critical facilities.

Certification and automated traceability

In practice, Confidee's approach gives customers near real-time visibility into where their PCBs are manufactured, including the factory, specifications and logistics chain. Every order is accompanied by automated compliance matrices that follow the product throughout the supply chain, including CO₂ footprint tracking.

The company is certified to ISO 27001 and AS9120, the aerospace and defence quality standard. According to Bech, this makes Confidee one of the few companies in the PCB industry to combine both certifications.

"We believe we're one of the few companies in the industry that has this combination in place. We place great value on customers who want to audit us, and we've welcomed many defence suppliers to our facilities. I'm proud to say we've passed every audit with flying colours," Bech said.

Why Confidee allows customers to cancel orders

The policy Bech considers most unusual is Confidee's willingness to let customers cancel existing orders when demand from their own customers declines, rather than insisting on contractual commitments, which he describes as standard industry practice.

According to Bech, a cancellation is not a problem in itself. If a design revision, a different prepreg or an alternative layer stack becomes necessary, Confidee works with the customer to adapt. The philosophy behind the policy, which Bech summarises as "sharing is caring", is to distribute risk across the supply chain instead of placing the entire burden on one party.

In many ways, the objective is not simply to secure the current order, but to ensure that the customer remains in a position to place the next one.

Defence customers validate the strategy

According to Bech, the company's results for the first half of 2026 clearly demonstrate that the strategy is working. Defence customers now account for more than 40% of Confidee's business, order intake from the sector has increased by 119% compared with the same period last year, and the company is adding between one and four new defence customers every month.

Bech sees this as evidence that customers in a sector where price is rarely the deciding factor — and where traceability, documentation and reliability matter far more — are actively seeking suppliers that can demonstrate compliance rather than merely claim it.

Asked whether Europe's ongoing defence build-up — which he expects to accelerate significantly during the second quarter of 2027 — could also encourage greater attention to compliance among customers outside the defence sector, as well as among competitors, Bech replied:

"If we help move the industry in a positive direction by encouraging more companies to focus on compliance, I'd be very happy. But if you want to compete at our level, you have to invest several million dollars in systems. Ultimately, it's about securing production data and being able to prove traceability," Bech said.

Multi-sourcing instead of over-specification

Asked what concrete measures Confidee has taken to protect customers from recent disruptions — from material shortages to Europe's defence build-up — Bech points to a strategy based on qualifying multiple manufacturing partners and alternative materials for each customer specification, rather than tying a design to a single supplier.

"We always say: define the performance attributes you need, not the exact material. Many different materials can meet the same requirements, giving you much greater flexibility," Bech said.

According to Bech, the company is also developing a system that will allow customers to see all qualified manufacturing partners, the materials approved at each facility and their current lead times. The platform is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter.

"As far as I know, nobody else in the world offers that," Bech said.

Ultimately, Bech describes Confidee's overall strategy not as insurance against any single crisis, but as a way of building a company that customers can trust regardless of how market conditions evolve. Whether that ambition proves successful is, of course, something only the market can determine over time.