PCB007 Magazine

PCB007-Sept2020

Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1288481

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 16 of 137

SEPTEMBER 2020 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 17 need this. Your machine is almost there. Is it possible to make a modification? Here's why." Johnson: As you map out the workflow, you also have to work on the technology roadmap as you talk to equipment suppliers. Holden: You have to benchmark and look at the best practices and solutions. That infor- mation drives new hardware equipment. Fea- tures on PCBs keep getting smaller and small- er, and there's only so much you can do with the equipment. Eventually, you have to make a radical change, which keeps coming back to money. For the life of me, I can't figure out why there's an endless supply of money avail- able for PCB equipment in Asia, but not in North America. Johnson: If you're using it right, the roadmap becomes a tool that you can use to talk to your financiers, bank, and investors. Holden: Do I need new engineers to have this equipment or this new process? Do I need to upscale my existing engineers by sending them to some industry classes? One of the classes HP sent me to in New Jersey was a three-day course on liquid-liquid extraction. I came back and developed our etchant recovery and regen- eration scheme, which we patented. I wouldn't have done it if HP hadn't sent me to a post- graduate course on liquid extraction. Johnson: The roadmap also helps drive one of the other pillars: your staffing, skill set, and the expertise that you put on your team. It gives For the life of me, I can't figure out why there's an endless supply of money available for PCB equipment in Asia, but not in North America. this a matter of retraining people? Should I install inexpensive pieces of plastic between the panels? What is a handling error, and should I simplify my process?" One North American company has 40% fewer processes to make the same multilayer than everybody else in the world. That is a great way to improve pro- ductivity, yield, space utilization, chemistry, water, etc. Take an honest look at these four pillars on a scale from 1-10 for this pillar, and ask, "Where am I? Am I near a one or a 10?" The higher your performance on each pillar, probably the better your margins and the return on assets and return on time, etc. I'm a big believer in metrics and measures of performance. Again, look at the four pillars, rate them on a 1–10 scale on the pillars, and then rank them. Consider how your main competitors rank as well. If I'm losing orders to other companies, then rank them on the four pillars. That's what we famously called our radar diagram. It looks like radar, but each axis coming out of the cen- ter is a different pillar of performance. There's where you are, where your competitors are, and where your roadmap says you should be. That gives you a visual clue that your roadmap has to run along this path. Johnson: Let's pivot for a minute. As a fabrica- tor, I've gone through the process. I have my roadmap. It's a working document, and I know it's going to evolve over time. I'm working to reposition my company and be more competi- tive. I have to start getting tactical. How do I use my roadmap as a tool for getting the equip- ment that I need? Holden: Within the roadmap is the needs, ef- forts that it takes for implementation, along with the resources. As you detail elements of the roadmap, if it involves capital equipment, not only do you go to places like SMTA-I, IPC APEX EXPO, productronica, and CPCA, but you walk the aisles and have a list of what you need in terms of equipment and how you can afford to pay. You have specific questions and look to see what's available or what's close to what you need. Talk to the people and tell them, "I

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of PCB007 Magazine - PCB007-Sept2020