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PCB007-July2021

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26 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2021 ponent suppliers, the whole market. It has been pressure to the point where some PCB fabrication shops are running on very, very slim margins because it's that or do no work at all. at's not sustainable. e industry has been squeezed down to the point where it's a starvation operation, and there needs to be more room for making money if we want this to thrive. D'Ambrisi: I certainly agree with that. e North American printed circuit board fabri- cator, as an example, has adapted well to the changes that the industry has seen over the past 20 years. I remember starting my career quite some time ago, where our business was large- ly one-third in the Americas, one-third in Eu- rope, and one-third in Asia. And now it's well over 85% in Asia in our printed circuit board fabrication business. e North American fab- ricators have adapted well to that difference in the environment. ere used to be many high- volume shops in the North American market, but now the market is focused on very specific end-use markets and quick-turn and prototype opportunities. ey have adapted well, and we believe they can realize a significant premium for providing that type of capability to their customers. ere are actually quite a few very success- ful and very profitable printed circuit board fabricators in the U.S. market. I think they've done a great job capitalizing on markets and opportunities that are available to them. What you said about profits being squeezed at some of the Asian manufacturers is absolutely true. ere is a significant number of Asian man- ufacturers that are feeling that squeeze and frankly have closed their doors as a result. Plac- es like China that were very attractive from a cost perspective in the past, are becoming a much more difficult environment to compete in. ere are always lower cost manufacturing locations around the world. If it's not ailand or Malaysia, it's Vietnam or India. We will con- tinue to see that migration to lower labor cost areas around the world, and it will push some suppliers that are not as well-equipped as oth- ers out of the market. Johnson: Do you see these trends as start- ing to level the playing field for North Amer- ican manufacturers again? ey have opti- mized into a certain kind of work and figured out, not only that they get a price premium, but if they've done it well, they've worked on becoming somewhat optimized with their la- bor and their equipment. As this shi happens with China and their labor prices continue to increase, the supply chain issues change here. Do you see that giving North American com- panies a chance to compete on the global mar- ket in large quantity again? D'Ambrisi: Unfortunately not. I don't see the structure of the North American market and the way the printed circuit board fabricator in North America serves that market as changing significantly over the next five to 10 years. I don't believe that any of the changes we're see- ing will change that or impact that. e North American market has been optimized to the way it is today and will continue to be that way for a long period of time. Unless it becomes significantly more cost-effective to manufac- ture volume in North America, I don't see that changing. at's in the printed circuit board fabrication side. In the semiconductor side, I see current initiatives to manufacture addi- tional semiconductor products in the United The North American print- ed circuit board fabricator, as an example, has adapted well to the changes that the industry has seen over the past 20 years.

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