Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1401769
48 PCB007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2021 pose to distill all these down to a simple chart that is a composite of the most accurate of the models. I summarize the PCB costing into these three categories: • Raw materials, 47% • Technology processing, 43% • Yield, 10% Of these three categories, the laminate (FR- 4 for those who insist on a generic label) is ap- proximately 36%. erefore, laminate is the number one cost driver in a PCB. e category of raw materials (47%) con- sists of many different elements, including laminate, copper, films, coatings, etc. Each of these elements are part of a different commod- ity chain. e laminate is the most unusual be- cause it crosses two commodities: metal and oil. erefore, it has a complex cost model. An increase in copper demand impacts laminate. A change in global costing for oil impacts lam- inate. e chart in Figure 1 shows the relative breakdown of the major costs. A useful problem-resolution tool when deal- ing with a complex problem is to answer the "Five Whys." For those not familiar with the process, it is identical to what your mother em- ployed when you were "bad" but you refused to admit to the crime. You simply take each an- swer to the last question, and ask, "why?" If you do this enough times (usually five), you arrive at a simple root cause. I used this pro- cess with multiple fabricators and the internal ICAPE team in Asia. e answers are different, but intriguing. From the Five Whys analysis, I received six different top-level answers to the following question: "Why did the PCB increase in cost?" • Increase in copper pricing • Increase in other materials such as resin and tin • Increase in laminate cost • Increase in factory loading • Top-level increase in pricing due to margin loss by the fabrication shops • U.S. inflation rate I would suggest that an illustrative exercise would be to take each of these ma- jor answers and perform a Five Whys analysis. Just as an example, I show one of the Five Whys responses I received (copied exactly as received) in Figure 2. I found this Five Whys response fascinating as I heard a version of this same information from ev- ery source I researched. ere is a perception in Figure 1: Simplified PCB cost model.