Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1424540
78 SMT007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2021 does that, and the massive- ly parallel, by its very name, says we can do that on many units, up to 20 at the same time—which is important in industries like consumer electronics, consumer med- ical products, automotive electronics, and internet of things. In those markets, they're very driven by yield. ese are the high quantity prod- ucts. ey also tend to have lower profit margins, so making sure that they can be manufactured and sold to customers profitably is a very im- portant attribute. Johnson: It sounds like a key area of attention for you in developing a product like this is op- erator efficiency and high throughput. Cain: Yes, absolutely. roughput is the num- ber of units under test in each period, and the value of the insights you gain by testing it, as compared to the investment cost, but with the unit in place and operating it. Johnson: It sounds like this is an Asian market product. Is that correct? Cain: Five or ten years ago, I would have agreed with that, but today is different. We're sell- ing this in every region: Europe, the Amer- icas, and Asia, of course. We're seeing a shi in manufacturing. Asia continues to expand, but we see regional manufacturing take hold in every region of the world—North America, South America, Europe—and shiing in differ- ent parts of Asia. ere is tremendous expan- sion into places like ailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines, as well as China. Johnson: Let's drill down on that. With this in- terest in massively parallel work, what are cus- tomers looking for that is consistent across the re- gions? And what is unique about the different regions? Cain: ere are some con- sistencies because some of these are global companies with a consistency of oper- ation to ensure business ef- ficiency. And then you see some variations, some areas of focus and specialty. But overall, for electronic prod- ucts in general, it's becom- ing much more regionally diversified. ey're looking at the total balance of the cost of producing electronic assemblies that are not necessarily dictated by the labor that goes into it as much as maybe 10 or 20 years ago; it's the cost and transporting of the materials. You have customers demanding a relatively fast turn between order and deliv- ery of a product. So, especially in the areas of things like automotive, it isn't just a mega factory. In one area of the world, it's mega factories. Elsewhere, especially with the move to elec- tric vehicles and other very highly electronic products, you see regional manufacturing be- ing set up so those vehicles aren't in a contain- er on a ship in transport. at's a lot of capi- tal and time spent. ey would rather assemble those, then transport those quickly to the end customer, and sell them. Johnson: You mentioned earlier about consum- er-type products being a great fit for this equip- ment and now you're mentioning automotive. ose two things dovetail. Are automotive ap- plications a primary driver for this sort of high- volume low-mix? Cain: It's one of the primary drivers. As I men- tioned, consumer electronics are the infusion of almost everything at this point. Look at the Christopher Cain