Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1481876
OCTOBER 2022 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 17 rate purchasing, instead of me buying 100 pounds a year as a corporate, we're buying 1,000 pounds a year, and your cost goes way down. Shaughnessy: at's great. Davidson: By the way, I would really love to know if anyone in the U.S. is working on those nano-etch type technologies, because right now it seems lim- ited to the Asian market, and that's obviously difficult for us to get here. Many Asian manu- facturers don't want to create a U.S.-based ser- vice fleet. ey won't even entertain selling it over here. Johnson: It's the right play to leapfrog into the next technology? Davidson: Sometimes it is. You just jump head- first, and it's difficult if you're expected to do volume. We're a medium volume shop. It's hard to be an R&D center and do volume, because if you're looking at brand-new equipment that no one else has ever used, that's a lot of trial and error in getting it all dialed in and set right. Johnson: at becomes a part of the whole dynamic here. North America, in general, is optimized for high mix and low volume, with the high volume in Asia. Davidson: at's right. I know I won't be the only one to complain, but the automation part is also driven by the fact that we can't get enough people here. e human resource aspect is a huge driver on automation. Shaughnessy: Speaking of hiring, we see more young people joining the industry. What advice would you give a young process engi- neer regarding imaging? Davidson: Study as much as you can about it. Study the stats. I've been around long enough to do DOEs and Six Sigma. If you're not a stat- istician yourself, most companies have some- one who can do the stats for you, so you can look at the information and make wise deci- sions based on data. roughout the years, I've seen decisions made based on feelings, and that's never good. Really look at the data, collect it, and set up systems to collect. Let that drive you, and then learn and read. I don't know how many techni- cal journals I get in a month, but it's quite a few. Some aren't related to inner layers, imaging, or this industry. Being a manufacturing engineer is great. I get to play around with chemistry, and equipment. I play around with electronics. I've learned PLC programming. To me, it's fun to do that. I've been to China, Korea, and Germany sev- eral times. Study the stats and processes, and have fun doing that too. Shaughnessy: Nice to hear from someone who really loves their job. anks for speaking with us, Loren. Davidson: ank you. PCB007 Defect tracking.