Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/895789
12 SMT Magazine • November 2017 by Stephen Las Marias I-CONNECT007 For this month's issue of our magazines at I-Connect007, we interviewed some of the top HDI experts in the PCB supply chain to learn more about the latest technology devel- opments, manufacturing challenges, and HDI strategies, from the design, fabrication, and as- sembly perspectives. Joining us on the discussion were Steve Bird, PCB/Flex technology manager at Finisar; Tony Torres of APCT; and a group of technologists from the EMS firm MC Assembly: Vince Burns, quality engineer; Steve Jervey, director of Test Engineering; Mike Smyth, SMT engineer; and Paul Petty, product engineer. They all gave their expert insights, and provided tips and tricks as well key parameters that you should consider when it comes to dealing with HDI. Despite the latest technologies, equipment and tools in design, fabrication and assembly, we found out that there is one very important factor that will determine the success or failure of your HDI assembly: communication. Com- munication between the PCB assemblers, de- signers and fabricators will always guarantee the improvement of your design, process and products. Increasing Adoption of HDI There has been an increasing growth in the use of HDI boards in electronics manufacturing. "It's unbelievable," said Torres. "Just two short years ago, in 2015, we were doing 20% HDI work. Our facility in Santa Clara now does 85−90% HDI work. We're a company whose mantra is to be able to say yes to the customer's needs, in technology and in delivery. We were forced to really learn how to build HDI work be- cause that was their very first question: Can you build this product? Then they want to know how fast we can get it to them." The growth is mainly driven by market de- mand, amid the continuing miniaturization trend in electronics, in addition to the need for more functionality and higher performance. Ac- cording to Torres, the single-sided, double-sid- ed and multilayer boards markets were all flat. "HDI technology was the only growth model," FEATURE