Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1038326
16 PCB007 MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2018 Matties: Why aren't more shops across North America following this path? Stepinski: It is a function of the whole dynamic in the U.S. market. I think most people in the U.S. market are predominately from the '90s. Thus, board shops and equipment are still from the '90s, and the only things they replace are the drills, testers, and imagers. All the wet stuff is ancient. Matties: The first thing you notice about this shop is that there's no odor. Sometimes you walk into shops and can smell the chemistry from the lobby. Stepinski: Yes, you don't smell anything here. For ex- ample, the acid etching is recycled through kerosene. We extract the copper and bring it back to a sulfate. I found the technology in Sweden. Matties: It works? Stepinski: It seems to work. We use some strange solu- tions here-and-there to keep it all "green," but at the end of the day, the green stuff doesn't increase the operating cost. Whenever you go green, your operating costs tend to be lower—that is, if you did it the right way. There's the capital invest- ment, and then there's the return. For example, with etching, return on investment (ROI) comes in a year or two. Matties: Building a factory like this and delivering a lot size of one, there are different rates that you're deal- ing with here. How difficult was it to build a synchronized line? Stepinski: It's not that hard. This whole factory is the first any-piece flow PCB shop in the world. Everything is de- signed for a lot size of one core. Matties: Wow. A lot of people would think that's the big challenge. We've talked about lot size of one before for many years, and they didn't adopt it for that reason. Stepinski: We had to get a lot of new equipment that hasn't been built before, but the concept is not difficult. It's just that—if you want to buy it off-the-shelf, it's not available. Matties: I think it's like you said, you have to think it through. Figure 4: Wet-etch processes utilize bottom-side etching for greater efficiencies. Figure 5: Apollon digital direct imaging system, auto-reverse inline.