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OCTOBER 2018 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 29 Table 1: The GreenSource single- and double-layer process removes 23 manufacturing steps. Table 3: Standard process single- and double-sided process flow. Table 4: Standard multilayer process flow. Table 2: GreenSource multilayer process flow. mask and legends. For fine-line and high-den- sity circuits, digital direct exposure is used, thus eliminating all artwork, inspection, han- dling, and storage. The main high-volume PCB processes are automated on one conveyorized system from the CNC drill through the final solder mask and fabrication. For high-frequency and controlled-imped- ance multilayer jobs, ultra-precision direct im- aging and continuous conveyorized copper pulse-plating with 56 insoluble anodes yield a maximum of only 3% copper thickness varia- tions across a panel. The metal-backed boards also have the capability of cavities. Lower Costs by Eliminating Waste Simplifying the multilayer PCB manufactur- ing process (Tables 1–6) eliminated 74 steps, including the need for pre-clean and micro- etch. Additional waste was reduced by imple- menting 17 actions (Table 7). Delivery as Soon as Needed Automation eliminates queues, waits, and delays, resulting in a just-in-time (JIT) flow process with a total of 38 steps. As seen in Ta- bles 1–4, there are numerous queues (waits, then move) in the standard multilayer fabrica- tion processes with a total of 112 steps. By elim- inating 66% of the process steps, the Green- Source method for outer layers takes only 105 minutes from drill to final fabrication instead of weeks. Standardizing processes from image to etch combines the automation of these steps into one continuous process for both inner and outer layers. The material handling equipment was all supplied by AWP Group, a European PCB specialist in equipment and material han- dling. They supplied nearly 100 special pan- el code readers and radio-frequency identifica- tion (RFID) readers to instruct the automated equipment about panel ID to download a spe- cific recipe. These new processes have innova-