Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1309864
NOVEMBER 2020 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 15 Based on the learning we've done, we have done some advanced products, but we are plan- ning major upgrades to the existing line. Par- ticularly associated with the metrology piece and having that feedback loop with a little bit of AI, that's being implemented next year and will be our offering to the market because no- body offers this worldwide. We feel that this is a nice niche for us, and it covers up the fact that there's no plating expertise by allowing the system to check itself. It makes it easier, and it presents it to you in a simple way if you don't understand all these variables and don't have 20 years' experience in the field. In general, even the people who have a lot of experience— because there's so few of them that are really good—tend to free- style it a lot. But this is just science, and we're going to go ahead and develop it into a process. Matties: It sounds like the labor shortage is not just in plating, but across a lot of the areas in manufacturing today, and bringing AI in is a solid alternative to offsetting that deficiency. Pete Starkey: Getting the chemistry to go in the hole and do something useful—and then get- ting it to come out again when it's finished—is a little bit of a challenge on those high aspect ratios. When you're talking about very nar- row holes, you're fighting surface tension the whole time and can't scale the properties of an aqueous solution. It doesn't get less viscous as the dimension gets smaller, which is one of the real challenges. The electrochemists have done a wonder- ful job of development in recent years, and the equipment manufacturers have worked togeth- er with them to complement each other. You need the chemistry and equipment, but at the end of the day, there are the laws of physics and not just the laws of chemistry that you're battling. From my point of view, it's good to be sitting on the outside watching what the cur- rent generation is achieving and congratulating them for their achievements. Day: The laws of physics don't change, but how you apply them can. When I started, the main thrust was, "Push harder." You tried to force the solution through the hole. Elements like laminar flow were not so much consid- ered. Again, the laws of physics apply. Be- cause you're creating a negative pressure in the holes, you must have a solution exchange. It might take longer, but there are certain me- chanical elements on the line that induce lam- inar flow and negative pressure within tight features. Stepinski: With our business plan, we have the feedback loops. We have the line, put real products on it, challenge the line, and devel- op open points, give it back to the R&D group, and make the equivalent better. We are our own beta site. When you control this whole loop yourself, the cycle time of this feedback and improvement is very rapid. That's what we're leveraging to improve our position in the market. Starkey: You have a definite advantage. If you cast your mind back to my youth, all of the in- novations came out of the captive shops—the vertically integrated organizations. It wasn't until the technologies had been developed and the people outside had determined that be- cause they hadn't had all of the costs of the development work to carry over all the years. They can do it cheaper, and all of a sudden, the proprietary supply house industry started. I've worked for a few them, but they didn't in- novate an awful lot in my day. They offered in-