Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1467744
MAY 2022 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 13 Medina: On the business side, some of the conver- sations I've had are about labor, which is becom- ing scarce, and wages are going up; people don't want to work in the plat- ing shops of a PCB fab house. Management is asking, "How do I function with fewer people in those areas where people don't want to work?" Some don't mind working in AOI; the con- ditions are clean. But surely in the wet process areas is where we're seeing a good amount of interest in how to reduce labor. Matties: Are there solutions available? In a brownfield site, obviously, space and flow are the factors, right? Medina: at's the challenge for board shops. ey can only do so much, right? But ink- jet printing is a place where you can take out process steps, which should free up space for other use. Johnson: Earlier, you linked direct imaging to inkjet solder mask and additive processes. Why are those two increasingly going hand in hand? Perry: It's the paradigm shi to additive tech- nology, where the DI has replaced the con- ventional exposure process and has made dra- matic strides to improve quality—not just for registration, and performance, which was huge, but across the board for imaging quality. It didn't replace anything, though. It replaced your phototool process, but it's still coating the entire panel with dry film or solder mask, exposing it, and then developing it all off. e next evolution step is additive technology. Automation and Going Green Johnson: One of the things that I've been pick- ing up about our conversation so far is a one- two punch of removing process steps and incorporating automation. ose two things seem to amplify each other. Medina: Yes. ere are opportunities for cus- tomers in labor cost reduction and environ- mental chemical consumption. With inkjet printing, you're removing chemical processes, developing and cleaning screens, and all the things that you do in the process to flood print the boards. en you have the atmospheric plasma cleaning equipment (WonderWise) that we featured at the IPC APEX EXPO this past January, placing chemical clean prior to dry film, or inner layers and outer layers. We now have that installed in our demo center and are scheduling running samples for customers who want to bring boards in to test it out. Johnson: How does that work? Medina: It's a guided atmospheric plasma machine and it has two advantages. One, it WonderWise atmospheric cleaning equipment.