Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1467744
20 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2022 people do it every day because it's important. You won't be doing business with many cus- tomers unless you have these things in place. We're finding justifications for ROI evolving. Now, ROI might just be that our cycle time is faster. And if our cycle time is faster, then I know that there's money in this and I know I can compete with somebody who previously was faster than me. I don't know if all those traditional add-ups and subtractions, like labor cost and such, are as influential. People aren't saying, "It needs to pay for itself in a year or I don't want it." Peo- ple are looking at that, but I don't think that's the over-arching reason for ROIs now. ey're The team at Technica supplied this analysis of the ROI contributions of inkjet solder mask to help quantify the statements made in the interview. Savings on Operational Costs A reduction in process steps is achieved by direct patterning of the solder mask. The cost drivers in Figure 1 are removed or minimized, thanks to inkjet printing. The single standard inkjet solder mask tool is a drop-in replacement for the traditional full surface coating (exposure) developing process and their respective tools. Inkjet printing is convenient thanks to: • A significant reduction on running cost, such as material and electrical energy bill • A greater efficiency of the solder mask material • An auxiliary chemistry, like flushing liquid for mainte nance, has less volume and cost impact compared to traditional chemistry The latter point ensures the environmentally friendly aspect of the inkjet technol- ogy by avoiding continuous refresh of large quantities of developing chemistry. looking at an overall strategy that includes security, safety, environmental concerns, and continuing to work with the clients who are expecting those things. Matties: How would you rank the importance of that decision tree or process? What are the factors? You're saying they're looking at ROI differently. Carignan: In my day, when I was running a lot of plants, ROI was probably the single most important factor. What's the payback period? I want to know that number; it's what's rank- ing capital requirements from all the plants I'm Discovering the Advantages of Inkjet Printing for Solder Mask Figure 1: Qualitative comparison between existing technology for traditional solder mask processing (red), an LDI alternative (blue) and additive route (green). (Source: SÜSS)