Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1467744
30 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2022 It's not necessarily always individual load- ing/unloading machines that you attach to a piece of equipment, it's potentially pieces of equipment with automation already inte- grated. We've sold several V-scorers with auto- matic load and unload, where the customer can put a stack of circuit boards on the front of the machine, walk away, have the job(s) pro- cessed, then come back and just pick up the panels on the other side of the machine. Barry Matties: Torsten, when you say automa- tion, is it merely to the extent of loaders and unloaders, or are they looking for a digital fac- tory as well? Reckert: With existing PCB factories, it's pri- marily about adding a loader and an unloader to a piece of equipment that is already inte- grated by the equipment supplier. Like the V-score example, manufacturers are offer- ing new equipment with an integrated loader and unloader, or adding an optional loader/ unloader. is is much more important than the overall plant automation at present. I think plant automation only works in the case of a greenfield facility where you have the space to design everything. Taking an existing fac- tory and automating it, from a product track- ing and overall automation standpoint—simi- lar to what Alex Stepinski did at GreenSource—is almost impos- sible in existing circuit board facilities. Matties: You're thinking that the "Alex Stepinski level" is hard to achieve in an existing facility? Reckert: You need plenty of space. San Jose is a fantastic example. You have quite a few facilities with incredible rev- enue-per-square-foot in their facilities, but if you want to add automation to their machines, especially in their wet process areas, there's hardly any space. You would use, let's say, very custom-manufactured robotics, but you would have to spend a lot of money. Another hurdle is that people still struggle to justify spending a lot of money on automation. ere's still a mindset to ask, "Why spend a lot of money on automation when we can have someone load the machine?" Matties: What about batch processing? Is there an automation push on the chemistry side? at was something Stepinski did at Green- Source, and it seemed like it was pretty attain- able for any fabricator. Reckert: It's interesting that you bring it up. I've spent quite a bit of time talking to Alex [Stepinski]. We were very involved in the GreenSource facility with several equipment vendors. When it comes to taking individ- ual wet process machines and incorporating more proactive process controls so that you don't need to do as much manual monitor- ing of the process, most just don't share his vision yet. Matties: You've been visiting the factories and talking to the industry for years. Why do you think that mentality exists? Integrated automation V-score from Shoda.