Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1473479
54 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2022 Johnson: You're an indus- try insider, but right now, you're also an advocacy group outsider. What's your assessment of how they've performed over the past couple of years? I'm think- ing of PCBAA, USPAE, and IPC. Each has a slightly dif- ferent focus and mission statement. De Serrano: I have not joined the PCBAA. ey're tightly focused on the DoD mar- ket. ey're making head- way, but anything in the government takes a very long time. We're only "this big" in a pot that's much bigger, but I do think they are making progress. At least it's a path forward and we can speak to the DoD folks. ey understand that in the truest sense in America, their supply chain is almost gone. You've got major players acquir- ing everybody and all these other mom-and- pop shops that can't keep up with the cost to invest in the latest technology. Johnson: We've got the CHIPS Act, as well as the Supporting American Printed Cir- cuit Board Act of 2022, which is basically the PCB fabrication and assembly equivalent of the CHIPS Act. Both bills are on the Hill right now, going through the process to become law. is seems like a major accomplishment. How do you view that legislation as far as helping the industry? De Serrano: I know about the CHIPS Act and it is awesome. If you look at the scope of things, in the 1990s we made most of our semiconduc- tors here; overseas was 10% or 12%. Now it's maybe 8% here and Taiwan is making 85%. We all learned a lesson with the effects of the pandemic that relying on low-cost regions to make America great, really didn't make us great. ings are cost effi- cient for a certain amount of time, but sooner or later it catches up with you—and now it has caught up with us. e government needs to be more involved on the printed circuit board side. It needs to invest money back into some smaller businesses that have been around for 30 years, to help them modernize. Now, I'm not sure those older shops are going to be there by the time that legislation goes through, but I think the government must make a significant strategic investment to ensure we're all safe. e CHIPS Act is good legislation. But Congress has yet to agree on a bill that would appropriate resources for its various programs, so there's still work to be done. One thing about legislation is you get all this money, but does it go to the right place? Now that we have the advocacy groups fighting for us, the hope is they will help drive the traffic to the right place. We won't know until get there. Johnson: How does this play out? For example, as a fabricator and an owner, you are work- ing to grow your business. When you consider supply chain resiliency concerns—in all indus- tries, as well as our own—and this upcoming legislation, is now a good time to be investing in PCB fabrication? De Serrano: 100%. Now, the PCBA is a different story because they can't get specific compo- nents and their lead times are 12 to 13 months sometimes. But the PCB business right now is the highest I've ever seen in 30 years. It's almost like the early '90s or late '90s when we were practically printing money. e manufacturing space is in dire need because now everything has a circuit board in Jeff De Serrano