Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1478618
80 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2022 industry. So, I did start bringing the technol- ogy to a few of the flex-rigid shops because there was some interest in it. We did some pre- sentations showing the technology and manu- facturing requirements. A lot of the PCB manufacturers started out as screen printers as their process for inner layer and outer layer processing. ey started with screens. Twenty to 30 years ago, you would go into a shop and there would be a screen- ing room with 30 screeners in there because they didn't have the dry film technology or the other processes. So, there was interest. Not to say that anybody has gone that route. I think they just understand it. ere is some crossover between the two types of companies—printed electronics and printed circuit boards. We are seeing more interest in some of the additive processes that we can provide because it takes out many of the difficult process steps in build- ing a printed circuit board. Shaughnessy: But for a traditional PCB shop, what is the cost and steps of entry into PEC? What does that look like? Miller: From my standpoint, you would start by hiring an individual who has spent many years working in a printed electronics facility. As far as capital equipment, they already have a lot of the equipment inside their printed circuit board shops. ey all make their screens and put legend on the boards, so hey have some of this equipment and under- stand it. It would be a more sophisticated screening process for the shop, and they would need to upgrade this process. Of course, there are needs like the big dryer. Also, the amount of dollars it would take to get into it would depend upon whether they wanted to build prototypes or volume. Of course, they would need to have the footprint available to expand. Shaughnessy: Right. ere are so many myths floating around about this, and we get asked, "How do I get involved with this?" Miller: It's not an easy process. It's not like these guys just pick somebody off the street to run this place. ere's a lot of technology that you must learn and there are investments. ey're no different than the guys that have invested in printed circuit board shops. e biggest differ- ence is that they're probably not dealing with the plating chemistry and waste treatment that these circuit board guys are doing, because it's all additive. I'm sure that there's some of that, but it's not like a PCB shop. Shaughnessy: Are the standards keeping up with printed electronics? Bianchi: Yes. ere were a lot of ASTM stan- dards for membrane switches that apply to the different use cases for printed electronics. Many are applicable from the actual curing of the ink and dielectric and adhesion proper- ties to the base substrate. But from a finished product standpoint, our perspective is that the OEM is the one that validates the finished product and to the standards that they need. Kevin Miller