Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1479191
12 PCB007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2022 capabilities can I get, and how can I monetize them? at's how you must look at it to get it done in a time-efficient manner. For example, it's hard to watch people in an old factory with insufficient capital invest at a time when returns are high. ey're working on a machine that's 30 years old, and it's great her- oism to get the product through the machine because it's poorly designed and not capa- ble of doing the product you currently build. Typically, you don't automate a 30-year-old machine. Instead, you get a modern machine that's capable of building the products that you're booking (or want to book) in your fac- tory. e process must also be stable to be automated. It's that simple. at's the first step to overcome, especially for older shops where they rely on the operators to manipulate things to get the product through. Is the process sta- ble and capable for the products that you want to build under automation? If the answer is no, then you must upgrade the process first. Barry Matties: You must remove all the opera- tor band-aids before you can automate it. Oth- erwise, even if you automate the process, it isn't going to work. Stepinski: at's right. Honestly, in a lot of the older shops, this is predominantly the case. At the same time, you hear "there's not enough space for the automation," which stems from never having had an automation strategy when whoever started the business so many years ago. When you look at these two things—the band-aids and no space—(plus the process is not stable), usually the best thing to do is get a new piece of equipment. But how much of this equipment in your factory portfolio needs to be replaced? If it's a few percent, go do it. I'm sure you can find the financing/ROI. If a lot needs to be replaced, that's a different story. You really have to think about what you're doing. It might even be time to sell because valuation multiples are high now and you may find someone gullible enough to buy. But if you think you have a way forward— maybe starting to build a certain type of board—and you can estimate your return on that investment, then you can finance a bigger project. Today's machines are typically smaller than the ones designed for the production days of the 1990s and earlier in the United States, so you need less space. When you look at investing in mechani- zation, it's really about the process plus the automation. You don't just put loaders and unloaders on some machine that you deemed capable, or some machine that you upgraded. How much more sophisticated do you want to get with new products? What kind of product mix do you have? How many panel sizes do you have? In the North American market, we have huge numbers of panel sizes. In overseas locations, you don't see that. In places that are more highly automated, there are fewer panel sizes. e material cost is typically a lot less than the processing cost, and panel size optimiza- tion is a big trade space. You can oen reduce the number of panel sizes, which leads to sup- ply chain economies and drop-charge reduc- tion while not increasing TCOQ. It increases the mechanization cost to have excessive panel Alex Stepinski