Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1484263
60 PCB007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2022 level, or product design level, is increasing. It's not as easy any more to just say we need a system that can drill X amount of vias—whether it's from a soware automation per- spective, an actual panel load- ing perspective, or a product cleanliness product, micro/ macro environment—require- ments of capacity and quality are starting to intertwine. ere is some sense of co- development required to manufacture more efficiently, sustainably, and cost-effectively. We're also hearing more about automation requirements. Templeton: With semi, everything before was moved around manually and they went to FOUPs (front opening universal pods), and FOSBs (front opening shipping box), over- head lis. at trend is what's coming into PCB, trying to automate panel handler, auto- mate movement between processes. Johnson: How do you respond to that with your equipment? What are the design concerns that might be shiing to that? Coming into COVID, there was a certain level. We knew we had an issue with staffing, but we have a much more acute issue with staffing on the backside. It does seem to be pushing the manufacturers that I'm talking to toward more automation so that they can take their existing staff and focus them on what they do well. Figuring that out, especially on the PCB fab side, has been par- ticularly tricky. ere's one U.S. fab—Green- Source in New Hampshire—that has a full- blown, lights out, straight through process, all the way into lamination. ey put together a system that is a fully automated lot size of one. ey'll even pump out the chemicals, rinse the tanks, and put in the new set of chemicals for the next board. Ryder: A need for system cleanliness has always been there in the via drilling space, but there are two sides to the coin. ere are factors from the shop floor cleanliness, and then those of the system within itself. ese are two different requirements. In U.S. PCB manufacturing we're not seeing any current mismatch of cleanliness tolerances. But as features get smaller, there will need to be increased focus on the customer facility side. External factors, such as air quality and tem- perature integrity, play a big role in the capa- bility of our systems to operate effectively. For our part, we'll need to work closely with cur- rent and future customers to ensure that, within and without, we have the optimum conditions to facilitate the miniaturization required. Johnson: It seems like just over the horizon are new facilities with a cleaner environment to specialize in UHDI and HDI. Ryder: I'm certainly not arguing that there shouldn't be tighter tolerances for higher-end products. In the end, it's a question of econom- ics, and the investments required for the high- end space may not yet be completely amena- ble to the current domestic market for PCB and substrate. Johnson: I don't know how different economi- cally it is from semi, but with semi, higher per- formance is driving most of the factory require- ments for PCB, and it's a lower cost product. How do you cut costs? How do you do it at the minimum level and still maintain profitability? Ryder: To be sure, I think a shi in approach is here, and the answer is partially based in more inter-segment engagement. We're starting to see that the interaction at the system design Todd Templeton