Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1484263
NOVEMBER 2022 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 13 Johnson: It's on the bleed- ing edge, but that's where it always starts. Brassard: T h e b l e e d i n g edge for the United States, but 20-year-old technology for Asia. What's needed for U.S. PCB manufactur- ers to invest in substrates is demand signals. What types of advanced packages do we want to build in the U.S.? Substrates that sup- port a single chip, or doz- ens of chiplets, or more advanced 2.5D and 3D inte- grations, and in what quan- tities? It's interesting that U.S. OEMs are looking for U.S. manufacturers to not "rinse and repeat" what's possible offshore, but instead to push past SOTA and trailblaze new technologies enabling new capabilities with no limits on innovation and willingness to get outside the box. I can only hope that the CHIPS Act fund- ing targets the entire microelectronics eco- system, which includes substrates and circuit boards. I keep hearing that CHIPS Act fund- ing is a once in a century investment, yet Asia seems to be making these investments annu- ally. With China investing billions into build- ing up its manufacturing infrastructure, the U.S. should do the same, treating the need to have a pipeline of ever advancing technology as infrastructure, like building highways. e need for ever advancing technology is a form of infrastructure where capability to advance and innovate must be always main- tained within the U.S. industrial base—like roads are needed to cross the country. But how do we rebuild a more resilient industrial base and prevent it from going offshore again? Johnson: e first time that happened was shareholder value. e second time will be lack of capacity. How do we get capacity in place? Brassard: T h e t e r m "capacity" can't be used in the general sense. e EA once told me, "If you call a circuit board a green thing, there's capacity in the U.S., but the moment that green thing becomes a challenging technology to build, we have a capac- ity problem." Johnson: Why shouldn't we move our capabilities forward into more sophis- ticated processes? Brassard: We should, but there's a need for cap- ital investment. ere must also be demand signals to trigger that investment. Johnson: ere's cash. Isn't this the time to invest? Brassard: Most of the CHIPS Act funding is for chips. But chips don't float or function outside of packaging and integration into a system, just like a Formula 1 engine sitting on a block isn't speeding around a track without the rest of the race car. To win the race, you need the entire package, including substrates and cir- cuit boards, which must keep up with the high- powered engine, the chips. Johnson: Right now, in our business, there is plenty of work to be had. Brassard: Yes. In addition to demand for high technology, our market is currently rich with demand for conventional circuit boards, which don't require PCB shops to invest in new technologies to participate and be prof- itable. Despite the current opportunities to Meredith LaBeau