Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1493797
54 SMT007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2023 ciently manage the changeovers will also be another critical element of U.S. manufactur- ing. Deeper partnerships between companies will be necessary to further integrate the dif- ferent solutions needed to effectively manage higher mixes and their impact on changeovers. In practice this will mean earlier involvement for the EMS company with the OEM and get- ting more advanced notice of what will be needed. Maybe a footprint has been designed to only accept a single part but adjusting that a little allows another part to be substituted in its place. Now the EMS has a choice of two parts and either one will fit the board. Further consequences of this reshoring will be the human resource requirements. Find- ing sufficient people to run a successful elec- tronics assembly business, or any business for that matter, in the current economic cli- mate is highly challenging. However, there are many incentives for companies to con- sider these paths. e recent U.S. Inflation Reduction Act affected how rebates for elec- tric cars were calculated based on the amount of U.S.-sourced content. Although details are still being defined, expect to see other federal rebates being applied in similar ways to help drive more U.S. manufacturing. Conclusion Next year, IPC APEX EXPO moves back to Anaheim aer several years in San Diego. My first one of these trade shows was in the mid- '90s in Anaheim, so I see it as coming full circle aer over 25 years attending the event (missing only that one COVID year). We still have many challenges ahead as we navigate the "new nor- mal" but given our collective capability, I'm sure we will overcome them together. SMT007 Mark Laing is a business devel- opment manager for Siemens Digital Industries Software. pressure on communication channels between OEMs and EMS suppliers, as the initial AVL created by the OEM will need to be adjusted in real time based on actual component avail- ability. I also see further automation around compo- nent availability and purchasing as key to over- coming this challenge. ere will be a move- ment toward component portals that deliver real-time data on stock levels and lead times for components rather than relying on man- ual methods that rely on human intervention. However, this is particularly challenging when it comes to semiconductors where AVLs focus mostly on passive and discrete components. Although simple logic devices can also form part of an AVL, it is the more complex com- ponents that are more specific, so less likely to have functional and fit replacements. Even if it is physically the same package, with the same number of pins, different pin outs can be com- mon. It only takes one part to be unavailable to create the situation where the build can't be completed. is has led some OEMs to rede- sign products to remove dependencies on parts that are proving to be much harder to source. We have talked about design for manufactur- ing (DFM) for many years, but we may soon see specific designs being constantly adjusted for part availability. is will also contribute to the increase in higher-mix manufacturing. Reshoring to the U.S. Another trend is the reshoring of electron- ics manufacturing to the United States or Mex- ico and away from China and the Asia Pacific region. Obviously, the labor costs are higher in the U.S. compared to Asia-Pacific, so being able to build products efficiently in the U.S. requires more digitalization and automation. Being able to efficiently create a digital twin of the product once and then using that twin to create the requirements for each machine in the line to reduce duplicate effort will be key to increasing U.S.-based production. With the increases in product mix, being able to effi-