Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1504794
AUGUST 2023 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 33 narios if, and more likely when, staffing avail- ability changes last minute. In the case of the GANTTPLAN APS system, worker resource gaps can be adjusted in real-time, so planners can act quickly to re-balance the schedule before actually hindering production. Certain types of assemblies even require employees to have a specific credential to per- form the required work. For example, an aero- space product may require a technician to have a specific IPC certification, so the manufac- turer needs to put that technician's availability as priority when scheduling the work for that job. In GANTTPLAN APS, planners can look at all the variables involved in the assembly process, not just due date and resource con- straints, and in the case of this aerospace exam- ple, would heavily weight the certified techni- cian's availability to schedule and plan the pro- cess flow for production. By leveraging simulations and balancing multiple weighted variables, systems such as GANTTPLAN APS help empower electron- ics manufacturers to make informed decisions, better plan and visualize production based on what's available at that moment, stream- line operations, maximize profits, and achieve higher levels of productivity and competitive- ness in this fast changing and ever-evolving industry. SMT007 Sylvain Perron is product manager of Technology Partnerships at Cogiscan. Screenshot from the multi-resource planning view within APS. By Chris Mitchell Vice President, IPC Global Government Relations In case you missed it, President Joe Biden recently issued a presidential determination that prioritizes the domestic development of printed circuit boards (PCBs) under the Defense Production Act (DPA). Translation: It is now a tenet of U.S. policy that man- ufacturing more of the building blocks of modern electronics in the United States is essential to Ameri- ca's economic and national security. Most people take our modern electronic won- ders—from smartphones to medical monitors to air traffic control—for granted. We don't think about where these products come from, or what goes into making them. But the supply chain crisis spawned by the COVID pandemic was a wake-up call. Suddenly, leaders of business and government realized we didn't have enough domestic capacity to supply all the semicon- ductor chips needed to power our economy. That is why Congress last year enacted, and Presi- dent Biden signed, the CHIPS and Science Act, which authorized the funding to implement the CHIPS Act of 2021 and expand U.S. output of semiconductor chips. Now, leaders of business and government are beginning to realize that merely producing more chips is not enough. Semiconductors are modern wonders, but they are useless without PCBs and the rest of the electronics package. No one buys just chips; they buy components and systems that con- tain chips. Unfortunately, the United States is even more dependent on overseas suppliers for these components than they are for semiconductor chips. Get more details in the Summer issue of IPC Community. Good News for U.S. National Security