Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1505694
22 PCB007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2023 drill. We've seen tighter registration and tol- erance in our drill process because of a data driven process. Are you doing continuous flow manufacturing? Hendrickson: Our goal is to be as close to con- tinuous flow as possible. We have small queues at the beginning and end of our lines. It's a bal- ancing act to ensure a process does not run out of work. As I entered the manufacturing area, the first piece of equipment I saw was a nearly 300- foot long Atotech horizontal plating line. The line will produce about around 100 panels per hour when it's fully up and running. Hendrickson: We have four electroplaters with the first plater acting as a flash plate. Between platers two and three we installed automation to rotate the panel 180 degrees. e purpose of rotating the panel is to balance the copper across the panel. Is that recommended by the supplier, or is it something that you decided to do, based on experience? Hendrickson: at's something we decided to do. Another thing we're doing that isn't really done in North America too much is panel plat- ing. We're not pattern plating. We're not apply- ing dry film, putting on a reverse image, plating, tinning and then strip, etch, strip. Everything goes through develop, etch, strip, whether it's Atotech's 300-foot long horizontal plating line at SEL's Idaho facility.