IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
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IPC COMMUNITY 57 FALL 2023 innovation and manufacturing. Once again, it highlighted a stark reality: Key EU priorities—including those for semi- conductor leadership, digitalization, and circularity—are contingent upon a robust European electronics manufacturing sector that has faced significant erosion over the last two decades. The electron- ics industry, though largely hidden from consumers, is an enabler of innovation and resiliency across all sectors of the economy. Officials at DG GROW attended the IPC meeting in April and responded with a desire to better understand the elec- tronics supply chain, to define existing and future risks to EU strategic autonomy, and to identify potential policy interventions. Officials then organized a meeting focused specifically on the EMS and PCB industries within the Industrial Forum—one of the prin- cipal mechanisms for structured dialogue with industry. A wide variety of stakeholders were invited to participate in an Electronics Dialogue, including aerospace, energy, auto- motive, semiconductor, and industrial manu- facturers. At DG GROW's request, IPC prepared and delivered a report and state of the industry analysis during the meeting. IPC also provided policy recommendations developed in col- laboration with its members. These presen- tations were made by two of IPC's European team members: Alison James and Dr. Hans-Pe- ter Tranitz, IPC senior director for solutions. IPC was joined in its call for regional action by executives from ACB (France), AT&S (Austria), InCap (Finland), and Zollner (Germany). DG GROW moderated this meeting and then requested that IPC lead a stakeholder SWOT analysis with a new set of policy recommenda- tions to provide a better understanding of the risks to downstream/end-market customers and to have one document that reflected the consensus of all relevant stakeholders. August Stakeholder Report Completing the analysis was a true collab- orative effort; we enlisted active participa- tion from peer trade associations, compa- nies across economic sectors, and even trade unions. Moreover, the report incorporated the results of a survey fielded by IPC and fanned out by many peer associations. In record time, the survey received 122 responses: • PCB companies (34% of respondents) • EMS providers (34%) • OEMs (18%) • Other stakeholders including trade unions (14%) The survey results were included as an appendix to the report. The report establishes that a resilient Euro- pean electronics manufacturing industry requires globally competitive component manufacturers, EMS providers, and PCB fab- ricators, as well as their equipment and mate- rials suppliers. On this point, there is near universal agreement: More than 95% of com- panies believe a robust European electronics ecosystem, including PCB and EMS industries, is critical to regional security, industrial resil- iency, and economic competitiveness. A clear majority also believes the EU lacks key PCB