Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1519075
14 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2024 been eclipsed in 2023. ey saw record invest- ments related to EV commitments, and even with the EV market slowing, it is still a growth area. On the margin, that helps. To Tom's point, how much needs to be done locally vs. how much can be brought in? Clearly, Mexico is benefiting, and that will con- tinue, if it remains stable and there are workers. ere are several forces, though not all of them are moving as fast as they once were. Wages are definitely increasing in Mexico. ose things get added to the balance equation. If they were moving really fast, then you'd see people say the trajectory warrants the gamble of putting in a PCB shop. I don't know that we're grow- ing fast enough to make that gamble. Johnson: Do you see any changes in the makeup of those employed in manufacturing as it grows? Is the need for workers being off- set by meaningful investment in automation? DuBravac: ere is definitely investment going into automation and robotics to augment the existing workforce and, in some cases, to fill a need where workers aren't available. Manu- facturers still have a hard time finding people who are willing to work. It's hard to compre- hend that people show up for a job, work for a couple of days, and then just leave without for- mally quitting. ey leave by lunch and never come back. ey don't even show up for their paycheck. Manufacturers used to com- pete against other manufactur- ers for employees. Now, they com- pete against Starbucks. Manufactur- ing work has changed; the tastes and preferences of workers have changed. So, they are investing in automation and robotics, which is moving in a very measured way. My guess is that the LG battery factory being built in Texas will be more automated than a battery factory built five years ago. e nature of manufacturing will be more conducive to automation. LaRont: EV is a huge technology driver for markets in Asia and possibly Europe. What about HDI and UHDI? Has growth slowed? DuBravac: It's all relative. We went from a 99% growth rate in EV to around 50% in the U.S. We didn't double our growth again last year, and everybody is concerned, but we sold over a mil- lion units for the first time. ere are still a lot of tailwinds in that category. e whole EV infra- structure must grow. Growth will be roughly 30% this year, which is still phenomenal. As you get to a bigger base, your growth will slow; it's just arithmetic. e U.S. is still well below the rest of the world when it comes to EV, which suggests there's some room for growth. We are at about 9% of total EV sales. Europe is at about 18%. ere are Nordic countries that have just massive EV penetration compared to what we see in the U.S., so we have a very long way to go. We were gripped by headlines from Ford saying it would delay its investment in bat- tery technology and battery factories. We have had some delays, but not really cancellations. We don't always comprehend the meaning of a slower growth rate. e law of large numbers means the growth rate will slow, but we will see new entrants into the business. LG wasn't in EV chargers until they went into South Korea last year, and now in the U.S. this year.