Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1519075
16 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2024 How much is being produced in the U.S. vs. elsewhere? ere is a movement toward near- shoring, but it's slow. What's the upper bound- ary? We know it's not 100%, so where is it? Is it another percentage point, or another 15? How long would it take to get to another 10 percent- age points? As I noted in the December 2023 issue, if you just look at the data, Mexico has become a much bigger player. Imports are cap- tured in two different ways in the U.S., which could mean that Mexico is an even larger player than we see with the current data. Johnson: What other investments are hap- pening in PCB fabrication around the globe? DuBravac: at is a difficult question. Per- haps it is time to take another, deeper look at regional investment given all the geopolitical shiing. As far as the U.S., the DoD has always been very cognizant of what is being manufac- tured and the domestic capacity. During the pandemic and subsequent geopolitical ten- sions, it has become even more sensitive to what is available for domestic PCB production. Outside of DoD, the Commerce Department is now waking up to the greater concern for the U.S. economy and supply chain stability. at does result in movement, but it remains to be seen how much. ere is definitely the sense in the U.S. and Europe that they are willing to invest in PCBs. Companies are asking, "Am I willing to put my dollar next to a government dollar and build a facility, and can I make it sus- tainable in the long term?" Johnson: What about the margins of new technology? Is now the time to consider growth by pivoting to something like substrates? Kastner: ere is a lot of interest in advanced packaging and microelectronics, and those are sectors that either didn't exist 20 years ago or were completely blown out and moved to Asia in the late '90s and early 2000s. Now we are scrambling to recover some of those capabili- ties, but it doesn't really mean you should build a new plant. But there will be more investment in clean rooms, wire bonders, advanced 3D inspection equipment, and so on. DuBravac: e history of manufacturing is the history of innovation. You must constantly rein- vent yourself. at means moving into adjacent categories to where the market is. Pre-pan- demic, a lot of the market in the U.S. was in rapid prototyping, short runs, and small batches. It shied a bit during the pandemic. e peo- ple who have survived these past 30 years have always paid attention and listened to their cus- tomers. Like all good consultants or manufacturers, they respond, "Sure, we can do that. We'll figure out how to do that." A couple of things are happen- ing. Companies are always look- ing at how to move the value stack and increase the margin stack. It is the classic innovator's dilemma: finding new things to do that are of value to the customer and have higher margins. LaRont: This is the constant struggle for business: reinven- tion, relevancy, and translating value into profitability.