Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1519075
APRIL 2024 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 25 potentially a phase three. We're looking at a two-floor building that could accommodate more than printed circuit board production in the future, which only makes sense given that we have an adjacent facility focused on micro- electronics and RF microwave. Eventually, you start running out of space, so we wanted to make sure that we had room for expansion for both PCB and non-PCB production. For example, we have a phase one program in our Penang, Malaysia, PCB facility. We are completing the equipment investment, and the equipment is in place for this phase. We are starting to run production. We anticipate our phase two in Penang will add about 20–25% more capacity. e Syracuse expansion will be along those same lines: 15–25% of additional capacity per phase. is is just a rough sense of how we think about expansion, but again, we'll know more as we get closer to finalizing the scope and the timeline of phase one with our critical customers. You're a global company, so, what does the China Plus One strategy in terms of global footprint and expansion look l ike for TTM? Penang is an exciting new addition to our global TTM footprint, providing our customers with TTM's first PCB production solution in South- east Asia. It's still early, but we have four anchor customers that have committed to that facility and signed long-term agreements with depos- its. is positioned us to fund the facility early on and reinforced the partnerships we have with those customers. ese agreements will account for approximately 70% of the planned capacity for Penang in phase one, and the base of business has allowed us to expand with con- fidence into Penang. ere is a lot of interest there and the timing was right. We are drawing up phase two on Penang, so we will be ready to fill out that building when the time comes. In the meantime, we have our current North American facilities meeting resiliency needs and the planned expansion in Syracuse which will bring advanced technology capability back into the U.S. ere are still some gaps. We would love to have a small European presence. Certainly, we're watching India. For now, we've not com- mitted to anything; these are just areas we continue to watch. Malaysia and Syracuse are keeping us plenty busy right now. There seem to be frequent conversations about how manufacturers can better engage our OEM end customers. How can PCB manufacturers get more direct involvement with OEMs? As we're all engineering and building more complex products, the direct engineer-to- engineer OEM discussions have become much more important. We are seeing a change in how the OEMs are viewing their supply chains as well. When