Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1519075
32 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2024 The lack of demand for domestic HDI PCBs has hindered private industry investments in this area. How will PCBMC catalyze commer- cial and domestic demand sufficiently so that companies can justify the investment? It will be a heavy li. To catalyze domestic demand, we'll need to use several methods. First, we need to develop a variety of resources that make it easier for designers to integrate UHDI into their designs. at input will be based on developing IPC standards, working with EDA tool providers, and then integrat- ing those design considerations, which include material selection and producibility. is must be supplemented with quality, reliability, data risk, and supply chain feedback. Getting that into the tool set architecture is critical. Next, we must edu- cate both the buyers and the sellers, allowing site visits to see the process capabilities firsthand and learn from that know- how. e most important thing to catalyze demand is working with govern- ment to require that all electronics supporting the national infrastruc- ture have PCBs manufac- tured and assembled by trusted domestic sources, whether it's PCBs for banking infrastructure, medical devices, communications, transporta- tion, energy, or defense. ey must all require trusted domestic sources. is will help cata- lyze domestic demand for both commercial and defense projects. When you look at the transfer of capabilities industry-wide, is there a roadmap for that? e plan outlines steps to quickly elevate the capability and capacity of the entire U.S. PCB industry. Everything would be documented, from the bill of materials and equipment instal- lation guides, to startup and operating knowl- edge. All those things would be captured, and that knowledge transferred along with assis- tance to implement the technology and pro- cesses whenever industry is ready to make that investment. Naturally, this would cannibalize business flowing to PCBMC, at which time the organization and facility would shi focus. Workforce is obviously a big challenge right now. In the past, there was the sentiment that by pushing the technology envelope, labor would just take care of itself. Do you worry you will experience the same issues with recruiting and retaining a workforce? Yes, there is some concern. Having a workforce is key to the industry's adoption of the technol- ogy. It goes well beyond training to the mSAP process. e project will need to be very focused on enabling technology in industrial automation: robotics, machine learn- ing, artificial intelligence, and those building blocks upon which a highly effi- cient, highly automated, high-yielding, advanced manufacturing UHDI fac- tory relies on. e pro- posed approach gives the manufacturer the edu- cation and the hands-on training to address all these core elements. Joe, why do you believe this endeavor is so important? We all saw the U.S. market miss out on the last big technical push within our industry. at move to UHDI was driven by demand for high- volume mobile devices exclusively outsourced from the U.S. for several reasons. Foundational changes in the industry abroad enabled prod- ucts to be built to those high-level technical requirements. ose include industrial auto- mation and robotics, data science, machine learning, and the like. is USPAE endeavor