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MAY 2024 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 81 Happy Holden has worked in printed circuit technol- ogy since 1970 with Hewlett- Packard, NanYa Westwood, Merix, Foxconn, and Gentex. He is currently a contributing technical editor with I-Con- nect007, and the author of Automation and Advanced Procedures in PCB Fabrication, and 24 Essential Skills for Engineers. To read past columns, click here. attractive alternative. Many of these resin sys- tems are also of lower dielectric constants and lower loss, making this design alternative suit- able for very high frequency and some RF applications. PCB007 References 1. WUS Printed Circuit Co Ltd. presentation, courtesy of Joe Dickson. 2. "Semiflex Technology-Semiflex PCB, Smart Solutions for Optimized Integration," Unimicron- Germany. 3. "Rigid PCBs With Bending Zones," Würth- Elektronik. Manufacturing companies in the United States have invested heavily in automation: total installa- tions of industrial robots rose by 12% and reached 44,303 units in 2023. The number one adopter is the car industry, followed by the electrical and electronics sector. These are pre- liminary results, presented by the International Federation of Robot- ics (IFR). Sales in the automotive segment rose by 1% with a record number of 14,678 robots installed in 2023. The United States has the second largest production volume of cars and light vehicles worldwide, fol- lowing China. Installations in the electrical and electronics industry rose by 37% to 5,120 units in 2023. This num- ber almost reached the record pre-pandemic level of 5,284 units, seen in 2018. The latest result rep- resents a market share of 12% of all industrial robots installed in the U.S. manufacturing industry. Robot installation in Canada reached 4,616 units, up 43%. The automotive industry accounts for 55% of the country´s robot instal- lations. Robot installations in Mexico's manufacturing indus- try remain almost unchanged with 5,868 units in 2023. The country´s main adopter is the automotive industry which accounted for 69% of the robot installations in 2023: sales reached 4,068 units (+-0%) in 2023, the third best result since the peak level of 4,805 units in 2017. (Source: IFR) U.S. Companies Invest Heavily in Robots