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78 I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2026 ultimately determines whether a new production line becomes an integrated manufacturing system aligned with customer requirements, or merely a collection of expensive equipment that does not work together to its full potential. The First Qualified Board Is Only the Beginning of Mass Production For a fine-line process such as mSAP, producing the first qualified sample is a long way from achiev- ing stable, high-volume, and profitable production. FSQuality is well aware of this and ready for the challenges, some of which Liu outlined specifically. First, as circuit features become increasingly fine, physical contact between the panel surface and rollers during conventional horizontal devel- oping may have a greater impact on delicate circuit patterns. This makes it necessary to reduce such risks through improved conveying systems and non-contact handling designs. Second, the requirements for process uniformity in exposure, developing, etching, and plating become significantly more stringent. Equipment precision, chemical process control, and shop-floor process stability must therefore be improved in parallel. An even greater challenge comes from sequential build-up processing. Unlike conventional multilayer PCBs, where multiple inner layers are laminated together in a single stack, some HDI and mSAP prod- ucts require repeated cycles of layer build-up, lamina- tion, laser drilling, and via filling and plating. Each addi- tional process cycle introduces new risks involving flatness, interlayer adhesion, via copper integrity, and circuit integrity. As these risks accumulate across multiple layers, final production yield cannot be deter- mined by any single piece of equipment alone. This also explains why, even when funding, equip- ment, and materials are all in place, mass-produc- tion performance can still vary significantly from one manufacturer to another. FSQuality hopes to engage with customers at an earlier stage by taking on prototype orders for its R&D projects, allowing six months or more to refine the process and build technical know-how, rather than rushing to secure large-volume orders as soon as the production line becomes operational. With a new process, if delivery pressure begins to override R&D objectives too early, the team may become preoccupied with getting prototypes out the door instead of systematically identifying and resolving every hidden problem in the process. More dangerous than a temporary lack of POs for an overseas factory is having orders, certifications, and production capacity already in place while its yield performance and team capabilities have yet to mature at the same pace. Building Cohesion in a Multinational Team: Talent Matters When discussing the key to making the new pro- duction line successful, Liu's first answer was not equipment or materials, but talent. He noted that the company had previously sent more than 20 Thai employees to its factory in China for hands-on training. However, most of those employees eventually left the company. The experience led FSQuality to realize that a one-off cross-border training program would not automati- cally translate into sustainable local capabilities that could remain embedded in the overseas factory. FSQuality, therefore, began to place greater T H A I L A N D FACTO RY S E R I ES • FS Q UA L I T Y " Under its phased roadmap, FSQuality plans to progressively advance from its current, relatively mature line width/spacing capabilities toward 35/35 µm, before using mSAP to target 25/25 µm and laying the groundwork for even finer-line capabilities in the next stage