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18 The PCB Magazine • September 2015 ko, CMK, Chin-Poon and TTM (formerly Via- Systems) leading the volume overseas. In North America, players like American Standard, Saturn and Cirexx are carving out niche spaces with unique capabilities that allow them to make specialized boards for radar, LED illumination, sensors and control units. According to Yash Sutariya of Saturn Flex Systems, "There are also opportunities for North American PCB fabricators to build prototypes, provide service parts or support emergency pro- duction demand." Newer entrants such as Sanmina are tool- ing up to enter the space and "consider this an interesting growth area for the com- pany," notes Leo LaCroix, VP of Global Supply Chain. However, "Traditional au- tomotive isn't the easiest mar- ket to get into," points out Anaya Vardya, president of American Standard Circuits. As a fabricator, you have sev- eral things to take under con- sideration. First, most sup- pliers will need a TS16949 certification for their facil- ity. Finished assemblies may have to undergo accelerated life tests of up to 3000 hours with temperature ranges of -50–150°C. Next, you will learn that the products being produced today began their qualifications as many as six years ago at the beginning of the platform cy- cle. Tier 1 automotive suppliers will often prefer to make both prototypes and production in the same factory as it greatly reduces the qualifica- tion and paperwork challenges. And lastly, the volumes are often significant, but the industry expects annual cost reductions of 3–5% regard- less of commodity indices. One company who has built a strong portfo- lio of Automotive PCB sales is TTM. When asked about what was unique about TTM (formerly ViaSystems) that has allowed them to establish this position against strong domestic and over- seas competition, John Sintic, VP of Sales–High Reliability and Automotive, explains that, "The key to TTM's success as a preferred automotive supplier is a long history of being a high reli- ability supplier… [W]e have decades of single digit PPM levels." Another critical success factor is capacity and scale. It is not uncommon for Tier 1 automotive manufacturers to expect their suppliers to be able to respond to 10% capac- ity surge demand on 48-hour notice. In TTM's case, they have multiple sites in North America and over a million square feet of manufactur- ing space in their automotive-focused facility in China that allows them to support this need. Looking forward, there is a great deal of growth potential in areas that are not using PCBs today but where they would make sense from a weight or reliability perspec- tive. According to Clemson Uni- versity's International Cen- ter for Automotive Research, "Today's automotive designs have nearly 100 micropro- cessors and about five miles of wiring." These wiring har- nesses are becoming so dense that manufacturers are run- ning out of space in the col- umns and headliners and traditional routing channels. That is a lot of potential for flex and rigid-flex circuits and may prove to be one of the great growth areas. DuPont, the industry leading manufacturer of materials for flex- ible circuits, continues to build on its portfolio of advanced materials to support the demand for reliable, lightweight flexible circuitry in au- tomotive applications. "DuPont™ Pyralux® flexible circuit mate- rials are ideal for automotive designs, and we continue to expand our portfolio to meet the market's needs," said Mary Ellen Gustainis, busi- ness leader for Americas and Europe at DuPont Circuit and Packaging Materials. "We recently introduced Pyralux HT flexible circuit materials, for example, with the highest service tempera- ture range of any flexible circuit offering, from -40°C up to 225°C." Materials advancements like these are poised to open the automotive market for significant adoption of flex materi- als. looking forward, there is a great deal of growth potential in areas that are not using pCBs today but where they would make sense from a weight or reliability perspective. " " FEAturE DETROIT VS. SILICON VALLEy continues