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June 2016 • The PCB Magazine 85 using these techniques will typically need only 20 hours/week of lab analysis. Once all of the programming logic has been scripted for the factory automation, a consoli- dated live list of issues should then be devel- oped for driving tactical corrective actions for escalated issues as well as continuous improve- ment of the systems. A modified version of the open source Bugzilla software (also with a con- nected SQL backend) can be used to manage this. The software auto-escalates when issues are not closed in a timely fashion and is used to facilitate periodic management review. Software setup takes just a few days and is free. In general, the control afforded by a fully automated factory has enormous consequenc- es for cost reduction. An in-line process flow allows for the removal of the cleaners, micro- etches, and anti-tarnish baths found in most PCB shops, since the need to compensate for handling/hold times with these chemistries is mitigated by handling and hold time reduc- tion or elimination. This yields a direct savings in process chemical purchase cost as well as waste treatment. Additionally, chemical dos- ing and process set-points can be reduced due to the low process variability, so that there is near zero economic loss due to excessively bi- ased mean target values which are required to compensate for highly variable processes in most PCB shops. THE 21ST CENTURY PCB FACTORY—DESIGNED TO ELIMINATE OFFSHORE COST ADVANTAGES Figure 5c. Figure 6: Examples of automated chemical dosing systems.