Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/924542
40 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2018 professional service technicians into your facil- ity (wherever in the world it is located) is an attribute you should strongly consider. Facilities While a smaller single process line (as shown in Figure 1) might not put an undue strain on your plant's utilities, a large line will require planning for electrical demand, cooling water capacity, compressed air needs, city wa- ter (possibly deionized water) needs for rinses, and exhaust venting. An experienced supplier starts with a good idea of what these require- ments will be once the layout of the equipment is determined. However, the responsibility for making sure all necessary utilities are proxi- mate to the installation point of the equipment typically lies with the end user. Larger organizations will generally have in- ternal facilities personnel to install or extend necessary lines, but if you do not have your own people it will be necessary to utilize a reliable electrical and me- chanical contractor. As one example where things can go wrong, consider just the pos- sibility of differing voltag- es: 208V, 220V, 240V, 460V, 480V, and single- or three- phase, and these are just in the U.S. Internationally, it is common to encounter both different voltages and fre- quency: 50 Hz vs. 60 Hz, for example. While three-phase is most common in industrial settings, not everyone has it. Before the equipment is built, electrical voltage, fre- quency, and phase must be known. Finally, you need to know your local, state, and federal environmental re- quirements. If your facility is adding a new process or substantively changing cur- rent processes, a wastewater treatment system may be not optional but required. Your equipment suppli- er should be able to help guide you with dis- charge compliance. What about next year? It's been a year since you started up your new line, and you can barely keep up with demand. You've added shifts, your operators have found ways to optimize throughput, and the market shows no sign of slackening. Upper management is ready to approve more capital investment. If the company stakeholders are happy with the results you have been getting, your purchase decision may be as easy as or- dering a second line that is fundamentally the same as what you are already operating. Perhaps, however, you have found a bot- tleneck at one point, where work in process tends to back up prior to completion. In many instances, it is possible to reconfigure an exist- ing production line if it was originally purchased as a modular type of construction. Modular construction al- lows an equipment purchaser to build around the require- ments of one process step, or to maintain a specified line speed or throughput requirement. As an exam- ple, the equipment previ- ously purchased can main- tain your target production with an etching time of 75 to 90 seconds. Now, howev- er, your end customer is re- questing you use a thicker material, or a deeper etch is required in the same materi- al. You find that the time re- quired in the etcher will now be 120 to 135 seconds. You could slow down your convey- or line speed, but this might ad- versely affect an upstream pro- cess (such as developing) or a downstream process (such as resist stripping). Even if the other processes on this com- Figure 3: Front and side-panel view of ion exchange system.