Here we are in January 2022 with a future fraught with more uncertainties than any other during my six decades in the PCB, IC fabrication and assembly industries.
Business is strong despite shortages in labor and parts. Prices are rising, dramatically in some cases. Profits are being squeezed. Rapid government changes in travel restrictions and worker conditions seem endless due to the continuing evolution of the pandemic.
Supply chains are under pressure from a variety of events and circumstances. These include some brief power shutdowns at plants that produce wafers and PCBs in China, chip and other component shortages, shipping issues with a backlog of over 100 cargo ships carrying, for example, container loads of copper-clad laminates anchored off the Southern California coast waiting to be unloaded. The battery industry is gobbling up copper supplies. Major consumers are buying into chipmakers who can guarantee their needs. This affects those who cannot, causing them to scramble for new sources.
Not only are ICs in short supply, especially for automotive needs with the increase in the manufacture of EVs and hybrids, but substrates are needed for their mounting and connection to the outside world. As a result, major automotive companies in Japan, the US, and Europe have curtailed production in several factories to the tune of several million vehicles in the coming year.
Three EMS companies show why additive manufacturing isn’t just the provenance of the fab shop.
The printed circuit board industry isn’t historically known for sudden innovation and change, but 3-D printing technology has been successfully adopted by many along the PCB supply chain. While there are those in the industry pushing for adoption of full 3-D printed circuit boards, capability and demand remain extremely niche. On the other hand, demand is quietly growing on the PCB assembly side for 3-D printing of fixtures for solder application, assembly and testing.
Three PCB assembly operations I recently visited are using 3-D printers to solve manufacturing and testing issues. The ability to quickly build a test fixture, assembly fixture or even custom shielding components for conformal coating means these facilities can deliver assembled boards with custom solutions traditionally reserved for high-volume production. This results in faster time to market because the assemblers are no longer waiting for a third party to fabricate a molded plastic or piece of metal for their application. In many cases, the metal material and fabrication costs aren’t economical, but a resin 3-D printed solution is, bringing up potential solutions that were previously easily dismissed.
Updating industry software involves much more than a simple button press.
Software updates and engineering process changes are hidden roadblocks for industry adoption of modern data exchange formats like Gerber X3, ODB++ and IPC-2581. Akin to the iceberg lurking under the surface, significant issues are holding back the industry from wider adoption. And it raises the question of whether these formats meet the needs of the designer without addressing the needs of the factory.
While intelligent formats offer improved digitization and control of data flow from designer to fabricator and assembler, their benefits haven’t been positioned in a way that will entirely win over the manufacturing side. It is a pain to manage all the different separate Gerber, drill, BoM and placement files, however, so I look forward to a resolution.
Exploring new hobbies and earning new certifications can stimulate the mind – and your career.
I like to think that my hobby is learning new things, or maybe it’s just an instinct for engineers. If you ask my wife, maybe that is just a mask for the adage that my hobby is collecting hobbies, which frequently necessitates learning new things. Some hobbies have significant barriers to entry, such as the financial obligations for equestrian activities, while others have more intellectual requirements, like amateur radio, also known as ham radio.
Recently I jumped into ham radio, getting my technician license – also called a ticket – and a handheld radio. For years friends in the PCB industry asked me if I was into amateur radio before I finally looked at it seriously. A few months ago, a friend and coworker got really excited about it, and he assured me that given my electrical engineering background and understanding of signal integrity, the test would be a breeze. In short, it was.
Three EMS companies show why additive manufacturing isn’t just the provenance of the fab shop.
