Printed Circuit Design & Fab - November 2007 - (Page 4)

OUR LINE Fab Futures ricator subscribers to tell us about their technology capabilities. As part of the survey, we asked them to highlight their plans for technology upgrades over the next 12 to 18 months. I will cover the entire survey in December, but as many of us enter the final phases of planning for 2008, I thought it advantageous to highlight here some of the technology upgrades planned for next year. KATHY In response to the survey, we received feedback from over 75 companies NARGI-TOTH representing all regions and company types. More than 50% of respondents were engineers from the production, fabrication, product, quality and test disciplines. The remaining respondents were equally split between management, and sales and marketing. Just under half – 47.1% – said their companies built medium-to-low volumes, and 19.1 % indicated their companies focus on quickturn. High-volume producers represented 32.1% of respondents. Not surprisingly, 47.1% of respondents were North American fabricators; 27.9% were Asian; and 17.4% were European. The remaining 7.4% were from elsewhere. Most of those responding from North America (69.8%) and Asia (65.1%) indicated their companies had multiple locations. Of the European companies, 48.8% had multiple locations. Overall, the demographic and volume characteristics of the respondents indicated that we achieved a reasonable mix of our global readership. In the area of technology upgrades and planned new equipment purchases, the survey was broken down into the following process areas: imaging, drilling and wet process/plating. The topic of imaging was approached by first defining the line and space minimums for inner- and outerlayers. As a follow-up to establishing the minimum line/space capability, we asked about average yield. The two technology areas included in this section were LDI imaging and inkjet printing. For me, one of the surprising bits of data this survey revealed was that half the respondents reported LDI capabilities, and the half without plan to purchase LDI equipment in the next 12 to 18 months. In support of this technology direction, 36.7% of the respondents indicated that their innerlayer line/space capabilities were 50 microns or lower, and the majority – over 75% – reported average process yields after etch below 90%. LDI has well-demonstrated capabilities in the area of yield improvement. On a positive note, the companies we surveyed are making equipment investments to support the technology demands of finer lines and spaces. The investment will yield a double return, increasing their capabilities and improving yields, which, in turn, should improve long-term profitability. As we know, more waste equals less profit. Subscribers were also asked about current inkjet capabilities and procurement plans for the coming year. Only 26.5% of respondents indicated they had inkjet capabilities. (The applications were outside the scope of the survey.) Of the respondents that indicated they lacked capability, 22.6% indicated they had plans to purchase this equipment in the next 18 months. Another piece of equipment common to Asia but less so in North America is the laser drill. Our survey indicated that 51.5% of the companies had lasers. In the next 18 months, 35% of the companies that currently do not have laser-drilling capability in-house plan to acquire it. It was good to see that so many of the companies that participated in the survey are investing in the future. As the technology level increases, the manufacturing equipment set needs to change. Tools such as laser drills, LDI machines, laser trimmers, inkjet applicators and specialized plating lines are required to ensure reasonable yields. Yields are a key component in the profitability equation. If a company is wasting 10% or more of its innerlayer laminate material due to poor yields, it’s easy to justify the purchase of a tool designed to improve yields. But what about the less-direct ROI propositions? Investment in equipment upgrades and advanced technology tool sets should be the holy grail of our industry, but all too often companies are making do with substandard tools and outdated processes. As part of a 2005 study I was involved in, “Manufacturing Trends in Electronics Interconnect Technology,” authored by The National Academies, it was determined that an average of $3 million needs to be spent annually to maintain the technological competence of a mid-sized (annual sales of $20 million to $50 million) PCB facility, or somewhere between 6% to 15% of sales. The return on these types of investments is often not easily calculated, but the results of not maintaining technology capabilities are written in the epitaphs of companies that no longer serve the market. 4 pcdandf.com EDITORIAL EDITOR: Kathy Nargi-Toth, 678-589-8866, knargitoth@upmediagroup.com EDITORIAL OFFICE: 2400 Lake Park Drive, Suite 440, Smyrna, GA 30080 678-589-8800; fax 678-589-8850 EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD: Dr. Eric Bogatin, Be The Signal; Michael Carano, Electrochemicals; George Dudnikov, Sanmina-SCI; Jack Fisher, Interconnect Technology Analysis; Happy Holden, Mentor Graphics; Istvan Novak, Sun Microsystems I N September, we asked a select group of Printed Circuit Design & Fab fab- CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Dr. Hayao Nakahara COLUMNISTS: Bruce Archambeault, Peter Bigelow, Dr. Eric Bogatin, Michael Carano, Dominique Numakura, Dr. Abe Riazi, Susy Webb PRODUCTION MANAGING EDITOR: Katherine Haddox, khaddox@upmediagroup.com PRODUCTION MANAGER: Javier Longoria, jlongoria@upmediagroup.com SALES SALES ASSOCIATE: Kamden Robb, 678-589-8843, krobb@upmediagroup.com EXHIBIT SALES MANAGER: Brooke Anglin, 678-589-8833, fax 678-589-8850, banglin@upmediagroup.com KOREA SALES: Young Media Inc., +82 2 2273 4818, fax +82 2 2273 4866, ymedia@ymedia.co.kr PRINT REPRINTS: Bryan Durham, FosteReprints, 866-879-9144 ext. 111, fax 219-561-2037, bryan.durham@fostereprints.com ELECTRONIC REPRINTS: pcdm_reprints@upmediagroup.com LIST RENTAL: Jennifer Schuler, 918-496-1476, fax 918-496-9465 WEBINARS: Frances Stewart, 678-817-1286, fstewart@upmediagroup.com, pcbshows.com/webinars CIRCULATION DIRECTOR OF AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT: Jennifer Schuler CIRCULATION AND SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES/ ADDRESS CHANGES: fax 918-496-9465, jschuler@upmediagroup.com UP MEDIA GROUP, INC. PRESIDENT: Pete Waddell VICE PRESIDENT, SALES AND MARKETING: Frances Stewart, fstewart@upmediagroup.com VICE PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL AND PRODUCTION: Mike Buetow, mbuetow@upmediagroup.com SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER: Ronda Faries, 678-589-8827, rfaries@upmediagroup.com Printed Circuit Design & Fab is distributed without charge to qualified subscribers. For others, annual Subscription Rates in U.S. funds are: $80 (U.S. and Canada), $145 (all other countries). Single copy price is $8.50. All subscription and single copy orders or inquiries should be directed to Printed Circuit Design & Fab, P.O. Box 35646, Tulsa, OK 74153-0646, jschuler@upmediagroup. com, fax 918-496-9465. Photocopies and issues on Microfilm/Microfiche (16mm, 33mm or 105mm) are available from University Microfilms International, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106, Telephone 313-761-4600. Printed Circuit Design & Fab is published monthly by UP Media Group Inc., 2400 Lake Park Drive, Suite 440, Smyrna, GA 30080. ISSN 1543-6527. GST 124513185/ Agreement #1419617. Periodicals postage paid at Smyrna, GA, and additional mailing offices. © 2007, UP Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of material appearing in Printed Circuit Design & Fab is forbidden without written permission. PRINTED CIRCUIT DESIGN & FAB NOVEMBER 2007 http://pcdandf.com http://pcbshows.com/webinars

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Printed Circuit Design & Fab - November 2007

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - November 2007 Contents Our Line Market Watch Around the World Happenings ROI Packaging HDI Design and Fab Plating Design Tools Metric Design Productronica Product Preview Marketplace Ad Index The Signal Doctor

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - November 2007

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