US Projected to Triple Semiconductor Manufacturing Capacity by 2032, SIA Reports

WASHINGTON – The US will triple its domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity from 2022 – when the Chips Act was enacted – by 2032, the Semiconductor Industry Association projects in a report released in May.

The projected 203% growth is the largest projected percent increase in the world over that time.

Developed in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group, the study, titled “Emerging Resilience in the Semiconductor Supply Chain,” also projects the US will grow its share of advanced logic (below 10nm) manufacturing to 28% of global capacity by 2032, up from 0% in 2022. Additionally, America is projected to capture over one-quarter (28%) of total global capital expenditures from 2024-2032, ranking second only to Taiwan (31%). In the absence of the Chips Act, the US would have captured only 9% of global capex by 2032, according to the report.

TPCA Releases Guide for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction

TAOYUAN CITY, TAIWAN – The Taiwan Printed Circuit Association has published the “Guide to Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction for PCB Factory Facilities and Process Equipment” as a resource for companies in the transition from strategic planning to actual implementation of the net zero initiative.

The guide recommends implementing the process in three phases – start, middle and end.

The start phase requires a full understanding of factory operations, including taking an inventory of each component’s efficiency, digitizing data from large energy-intensive equipment, and transparency of production scheduling.

Olympic Circuit Technology to Build Thai Factory

HESHAN, CHINA – Olympic Circuit Technology has announced plans to invest up to $200 million to build a factory in Thailand to meet demand from existing and potential overseas clients.

The Chinese PCB fabricator said the new facility in Thailand will allow more flexible handling of likely adverse impacts from macro environment fluctuation, adjustments of industry policies, and the international trade landscape.

OCT has two PCB bases in China’s southern Guangdong province with an output of 4.2 million sq. m. of various PCB types last year. It ranked 36^th in Dr. Hayao Nakahara’s annual NTI-100 list of the world’s largest 40 PCB fabricators.

Emerald Technologies Acquires Optimum Design Associates

SAN JOSE – Emerald Technologies in May announced its acquisition of Optimum Design Associates, an electronics design and engineering services company. Terms were not disclosed.

In making the announcement, Emerald Technologies also said that it has rebranded its name and has relocated its corporate headquarters to San Jose, which reflects the company’s continued evolution as a value-added partner to the world’s leading companies, providing mission-critical and highly complex electronic solutions across diverse end-markets and applications.

Optimum had been sold in March 2023 to Tempo Automation, but the deal collapsed due to financial issues at Tempo.

Thailand BOI Expands PCB Manufacturing Incentives

BANGKOK – Thailand’s Board of Investment has approved an expanded definition of PCB businesses to further promote foreign investment in PCB manufacturing and cover the entire supply chain.

In 2023, the BOI approved investment promotion benefits to PCB projects by some 40 companies representing a combined investment of $2.66 billion, or around 96 billion baht. The project applications came from companies based in China, Taiwan and Japan moving their PCB production hub to Thailand, as well as from Thai companies.

The expanded definition of PCB businesses now includes manufacturers of parts and providers of related services such as lamination, drilling, plating, routing and electrical testing, as well as the producers of PCB parts such as copper clad laminate, flexible copper clad laminate and prepreg, plus the producers of raw materials such as dry film, transfer film and back up board.

GPV Opens Expanded Factory in Thailand

VEJLE, DENMARK – GPV Electronics has opened a refurbished factory building in Thailand, adding 7,000 sq. m. (75,347 sq. ft.) of floor space to its existing 15,000 sq. m. facility.

“We are very proud of our new additional capacity in our electronics factory,” said Bjorn Fiskers, managing director at GPV Electronics TH and GPV Mechanics TH. “Now, the next step is re-layout of the existing production and the new area. We are eager to take the new building into use and to start serving our customers from the new facilities.”

The refurbishment took place inside GPV’s previous mechanics factory, located in the same building as its electronics facilities, and gathers the 22,000 sq. m. of electronics production under one roof. In 2023, the company moved its mechanics production into a new factory building near the electronics factory.

Foxconn Reaffirms WI Commitment

RACINE, WI – Foxconn in May stressed its commitment to its Wisconsin operations after Microsoft broke ground on a $3.3 billion data center on a site originally intended for Foxconn.

Foxconn originally announced a $10 billion investment in southeast Wisconsin in 2017, but later scaled back that investment. In 2021, it said it would invest $672 million at the site and forecast 1,454 new jobs, down from the 13,000 that were originally promised.

“Foxconn Wisconsin is a key manufacturing site for data servers,” the company said in a statement. “Our global market share in servers is approximately 40%. Our Wisconsin operations greatly contribute to that market leadership. We are proud of the over 1,000 men and women who work at Foxconn Wisconsin and help make that happen.”

Aurelius Breaks Ground on Malaysian EMS Plant

KULIM, MALAYSIA – Aurelius Technologies has begun construction of a new manufacturing plant in Kulim Hi-Tech Park.

The plant, called P5, will be operated by Aurelius’ subsidiary BCM Electronics and is planned to be complete by the end of 2024. The facility will feature 243,000 sq. ft. of advanced manufacturing and R&D space – including nearly 13,000 sq. ft. of clean room facilities, BCM said in a release.

“P5 sets the stage for Aurelius to introduce advanced manufacturing capabilities targeted for automotive components and advanced Internet of Things applications,” BCM said.

ACDi Acquires 4^th East Coast Manufacturing Plant

FREDERICK, MD – ACDi expanded its presence on the East Coast with the acquisition of a manufacturing plant in Kilmarnock, VA.

The company said it signed an asset purchase agreement with QinetiQ to acquire its Virginia facility and assets, including SMT and related assembly equipment. The deal brings ACDi to four East Coast locations with a total of nine SMT lines.

The facility purchase also includes the addition of all manufacturing employees and several new customers. ACDi will continue to build product for customers previously served at the Virginia location and said it plans to add new customers and personnel to meet growing demand for its capabilities.

Instrumental Enters Defense Electronics Space

PALO ALTO, CA – Instrumental has announced its entry into the defense electronics industry with an ITAR-compliant environment for its manufacturing data and AI platform.

Integrating AI into the manufacturing process has become increasingly important in accelerating product launches, ensuring quality, and optimizing engineering time, Instrumental said in a release, and with its new AWS GovCloud environment, defense companies can securely extend their digital thread while leveraging AI to accelerate issue resolution, automate inspection, and deliver products on time while increasing yield.

“Instrumental’s technology has been battle-tested by the most admired electronics brands in the world. We are excited to be able to extend this technological advantage to defense and aerospace manufacturers to support their ambitious missions,” said Anna-Katrina Shedletsky, Instrumental cofounder and CEO.

Report: Plexus to Close Oregon Plant

GRESHAM, OR – Plexus in April reportedly notified Oregon officials of plans to close its contract electronics manufacturing factory here by this fall.

The plant’s entire staff of 75 will be let go, the reports said.

No reasons were provided for the closure.

According to the report, Plexus told the state the layoffs could begin in late June and continue through the end of October.

Nortech Systems to Close MN Manufacturing Plant

MINNEAPOLIS – Nortech Systems announced plans to close its manufacturing plant in Blue Earth, MN, by the end of the year.

In the company’s first quarter earnings call, CEO Jay Miller said Nortech will be shifting its wire and cable assembly and system-level assembly manufacturing to its Bemidji, MN, location, and all employees at the Blue Earth facility will be offered jobs at the company’s other Minnesota facilities.

Miller said the Blue Earth facility is an older, less efficient plant, and the Bemidji facility is newer and certified for aerospace and defense.

Q1 EMS Deals Slip, but M&As Expected to Rise Over Time

CHICAGO – Nine EMS transactions took place in the first quarter, one less than reported in the first quarter of 2023, Lincoln International recorded in its latest EMS Quarterly Review.

Of those transactions, four were EMS consolidations, while vertical/horizontal convergence accounted for five of the transactions, the highest number of vertical/horizontal transactions in the previous three years.

By geography, Europe had four transactions, Asia had three transactions, and two were cross-border transactions. US/Canada did not record a closed transaction in the quarter. (more)

Measuring Quality Over Time

Using the Weibull distribution to model gold wire bonding on ENEPIG.
by Patrick Valentine, Ph.D.

The most used distribution in reliability analysis may be the Weibull distribution. Its genesis can be traced back to Waloddi Weibull’s invention in 1937. Then, in 1951, Waloddi presented his hallmark paper to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) on this subject, claiming that his distribution applied to a wide range of problems. He showed several examples, ranging from the fiber strength of cotton to the fatigue life of steel.¹

The Weibull distribution is versatile and fairly easy to interpret. It can be used to model a wide range of applications in engineering, medical research, quality control and finance. For example, the distribution is frequently used with reliability analyses to model time-to-failure data. It is also used to model skewed process data in capability analysis.

The Weibull distribution may not always provide the best fit for a data set. It may not work as effectively for product failures caused by chemical reactions or degradation; e.g., corrosion. These situations can occur with semiconductor failures. Usually, in these types of situations, the lognormal distribution is used.

Measuring Reflow Oven Performance (or Mind Your U2RZY3Cs)

A thermal processing expert’s take on which tests are ideal for comparisons.
by Fred Dimock

I get asked how I would evaluate the performance of a reflow oven because of my experience with oven testing and participation in the IPC Reflow Oven Process Subcommittee. Some of the questions are basic, such as “Which oven should I purchase?” “Is this new oven as good as the older one?” or “Will it work with my boards or specific process requirements?” Other questions are more complicated: “Will this oven help me produce an acceptable profile with our heavy board?” or “Is this oven better than XYZ’s reflow oven?”

These questions got me thinking about establishing a guideline to compare the performance of reflow ovens. I use the word “compare” because oven evaluations can be different for each company due to specific needs and requirements. Years ago, I was involved with an IPC attempt to develop a reflow oven standard that included a proprietary test board, a proprietary thermal profiler and a defined thermal profile. The goal was to identify a basic way to “certify” that a reflow oven could produce an acceptable thermal profile, but it had little relevance to a company’s actual manufacturing requirements.

Proprietary test vehicles are not new. Several OEMs have developed various test vehicles with a varying number of possible connections. Each has its place, but in my experience they are only partially helpful in evaluating the performance of a reflow oven and are best for identifying if an oven thermal profile is changing over time.

Tariff Tradeoffs

Buoyed by the US-China trade war, Mexico and Malaysia are making their move.
by Mike Buetow

On Jan. 6, 2023, the Wuxi Welnew Microelectronics plating plant in Wuxi, China, was decimated by a fire.

You’ve probably never heard of Welnew. It is a supplier of electroplating (Sn, SnBi, SnCu, L/F Ag, ZnNi, and so on) to a host of semiconductor manufacturers including Infineon, Vishay, Bosch, Osram, Onsemi, Renesas, Toshiba, and others. Welnew is critical to the supply chain: It claims a 60% market share for plating parts ranging from Mosfets, RF devices and LED drivers.

This happens in supply chains. If it’s not a typhoon, it’s a volcano. If it’s not a flood, it’s a fire. If it’s not an epidemic, it’s a pandemic. Lines and factories go down. Disruptions occur. Prices and lead times fluctuate, sometimes madly.

Preventing Electrochemical Contamination at the Rework Station

The choice of flux plays a significant role.
by Timothy O’Neill

Although the rework bench plays a critical role in electronics manufacturing, engineers often overlook its cleanliness due to its lack of flashy machinery and perceived simplicity. Skilled hand solder operators proficiently completing their tasks can lull supervisors into a false sense of security, particularly since electrochemical contamination issues don’t manifest in this environment.

But in fact, as many as eight out of 10 contamination-related issues can be traced back to the rework bench. Here, we look at how these contaminations occur as well as how to prevent them by examining common products and tools in the rework bench environment.

In Case You Missed It

Component Inspection

“Advancements in PCB Components Recognition Using WaferCaps: A Data Fusion and Deep Learning Approach”

Authors: Dmitrii Starodubov, et. al.

Abstract: As technology advances and becomes more complex, the demand for automated solutions to verify the quality and origin of components assembled on printed circuit boards (PCBs) is skyrocketing. This paper proposes an innovative approach to detecting and classifying microelectronic components with impressive accuracy and reliability, paving the way for a more efficient and safer electronics industry. The authors’ approach introduces significant advancements by integrating optical and x-ray imaging, overcoming the limitations of traditional methods that rely on a single imaging modality. This method uses a novel data fusion technique that enhances feature visibility and detectability across various component types, crucial for densely packed PCBs. By leveraging the novel capsule network, the authors’ system improves spatial hierarchy and dynamic routing capabilities, leading to robust and accurate classifications. The authors employ decision-level fusion across multiple classifiers trained on different representations – optical, x-ray, and fused images – enhancing accuracy by synergistically combining their predictive strengths. This comprehensive method directly addresses challenges surrounding concurrency, reliability, availability, and resolution in component identification. Through extensive experiments, the authors demonstrate that their approach not only significantly improves classification metrics but also enhances the learning and identification processes of PCB components, achieving a total accuracy of 95.2%. (Electronics, May 2024, https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13101863)