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Schweitzer engaged the services of GreenSource Engineering to assist in the initial design of the facility, along with handling automation equipment. Nolan Johnson met with the GreenSource team— Michael Gleason, Marco Mirkovic, James Brown, and Rick Nichols—representing GreenSource Engineering and GreenSource Fabrication (GSF), to better understand their working relationship for the build-out of the new facility in Moscow, Idaho.
Nolan Johnson: Your organization was involved with Schweitzer’s greenfield facility in Moscow, Idaho. What was your role there?
Rick Nichols: Essentially, we placed a high degree of automation in their facility. Once the word went out that we had successfully built a plant in New Hampshire, primarily fielding our own equipment along with the zero liquid discharge (ZLD) unit—which is a key component to any greenfield site—we got involved with SEL fairly rapidly. SEL came to the fab in New Hampshire to receive base level training on all aspects; they were given full access to the shop, and our engineers helped them out.
SEL collaborated with GreenSource on the factory design and equipment selection to ensure that the GSF automation equipment and ZLD system worked well. Once SEL saw the setup in New Hampshire, they wanted a similar structure for their master plan. We designed horizontal equipment for them although we did not install this equipment. We installed the ZLD unit, a prime piece of technological advancement that greenfield sites will be interested in.
Johnson: Rick, did SEL install custom-built equipment?
Nichols: Everything we build is custom, to some extent. I can give you an example. A typical stripping line in most board shops utilizes an alkaline solution of one kind or other, especially now. Often, shops use just sodium hydroxide, and this will tend to oxidize the panel’s copper surface. Our stripper, for example, has a built-in post-clean to ensure that the panels that come out are directly readable by AOI.
To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the September 2023 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.
