-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- smt007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueSoldering Technologies
Soldering is the heartbeat of assembly, and new developments are taking place to match the rest of the innovation in electronics. There are tried-and-true technologies for soldering. But new challenges in packaging, materials, and sustainability may be putting this key step in flux.
The Rise of Data
Analytics is a given in this industry, but the threshold is changing. If you think you're too small to invest in analytics, you may need to reconsider. So how do you do analytics better? What are the new tools, and how do you get started?
Counterfeit Concerns
The distribution of counterfeit parts has become much more sophisticated in the past decade, and there's no reason to believe that trend is going to be stopping any time soon. What might crop up in the near future?
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - smt007 Magazine
Scalable ZLD and a Solution for PCB Start-ups
May 23, 2024 | Alex Stepinski, Stepinski GroupEstimated reading time: 3 minutes
Alex Stepinski talks about his business priorities for this year and what the market, particularly aerospace and defense, needs for orders to be filled.
Barry Matties: What is your priority for 2024? What do you hope to accomplish this year?
Alex Stepinski: ZLD (zero liquid discharge) systems have become a good ROI investment on a larger scale, but I have more work to do on a smaller scale. In 2024, I believe we will get all sizes of this system down to an ROI of one year or less. This year, my key objective is to develop a central recycling system with a good ROI so that every shop has a high desire to buy. Then I need to be able to deliver the system in an efficient and cost-effective way for everyone. I want to get that product going.
I have other interests beyond wastewater. While doing the due diligence for new factories in the U.S., I have found that many want to build circuit board shops but at a startup scale, and many want to build for aerospace and defense. Right now, the minimum viable bill of materials (BOM) to build a PCB shop is too high. If we make it all about defense-related products, the minimum viable BOM is traditionally tens of millions of dollars. I have a partner and we’re bringing a solution to market this year that has a new bill of material for startups. With this new approach, it's just under $10 million to do everything—laser drill, SAP, embedded products—but on a very small scale. Once you have your minimum viable product and are qualified, you can add more equipment. It's really the starting point that’s missing.
There is a lot of concern in the market that there will be too much consolidation in the North American and European markets. Consolidation is not necessarily a good thing, because it’s not an innovative ecosystem. We want and need the mid-sized, sub-$50 million turnover companies in the market. But they won’t start out at $50 million, and you can't be begging everyone for tens of millions of dollars. We need to take this down to a much lower level to have more investments, which further de-risks things.
Matties: Are these people more engineering-minded or more marketing- and business development-minded?
Stepinski: They run the full gamut. We're trying to right-size a system with good operating costs that's green and automated and lets you get started. If you have such a BOM, you can make money very quickly in the defense and aerospace arena because the pricing is typically very high, and the market price is driven significantly by high labor operations. All the folks who are in this business have a lot of highly paid labor costs and a lot of equipment that all needs to be maintained. So, if you come in with a very nimble operation with fewer people, simple automation, low BOM cost, and low operating costs—because everything's on the small side—you can run circles around them. A little PT boat turns a lot faster than the aircraft carrier.
Matties: I think the swarm approach with multiple smaller-sized satellites is much more productive than one giant one.
Stepinski: Yes. Those are my two key focuses: the environmental/sustainability side, and distributed manufacturing. That ecosystem is the most sustainable, and it drives innovation. Many more companies are involved with more ideas. Having been in charge of both small and large operations, I did 100 times more invention and innovation at the smaller organizations than I did in the bigger operations where you're dealing with more bureaucracy.
Matties: Those are exciting and worthwhile initiatives. We will definitely stay in touch and look forward to hearing more about them as you progress. Thank you, Alex, and good luck.
This article, originally appeared in the April 2024 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.
Suggested Items
Kimball Electronics Thailand Namlee School
12/26/2024 | Kimball ElectronicsKimball Electronics Thailand (KETL) has continued its commitment to supporting education and community development in Thailand.
Diverging Electrification Goals between Honda and Nissan; Accelerated Resource Integration will be the Top Priority Post-Merger
12/25/2024 | TrendForceHonda and Nissan—two of Japan’s largest automakers—announced on December 23rd, 2024, that they have entered into merger negotiations, with plans to finalize an agreement by June 2025. Mitsubishi Motors is also expected to join the partnership.
Texas Instruments Announces Award Agreement for CHIPS and Science Act Funding
12/25/2024 | Texas InstrumentsTexas Instruments (TI) (Nasdaq: TXN) and the U.S. Department of Commerce today announced an award agreement of up to $1.6 billion in direct funding through the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, following the preliminary memorandum of terms announced in August 2024.
Market-Comms, VNU Asia Pacific Unite to Drive THECA 2025 as a PCB Industry Game-Changer
12/23/2024 | EINPresswire.comThailand Electronics Circuit Asia (THECA) 2025 has officially announced its event partnership with Market-Comms Co., Ltd. (MCOMMS), No.1 local public relations firm, and VNU Asia Pacific, the designated show manager for the event.
IPC Announces New Training Course: PCB Design for Military & Aerospace Applications
12/23/2024 | IPCIPC announced the launch of a new training course: PCB Design for Military & Aerospace Applications.