This year the TPCA set the Automation Intelligence Committee (AIC) a standing unit through organizational adjustment and initiated the review and research of a new roadmap for PCB smart manufacturing in Taiwan. In view of the process of smart manufacturing implementation and in consideration of the future challenges in the PCB industry, the TCPA, the Institute for Information Industry (III) and the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) have updated the “Roadmap of Smart Manufacturing Development for Taiwan’s PCB Industry” for the reference of investments in the smart manufacturing and upgrading of the PCB industry.

With the framework building upon application levels and development milestones, this new roadmap plans the different processes for the development and application of smart manufacturing in the PCB industry. At the application levels, the framework covers three major aspects: smart equipment, smart production and smart operations, respectively. Based on the development process, the framework at each level is divided into linkage (data capture and integration), visualization (data presentation), transparency (data simulation and analysis), prediction (data prediction), and adaptation (decision support and guidance). By locating the competencies required for development at each stage of the process in PCB manufacture with a matrix, the plan aims to achieve the benefits at different terms: visualization of production lines (MI) for the short term, smart production (M2) for the medium term, and smart operations (M3) for the long term.

In addition, the TPCA also announced early this September the Printed Circuit Board Equipment Communication Interface (SEMIA3-PCBECI) established in collaboration with the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) for years. As the standardization of standards for equipment connection, it is the foundation for PCB smart manufacturing, the PCBECI will effectively help resolve various communication inconsistencies between PCB equipment and manufacture to accelerate the development of PCB smart manufacturing.

The PCBECI originated from the PCB industry white paper that the TPCA published in 2014. In view of the inconsistency of equipment communication formats as a result of the wide range of PCB products and equipment brands was the prime bottleneck then. The TPCA thus put the standardization of equipment communication interfaces as an important target in that year. Further, in 2015, a consensus was reached on using the mature SECS (SEMI Equipment Communications Standard)/GEM (Generic Equipment Model) standards of the semiconductor industry as the communication standard. After six expert meetings, the SECS/GEM were simplified into the PCBECI, a standard format for PCB manufacturers to collect production information, that meets the PCB needs. It is also hoped that the PCBECI can help equipment manufacturers reduce the cost for developing communication interfaces for custom models. In 2016 the Automation Committee under SEMI was established in Taiwan through the collaboration of the TPCA and SEMI. Through stringent international standardization procedures and technical defense, the PCBECI passed the global technical voting in 2018 and eventually became one of the official SEMI standards this (2019) September.

While striving for standard internationalization, to expand PCBECI’s recognition in the industry, with the support of the Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of the Economic Affairs, the TCPA facilitated the PCB industry to establish three major automation intelligence alliances to link the PCBECI (PCB A Team, Advanced FCB Automation Intelligence Alliance, and PCBECI Equipment Connection Demo Team) into a standard communication interface. It is estimated that 24 PCB manufacturers will complete implementing the PCBECI in part of their process equipment in the next couple of years. In addition, Zhen Ding Tech, Unimicron Technology and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, three of the world’s top 100, are actively assessing PCBECI implementation in their new plants.

As an outlook, through the success of PCBECI implementation by the world-leading PCB manufacturers, the PCBECI’s market demand will expand to attract more equipment and systems manufacturers to develop PCBECI-compliant products to reduce application costs. The TPAC will continue to play its role in technology promotion and talent development, hoping that the PCBECI will become a standard feature of the PCB industry like the SECS/GEM in the semiconductor industry.