Tan Piet Gek, Product Marketing Manager of the Business Development Department, ViTrox Technologies Sdn. Bhd.

How was business in 2022 and what do you expect for the industry in 2023?
Expanding our extensive line of specialized final finish products, specifically ENIG, ENEPIG, EPAG, RGA Immersion Ag, and IGEPIG* was our mission for 2022, and we were successful in that endeavor.

We also had activity in other business segments, including a growing IC substrate industry, which we anticipate will continue through 2023. Concerning our outlook for fiscal year 2023, our priority is to remain focused on PCB-related, multifaced final finish processes, and to increase our prominence and participation in various segments of the IC package, semiconductor, and sensors industries.

Will you be launching new products or services in 2023?
Yes, on two fronts. Our long-term partner, MEC, is a global leader in dry film pretreatment and micro etching technologies, and we will be introducing new MEC technologies to the US market. In addition, we’re focusing on the growing interest in developing a sustainable North American IC substrate business. We have an extensive portfolio of advanced products to address the growing number of semiconductor fabrication facilities now under construction in North America.

Well-established suppliers throughout Asia dominate the highest volume segments of the IC substrate market, and that will doubtless continue to be the case going forward, due to their low-cost manufacturing operations. However, the US IC substrate marketplace will have more complex and sophisticated requirements, and it will be driven by the military, aerospace, and other sectors where manufacturing should be maintained within the US.

Have supply chain shortages of semiconductors and electronic components caused problems for your company in 2022 and what have you done to reduce these issues in 2023?

In one area, the delivery of several pieces of capital equipment to circuit board manufacturers was delayed and ultimately delayed many production start-ups during 2021 into 2022. Another area that has been impacted by the broader supply chain issues involved the issues surrounding the sourcing of key raw materials necessary for chemical production. Also, it's clear that the automotive sector continues to struggle with supply chain issues, but currently that has been a business segment outside our primary focus.

Are you able to hire enough qualified employees? What could the industry do to develop a larger pool of skilled workers?
Certainly, since the onset of the Covid 19 Pandemic, we have witnessed a changing worker mindset. That, and the flow of government money have helped create an odd new kind of selectivity about jobs and the terms of employment. This has been keenly apparent in manufacturing, where potential employees are believing that part of their employment could include "possible work from home" opportunities, which is clearly not possible.

Another critical issue with hiring skilled workers is the ability to actually find individuals with the necessary skill sets for technical sales and engineering positions.