Despite a lot of talk about a potential for a double-dip recession in the media, we are seeing some positive signs in the electronic manufacturing industry. As an equipment manufacturer, we are very much dependent on technological advances in the manufacturing industry, which has been lead mainly by China over the past few years.
Now, it seems that North America is turning the corner and is starting to embrace advanced tools, especially laser systems, to improve its manufacturing capabilities and that is good news for U.S.-based jobs.
Laser tools for depaneling are becoming increasingly popular since they provide a solution to deal with challenging form factors and sensitive components without sacrificing yields. At the same time, we see a trend in the industry to go to smaller panel sizes like 9" x 12" to mitigate tolerances of all manufacturing steps in order to create smaller, densely populated circuits.
The medical industry and manufacturers of handheld devices and sensor packages are leading this trend. We are anticipating 2012 to see a greater acceptance of UV laser-based depaneling tools throughout the EMS industry and we are planning to hire more application staff at our North American headquarters in Portland, OR.
