The U.S. Presidential election and continuing gridlock in Washington may leave businesses cautious and tentative in expansion and capital investment. The manufacturing market in Mexico may be the exception. Labor rates in Mexico are on par with China. GDP in Mexico is expanding at double the USA rate. The exception may be the continued turf wars in the underground Mexican drug trade. This may be an impediment to foreign expansion of SMT factories (although that has not been evident at this time).
The main technical focus for 2012 will be improving yields and reducing secondary operations. This emphasis will be addressed with Automated 3-D Solder Paste inspection, better PCB support through the SMT process, Track, Trace and Control implementation and process software automation; i.e. DFM, DFT, etc.
