Exit strategies for production
What is your exit strategy for PCB production?
For years it has been the norm to rely solely on production running in 1 country – often China, because of their skilled PCB production and great price for manufacturing. With larger companies even having invested in their own big factory facilities there, to ensure their production is running smoothly.
What we have learnt from the current geopolitical climate of the world (as of spring 2023) and the war in Ukraine, is that the traditional strategy will leave your production vulnerable. For multiple reasons. Hence why more and more are making exit strategies to diversify their sourcing and production.
The US's ``CHIPS & Science act`` and the ``European Chips Act``
With the mobilization of more than 43 billion euros, the European Chip Act will not only set measures in place to be able to respond faster to any future disturbances in the supply chain. It will also fund production as well as support innovation in semiconductors with “the Horizon Europe” and “Digital Europe programme”.
The goals for the ``European Chips Act`` are to:
- “Strengthen Europe’s research and technology leadership towards smaller and faster chips”
- “Put in place a framework to increase production capacity to 20% of the global market by 2030.”
- “Build and reinforce capacity to innovate in the design and manufacturing and packaging of advanced chips.”
- “Develop an in-depth understanding of the global semiconductor supply chains.”
- “Address the skills shortage, attract new talents and support the emergence of a skilled workforce”.
These actions will be taken in place, to avoid another semiconductor shortage. Which is very important since industry experts expect demands for chips to double by 2030. With the potential to leave healthcare- and the defence section vulnerable amongst others, due to the heavy increasing use of semiconductor technology.
You can read more in depth about the European Chips Act here
Danish investment
DTU expands the capacity for production of microchips. The new cleanroom building will consist of 2 floors and a basement with a total of 5600 square meters of space. Add that to the already existing 1350 square meters, and by 2026 they will have 6950 square meters of cleanroom to keep up with the already increasing demand.
As stated earlier, a chunk of the European chip act fund will go towards research and development of new chips. And with the new space underway DTU will stand more equipped to offer their spaces to other companies, so that they together can provide a foundation which will altogether benefit the European eco system – as well as the Danish capability for digitization and strengthening our competitive edge in the market.
To read more about the Danish chip investment, click here.
To visit DTU’s website, click here.