PCB Producer in China: Standard conditions for the introduction of the PCB industry

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Printed Circuit Board Industry Standard Conditions" (hereinafter referred to as "Standard Conditions") and "Printed Circuit Board Industry Specification Announcement Management Interim Measures" (hereinafter referred to as "Interim Measures"), two documents will be this year 2 It will be implemented on the 1st of the month. Industry insiders have said that the release of the document will facilitate the layout optimization and structural adjustment of the printed circuit board (PCB) industry, and play a positive role in improving the development level of the industry and promoting the sustainable and healthy development of the industry.

PCB industry needs healthy and sustainable development

As a bridge for carrying electronic components and connecting circuits, PCB is an indispensable key component in the electronic information industry. Since 2006, China has surpassed Japan to become the world's largest producer of printed circuit boards. Its output and output value rank first in the world. The proportion of the global printed circuit board industry's total output value has increased from 31.18% in 2008 to 2017. 50.53% of the year. According to the China Electronics Circuit Industry Association, the domestic PCB production value reached US$29.7 billion in 2017. In this context, maintaining the sustainable development of the industry has become the consensus of the industry.

The "Regulations" and "Interim Measures" issued this time are formulated in accordance with the principles of optimizing layout, adjusting structure, environmental protection, promoting innovation, and classifying guidance. For PCB enterprises and projects, capacity layout and project construction, production scale and process technology Different dimensions such as intelligent manufacturing, green manufacturing, safe production, and social responsibility form a quantitative standard system. Zhang Wei, secretary-general of China Electronic Circuit Industry Association, told the China Electronics News: "As a participant in the "Regulations", we are very happy with its introduction. The release of "Regulations" has raised the barriers to entry for the PCB industry. It provides a strong guarantee for the steady and sustainable development of China's electronic circuit industry."

Xu Min, chairman of Bomin Electronics, said that the "Regulations" and "Interim Measures" were introduced on the basis of sufficient research in the previous period, combined with industry characteristics and future industry development trends. In his view, these two documents reasonably set the environmental protection threshold, technical threshold, and scale threshold of the printed circuit board manufacturing industry, and guide the development of the printed circuit board manufacturing cluster, which is a good thing in the industry.

Liu Shaobai, chairman of Jingwang Electronics, believes that although the “Regulatory Conditions” have not implemented specific incentive measures, the existing per capita output value of PCB enterprises, the scale and input-output ratio of new projects, key technical indicators and technical capabilities, quality management, The multi-dimensional operation and operation conditions such as energy saving, environmental protection and safe production have formed clear and quantifiable guidelines. "In the future, we will judge the closure of backward production capacity and the approval of new projects, which will help to guide the industrial transformation and upgrading and structural adjustment, and accelerate the reform of the supply side of the industry. This is a guide to the industry to prevent overcapacity. A guide to sustainable development.” Liu Shaobai told the China Electronics News reporter.

An analysis report of Pacific Securities summarized the impact of the introduction of the “Regulatory Conditions” on the industry. The report stated that the “Regulations” will help improve the overall operating efficiency of the industry, establish a positive image of the industry, and help curb blind investment. Neglect management of enterprise development, raise industry thresholds, and increase concentration; although technical indicators are not high, but the trend of encouraging research and development remains unchanged.

Green manufacturing is an inevitable requirement for high quality PCB development

The “Regulations” set clear requirements for smart manufacturing, green manufacturing and environmental protection. In terms of intelligent manufacturing, the “Regulations” encourage enterprises to promote production equipment networking and data collection, and actively build enterprise resource planning (ERP), manufacturing execution system (MES), supplier relationship management (SRM), warehouse management system (WMS), etc. Informatization system to promote the digital construction of enterprises; encourage enterprises to actively carry out intelligent manufacturing, reduce operating costs, shorten product production cycle, and improve production efficiency. In terms of green manufacturing, the “Regulations” require enterprises to continue to carry out clean production audits and pass assessments and acceptances; encourage enterprises to pass the certification assessment of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic products; encourage enterprises to build green supply chains and establish resource conservation and environment. Friendly-oriented procurement, production, marketing, recycling and logistics systems that promote stakeholder compliance in the supply chain to comply with industry standards and regulations; encourage companies to build green factories and produce green products.

In fact, industry people have already reached a consensus on the intelligent and green production in the PCB field. Liu Shaobai said in an interview with China Electronics News that the realization of PCB intelligent manufacturing can shorten the product development cycle, reduce resource and energy consumption, reduce operating costs, improve production efficiency, improve product quality, promote the high-end process of PCB industry, and reshape manufacturing. New advantages in the industry, many domestic PCB companies have begun smart manufacturing. For green manufacturing, Liu Shaobai believes that enterprises should consider the impact on the environment from the site selection. In addition, the following aspects should be considered: from the design stage, from the plant design, process design, equipment selection and raw material selection. Safety, energy saving, water saving and less pollution should be considered; in the construction stage, attention should be paid to environmental protection and safety; in the production stage, enterprises should also build an advanced, complete, efficient and easy-to-implement production management system, and develop a complete and effective environment. Emergency plans, promote clean production systems, improve operational levels, reduce waste, consume the least natural resources, and obtain larger output.

"Printed circuit board manufacturers only firmly adhere to the government's guidelines, continuously strengthen research and development and innovation, improve production technology, promote automation, information, and intelligent production, and always adhere to the concept of environmental protection and green development. In order to ensure sustainable development under the new situation," said Shen Qingfang, chairman of Pengding Holdings.

New application scenarios make PCB face more challenges

In recent years, the rapid development of 5G, artificial intelligence, and vehicle networking has brought new challenges to the PCB industry. Taking 5G as an example, as a new generation of mobile communication technology, it is not only the strengthening of 4G, but also an indispensable foundation for mobile Internet, Internet of Things, Internet of Vehicles, Industrial Internet, Telemedicine, VR/AR and other fields. All countries in the world strive to seize the "high ground" of 5G industry and technology. Printed circuit boards are indispensable "skeleton" components for 5G terminal products (such as base stations, servers, electronic devices, etc.). Ultra-high-rate, ultra-low latency, and large connections require high signal integrity and high thermal reliability for 5G circuits. Therefore, signal transmission integrity and high reliability are the challenges faced by PCBs in the new situation. In this regard, Xu slow believes that domestic enterprises should be guided by market demand and carry out strategic layout in advance. Increase investment in technology research and development, focus on independent innovation, coexist with multiple cooperative innovation channels, and carry out three major technological breakthroughs in structural design, key methods and industrialization to overcome key common technologies and large-scale production problems in printed circuits in emerging markets. .

Liu Shaobai told reporters that emerging markets will pose greater challenges to PCB reliability, high speed, high frequency, and even bendability. Enterprises must have strong technical reserves and reasonable product layout to cope with these changes in demand. Therefore, domestic PCB companies should aim at cutting-edge technology needs, pay close attention to the development of new technologies, and actively follow up on 5G, autonomous driving, wearable, AI, big data and other technologies, cooperate with or carry out research and development with customers, and strive to become an important part of advanced manufacturing. And the key part. Internally, PCB companies must cultivate good internal strength; externally, we must pay close attention to the development of the industry and strengthen linkage and innovation with the upstream and downstream industry chains.

Shen Qingfang said that every emerging market opportunity is a synergistic challenge in many technical aspects such as materials, processes, production management, etc. In the process of upgrading these technologies, enterprises also need to upgrade with corresponding talents, information systems, management methods, etc. To further improve market response capabilities and production management capabilities.