The U.S. Award to TTM is a Big Deal

by Chris Mitchell, IPC vice president, global government relations

IPC extends its congratulations to TTM Technologies on securing $30M from the DoD's Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) office to equip a new 200,000+ square foot facility in Syracuse, New York. The new facility will dramatically increase domestic production of ultra-high density (uHDI) printed circuit boards (PCBs).

Those who know electronics know how significant this award is to U.S. technology leadership and national security. 

Here’s why.

1) The U.S. lacks robust domestic uHDI capabilities which undercuts the nation’s ability to arm its warfighters with the latest and greatest technologies. This is not a future concern; this is a today problem. Leading defense companies cannot easily use the most cutting-edge chips because they can't source a uHDI PCB domestically to accommodate those chips. The result: defense manufacturers are adding complexity or, more worryingly, “dumbing down” their designs to work with the PCBs that are available domestically. This TTM project is helping to solve that problem, and in so doing, it's bridging the chasm that exists in the U.S. between manufacturing chips and building systems. 

2) Kudos to MCEIP Director Anthony Di Stasio and his team. They and their colleagues across DoD continue to demonstrate they understand the electronics supply chain far better than their civilian peers. While other federal agencies seem to be stuck in a silicon-only mindset, DoD is more wisely focused on making investments that will allow the U.S. to both build the most sophisticated chips AND integrate them into the most sophisticated electronics systems. The MCEIP award to TTM is a great example of silicon-to-systems thinking, and more agencies need to follow DoD's lead.

3) This award comes on the heels of great work by IPC and its subsidiary, the U.S. Partnership for Assured Electronics (USPAE). Working with industry, USPAE helped to define the uHDI challenge facing our defense industrial base. DoD officials internalized the findings of this report, and the TTM award indicates DoD is making investments accordingly.  

Meanwhile, securing funding for PCBs in the Defense Production Act has been IPC’s highest priority in Washington, and our work is bearing fruit!

In February, Congress passed an FY24 omnibus spending bill that largely accepted the more robust House funding levels for DPA account. IPC led the advocacy in support of the DPA account with industry letters and countless Hill meetings. Without the higher funding level, the TTM award might not have been possible. 

Now we’re focused on ensuring that this award is not the last. To that end, our work continues on Capitol Hill. In August, the Senate Appropriations Committee in its FY25 defense spending bill directed DoD to allocate $45 million specifically for PCBs. IPC fought for this funding and is now leading the charge to persuade House appropriators to adopt the Senate language. These are real dollars and serve as a downpayment on renewing U.S. leadership in electronics manufacturing. Funding could drop to $0 without it. You can support these efforts; click this link to send a message to your U.S. representative. It’ll only take a minute, but it will make a difference. 

There is no one silver-bullet solution to rebuilding U.S. electronics manufacturing. Instead, the industry must be active on multiple fronts to pursue strategic wins where and when we can. Each win makes our industry more visible, creating greater opportunities in the long-term for transformational change. 

This is IPC’s approach—engagement on all fronts. I’m thrilled that we are having success, and that this success is being fueled by our collaboration with electronics manufacturers across the country.