Neon Supply is in Crisis. Were we Warned?

Описание: In 2014, political unrest in Eastern Ukraine went hot and a brief shooting war erupted that interrupted operations in the massive, Soviet era steel complexes that are famous in the region. A knock-on effect was the interruption in supply of neon, an industrial gas produced as a by-product of the liquid air distillation used to make the oxygen needed in steelmaking.

Semiconductor industry analysts noted that the majority of the world’s supply of this gas, critical to the lasers used for chip-making photolithography, came from this volatile region. Today, three months into what may become a long war over Eastern Ukraine, and the shortages now hobble a semiconductor industry desperately needed by industries recovering from COVID-19.

Why didn’t anyone heed the 2014 warning? Jim Anderton has a theory.

ABOUT END OF THE LINE:
Manufacturing veteran James Anderton expresses his compelling and unique opinions about the state of the manufacturing sector. He shares his thoughts and insights to help engineering and manufacturing professionals navigate through the challenges of world events, the blending old with new technologies, evolving processes, gaps in skilled labour, in an effort to help maximize productivity of their daily operations.

James is a former editor of trade publications in the automotive, metalworking and plastics industries with contributions to a wide range of print and on-line publications. He also brings prior industry experience in quality and manufacturing for a Tier One automotive supplier.

* *
ENGINEERING.COM TV:
Watch in-depth engineering videos made for the engineering professional and found exclusively on engineering.com TV:
For the Manufacturing Engineer: https://www.engineering.com/viewAll?c...
For the Design Engineer: https://www.engineering.com/viewAll?c...

* *
STEM GAMES:
Play some fun and educational STEM games on engineering.com:
https://www.engineering.com/resources...

* *
#Neon #Semiconductors #Photolithography