A few quarters ago, I met a team who had just scrapped an entire interposer because of a single trace failure.
“We couldn’t risk a patch job,” the director said. “It had to be perfect.”
But that “scrap-and-start” mindset is fading.
Because modern tools make rework smarter… and repair viable.
Why Traditional Rework Is a Dead End
Rework isn’t just expensive.
It’s demoralizing.
- A single defect resets weeks of work
- Teams hesitate to try bold ideas
- Engineers feel punished for exploring
And worst of all… it’s often unnecessary.
Precision Repair Isn’t Just Possible—It’s Practical
Today’s additive manufacturing tools are letting teams fix what would’ve been fatal.
- Reprint a missing trace without disturbing adjacent lines
- Restore continuity at micron scale
- Avoid heat-induced damage with no bake or mask required
The shift? From redo to refine.
Tools That Enable Clean, Controlled Repair
- Hummink allows sub-micron metal reprinting… no overspray, no coffee-ring effects, no thermal risk
- Nordson builds jet dispensers for adhesives and epoxies… ideal for controlled rework processes
- nScrypt enables high-resolution deposition on complex surfaces… useful for curved or irregular layouts
Each of these tools helps recover value… not just yield.
Why This Matters for Prototyping Teams
When you can repair instead of restart:
- Scrap goes down
- Throughput goes up
- Engineering morale improves
And validation stops feeling like an all-or-nothing game.
The Takeaway
We don’t always need to build from scratch.
Sometimes, all we need is a way to fix what’s almost right.
Ask your team:
What would change if we could fix instead of scrap?
Because every trace you recover… is one step closer to first-pass yield.
