SAT Moving Additive Technology Forward

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Hans Fritz started his career as an engineer with Gerber Scientific Instruments in Hartford, Connecticut, later working for Orbotech on its first LDI systems at EIE in Switzerland making photo plotters, and then at Hakuto Europe, a subsidiary of Hakuto Co. in Japan. He has spent the past three decades as general manager at Sense Advanced Technology (SAT), now working with his daughter Milena and business partner Alexander Weigl. “I have moved to the fun part of the business,” Hans says, where he gets to work in new field technologies, including additive and product industrialization processes. “I’m trying to use modern digital additive technologies to make PCBs, fuel cells, metal etching and milling, and PCMI applications.”

Milena grew up watching her parents run the business, studied psychology and management in her undergraduate years, and consulting and management for her master’s degree. She worked in digital banking at the European Financial Institute for some years, and after completing a large project, “decided to take on the challenge of joining SAT.” Now, Milena says she has an opportunity to work in parallel with her father, learn from him, and grow the company’s portfolio.

I visited with Hans and Milena about how to move additive technology forward and the sustainability of inket printing, particularly with cost savings and workforce efficiency as driving factors.

Marcy LaRont: Hans, how does a process technology like modern inkjet printing become adopted into a new industry?

Hans Fritz: I often say that “new” technologies already exist in the market, just in different markets. That is why you must visit exhibitions outside of your immediate industry. Inkjet is an existing additive process that has been used in the graphic printing industry for a long time.

The printing process used with paper printing is very similar to inkjet technology for electronics at the simplest level, but a PCB is three-dimensional and does not absorb ink like paper. You need fillers, material pigments, even titanium oxide in the ink. Since it’s 3D, there are capillary, gravity, and surface tension effects. You are working with different surface finishes, and you must control the flow of the ink. Therefore, you need more intelligent hardware and a well-thought-out printing strategy.

Milena Fritz: We’re talking about inkjet because the economy is pushing for sustainable solutions, and that’s a big aspect. Cost savings is another significant factor because you can eliminate process steps. You don't need five machines; you just need one. This also speaks to workforce needs. Digitalization and automation speak to more consistent, high-quality results.

The inkjet system works by jetting ink droplets of different sizes. For example, the MicroCraft machine we rep has print heads for 13 picolitres down to less than 2 picolitres.

To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the May 2024 issue of PCB007 Magazine, click here.