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European PCB Leaders Meet in Salzburg for EIPC Winter Conference
March 8, 2007 |Estimated reading time: 14 minutes
The EIPC Winter Conference was held at the Renaissance Hotel in Salzburg, Austria. There were three objectives - to update the industry on market changes, to provide information on European companies who had been successful in the world market, and to introduce technical updates and trends. Speakers from Japan, the USA and Europe made the conference a real international event, and poster sessions and table top exhibitions by leading suppliers also provided additional information about new technologies and products. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
On the first day, the EIPC Managing Director Frank Smulders welcomed the participants and encouraged each one to exchange business cards with people that they didn't know. This broke the ice and made the "Newcomers" feel at home.After that, Michael Weinhold, the Technical Director of the EIPC explained the technical and marketing achievements over the last year and what was planned for 2007. Here, the technology trips to China were highlighted, where managers and engineers can learn how PCBs are manufactured and sold in China and from China to the rest of the world. This 5th technology trip takes place in March 2007 and brings the participants together with leading Chinese engineers and managers at a joint conference in Shanghai on March 19th & 20th. In addition, the CPCA show visit on March 21st and several PCB fabricators are visited on March 21st to 23rd 2007. On March 24th a special day is planned where the tour participants will see parts of a Chinese culture, more than 2000 years old. Members of the IPC will qualify for a special discount at this technology tour. (For more details and registration see www.eipc.org ).
Weinhold also explained the details on a workshop on laser direct imaging that will be organised in conjunction with Orbotech at their LDI factory in Jena, Germany. Participants at this workshop will learn how LDI systems will help to add value to the PCB fabrication process and how to get ready for the next generation of PCBs. The LDI seminar will take place on May 8th and 9th 2007.
Finally Weinhold invited the participants to respond to the Call for Papers for the EIPC Summer Conference which is to be held in Edinburgh, Scotland on June 14th & 15th.
The first session was focused on "Management and Environment". The Moderator was Frank Smulders, EIPC
Walt Custer, President of Custer Consulting, USA presented the "Business Outlook: Global Electronics Industry".
Here, the participants learnt how the market has changed over the last years. Using some leading indicators that Custer has developed over the last 10 years, a good prediction of the future trends could be seen. As the PCB market is very much linked to the component and equipment market, Custer showed clear future trends for the PWB industry.
The second paper entitled: "Globalization, a chance for smaller and medium size companies?" was presented by Hans Friedrichkeit, of PCB Network, Germany. In his paper, the participants learned how three German companies working in the field of PCBs have developed leading positions in the world market. The first company was Schmid, located in Freudenstadt, Germany. Here, success was based on focus of the core technology (equipment) as well as developing and serving new markets in LCD and solar cell production around the world, which had made the company successful.
The second company is a mid-size PCB fabricator, Elekonta Marek. Here, prototype fabrication using advanced technology like LDI exposure (no photo tools) guaranteed high yields and reliable quality and delivery times. In addition, partnering with leading PCB suppliers in USA and China allowed for serving also the large quantity market like automotive in Germany.
The third company was LPKF Elektronik GmbH. A company that has specialised in laboratory-scale manufacturing equipment used to build PCBs, as well as laser technology for cutting stencils, and PCBs after assembly. A new technology had also been developed; this is a laser scalpel where copper between 30 um spaced traces can be removed without destroying the copper lines. A high level of knowledge in laser technology, as well as a close relation to the markets and the customers, are the keys to such success stories.
Jerome De Boysere, of Clariant in Germany reported in his paper "The European Directives on WEEE and RoHS their national implementation and consequences for the industry" what changes the industry will expect over the next years. As the RoHS requirements are well understood by the European fabricators, the WEEE end of life requirements are not clear at all. De Boysere explained that from the toxicity level, halogen in PWBs is still OK. However from the waste treatment, this is not OK in future. Based on the WEEE requirements, halogen free PCBs will be needed in future in equipment that is manufactured in Europe.
John Ling, of the EIPC was the moderator of the second session entitled: "Surface treatment and advanced plating technology"
Nils Arendt, Product manager at Ormecon in Germany presented in his paper "The Organic Metal for advanced Immersion Tin Technology". This new technology based on nano-particles used in the surface treatment before specific immersion tin is applied. This combination allows a better-controlled electroless tin deposition process and will guarantee a tin whisker free metal deposit for at least one year of shelf life. The organic metal technology such as a leading nano finish is just in the beginning of getting introduced in the market. It offers large potential for new surface finishes with long shelf life and excellent wetting capabilities.
Guido Perrelet, of Asetronics AG in Switzerland (a PCB company serving the automotive industry in Europe) and Norbert Schulze of Umicore Galvanotechnik GmbH in Germany (a company selling plating solutions) presented a joint paper entitled: "Palladium as a diffusion barrier - a way to the multifunctional surface". In this paper the process "How a new surface was introduced to the automotive industry" was explained. The documentation of CPK values have been shown as a MUST for the automotive industry. The new surface, with its palladium layer, provides a good solderable surface. In addition gold wire bonding was performed on the same products. As Asetronics AG is also an assembling company, the whole process was explained and the successful introduction was achieved in a period of one year.
Hiroyoshi Toujima, from the MEC R&D Centre in Amagasaki, Japan, explained features and benefits in his paper entitled the "MEC-Sophisticated Copper Surface Treatment Chemistries for Advanced PCB technologies". In the paper products like the MECCetchBOND, a hyper roughening adhesion promoter and MEKLEEN, effective surface cleaning for solder mask removal after development were explained. It is clear that with an advanced chemistry copper can be treated in such a way that specific characteristics are enhanced. This will result in a better printed circuit
Paul Sevriens, of the Dutch Reverse Pulse Plating company showed in his paper entitled: "The Easy pulse: the engineering tool for production environment" a new software and know how that improves the current efficiency and throwing power when using pulse plating processes. A plating thickness of 130% in the hole compared to the surface can be achieved. Sevriens stated that this can be achieved with most pulse plating lines and must be customised for each plating line anyway because every plating line is different. The know-how is a major part of this software and engineering tool.
After the networking lunch at the Renaissance Salzburg Hotel
Session 3: "Advanced developments in Laminate and Prepregs" was moderated by Paul Comer of Graphic Plc, UK
The first paper of the session was presented by Bernard Bismuth of CCI Eurolam, France. The title was "The role of the distributor in the supply chain for the PCB industry". Bismuth explained that most of the laminate in Europe is sold by distributors and agents. Here, distributors have a better infrastructure and are especially set-up to serve customers with small quantities. Inventories are with the distributor and not at the PCB fabricator. Furthermore, distributors are able to sell products from different manufacturers, an advantage for PCB fabricators as they are getting almost everything from one agent without being single-sourced.
Juergen Willuweit of Technolam, distributor of Nan Ya in Germany, presented the "Advantages of the vertical integration for laminates quality and PCB properties" and explained how vertical integration will improve the quality on material. Based on details and process control data, it was explained how quality control improvements have been made by owning the total supply chain from making the raw materials such as copper, glass, glass cloth, resin, prepregs and base material. As Nan Ya has all these processes in house, the quality report had a very high credibility.
Manfred Walchshofer of Panasonic Electric Works in Austria explained in his paper entitled: "Laminates: Just a substrate?" how OEM needs have to be fulfilled by using a laminate. Panasonic is a very well respected OEM, and in 1998 they have started to solder lead free parts of their consumer electronics. This early challenge, long before legally required lead was taken out of the assembly process, showed that the laminate had to be modified to meet the requirements. As a result of this work, laminate was not seen in isolation, it was always part of the PCB and had to offer reliability functions to minimise yield losses in the assemble industry. The paper showed that laminates are NOT just substrates; they are a major part of the electronics chain, and are responsible for reliability and safety, and must meet the ecological challenges of the future.
The last Session on the first day was entitled: "Imaging of conductor lines and solder mask" The moderator was Arieh Reichart of Eltek in Israel
Bert Ohlig of the OLEC Corporation in the USA reported on "Practical solutions for imaging in a rapidly changing world". Tolerance requirements are getting more demanding for HDI PCBs conductor line and solder mask images. Newly developed exposure units with special lamps and collimation systems are able to improve the temperature and light scattering in exposure machines. These allow manufacturers to meet the required tolerances that are coming through challenging new designs.
Frederic Baradel of AutomaTech in France reported on "Dramatic advantages of collimated light in solder mask exposure". He explained the facts that impact exposure and resolution when solder mask is processed. The thickness of solder mask and the increased optical density both have an impact on the sidewalls and the resolution of the solder mask. Some light scattering in the solder mask combined with some thermal energy have a positive effect on forming straight sidewalls. Baradel also showed a stepper unit inside an exposure machine that can split the panel in up to 8 sections that are exposed using special apertures to adjust the artwork to each segment separately. This slows down the productivity, but it increases the accuracy that is needed for advanced technology PCBs.
Uwe Altmann of Orbotech SA in Belgium presented the last paper of the first day. The title was: "LDI for HDI Mass Production". Based on examples from the European PCB Industry, it was explained how LDI systems are successfully used by a large number of companies in Europe. The reason why mass production with LDI makes sense is the need for highest first-pass yield on advanced designs; these are high added value PCBs. In addition, quantities are small in Europe, so that 'mass production' in fact very often consists of many small quantity orders. Altmann sees a good potential for LDI technology in Europe as no photo tools are needed and solder mask exposure is also possible, using the new LDI machines as well as the new solder mask provided by, for example, Huntsman.
In the panel discussion after the three presentations, LDI systems were regarded as expensive by the two suppliers of standards light sources, but it was made clear that only the total "value in use", which includes fix costs, variable costs as well as yield losses, will definitely demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of LDI Exposure systems when high technology and or small and medium run length jobs are involved.
That evening a guided walking tour through the old town of Salzburg was organized, visiting historical places and the house the Mozart family had lived. After that, the EIPC had arranged a Mozart Dinner Concert, where a three course dinner, based upon traditional 18th-century recipes, was served with musical interludes, performed by two opera singers and five musicians, all dressed in period costumes.
The second day of the EIPC Winter Conference started with the Session 5 on" Advanced Technology" The Moderator was Pete Starkey, President of Starkey Technical Services, UK
Joerg Sperling of Jumatech in Germany presented a paper entitled "The Wire-Written PCB - a solution for automotive electronics?" In this paper a special welding technology was explained where special wires were welded to a PCB inner or outer layer. The technology allows for high current carrying capabilities of isolated lines. The third generation of equipment for welding lines to PCBs has been developed. Presently the service is provided to several PCB fabricators who are doing development work for the automotive industry. The process has an excellent potential to specialist PCBs and to avoid heavy copper plating if only a few conductors are needed for high current application. The technology also allows the manufacture of the flexible part of a flex-to-install PCB, where up to ten times bending has been tested without any reduction in conductivity. A very interesting way for cost-reduction of PCBs that have logic and high power circuitry on one board.
Thomas Gottwald of Schweizer Electronic AG in Germany reported in his paper on "Chip Integration into Printed Circuit Boards made easy and reliable". In the first part Gottwald presented the progress that Schweizer have made after the fire in the factory. He stated that nearly all processes are running above 80% of capacity and that the factory is fully functional so that new development work can be done. The process that was explained is a proprietary process that has been developed by Schweizer. It enables the fabricator to use standard PCB processes. Modifications are needed when the manufacturing tolerances are defined. By using advanced chip sets, pitch size is so small that the tolerances of the laminate are a major hurdle in fabrication. However, the technology that was developed at Schweizer allows for reliable fabrication processes. The automotive industry in Germany is very much interested in this technology; why? Because it allows size reduction by more than 60% with a drastic increase in reliability. The test boards have been thermo cycled for more then 5000 cycles without any reduction in conductivity of cracking in the resin. It is believed that in the next 3 to 5 years this will be a core technology for the next generation of advanced automotive electronics.
Herman Reischer of Polar Instruments in the UK presented in his paper "Lossy transmission lines" an easy to understand paper on impedance, strip lines and signal speed based on the metal that is used as a conductor line. Especially in the high frequency area where the signal penetrates less than a um into the "Skin" of the conductor. It was explained that the metal used e.g. Nickel and Gold as well as the surface roughness may slow down the signal travel speed so the electronic circuit is no longer working properly.
Joachim Zimmermann, Robert Bosch GmbH, Germany was the session moderator of Session 6: The title was: "Solder Mask Technology to meet RoHS and WEEE needs"
In the first paper of the last session, Ian McDonald of Sun Chemical Circuits in the UK reported on "Requirements of Modern Technology State of the Art Solder masks". He explained the different technologies that are used to apply the solder mask to the PCB starting from screen printing (the most used technology) curtain coating, roller coating, spray coating, electro-static coating and then on to inkjet printing. Each of the technologies may have some advantages; however, the market will quickly go to the most cost-effective material that does the job. For this reason screen printing will also in the future be one of the main drivers where solder mask is used.
Manfred Suppa of Lackwerke Peters GmbH & Co KG in Germany explained the "Evaluation of photo-imageable solder resists with regards to the VOC regulation and the EuP directive". In this presentation one could learn how the European Commission defines the regulation Energy-Using Products. Life Cycle and Eco design are new regulations that are expected to be proposed in the European industry within the year. Here, the 3R principles become an important consideration: Reduce or Recycle or Reuse. Different developing chemicals have been reviewed from aqueous solutions to polyalcohol. The last one can be distilled and reuse; however, the industry is concerned that distillation units are not the preferred solution today, but this may change if the pressure from the government becomes stronger for EuP.
The last paper of the day was presented by Anders Ekman of Huntsman Advanced Materials, Sweden. The title was: "Latest developments in solder masks to meet LDI, RoHS and WEEE requirements". In the presentation the state of the art in LDI solder resists was presented. Huntsman in Basle, Germany has its own LDI system from Orbotech. As such, specific developments have been made, so that excellent functional solder resists are now available. Based on a 0.3 mm pitch BGA, the registration tolerances for solder mask have been defined. Huntsman has developed new resists that are capable to meet the challenges from a technical point of view. Ekman also reviewed the RoHS and WEEE requirements. It is clear that new solder mask products MUST meet these requirements on a global basis. Huntsman as a global supplier for solder mask is committed to meet these needs.
In the final words of the seminar, Frank Smulders thanked the participants, the speakers and the moderators for their efforts in making the conference a success. With an excellent "Networking Lunch" the EIPC Winter Conference 2007 was concluded.