American Made Advocacy: While Congress Debates, America’s PCB Competitors Invest Billions
Defense Speak Interpreted: The Impact of Venture Capital-backed Defense Contractor Firms
Rehm Thermal Systems has been honored with a 2026 Mexico Technology Award for its innovative RDS UV LED curing system. The award was presented on October 7 in conjunction with SMTA Guadalajara. Luis Garcia, General Manager of Rehm Mexico, accepted the award from Ron Friedman of EMS Mexico.
The Mexico Technology Awards recognize innovations that advance electronics manufacturing. The RDS UV LED was recognized for its innovative approach to curing conformal coatings, adhesives and potting compounds, combining reliable process results with short cycle times and significantly lower energy consumption.
“This award is a special recognition of the development efforts of our entire team and encourages us to continue exploring new approaches to electronics manufacturing,” said Luis Garcia, General Manager of Rehm Mexico. “Our customers are facing the challenge of making their production processes more efficient while also reducing their environmental impact. That's exactly where the RDS UV LED makes a difference. It delivers reliable curing results, reduces energy consumption and integrates easily into existing production lines. Receiving this recognition here in Mexico makes it especially meaningful to us.”
Uniform UV Curing Through Stationary Exposure
What sets the RDS UV LED apart from conventional UV curing systems is its unique exposure concept. In traditional conveyor-based systems, printed circuit boards move continuously beneath a UV radiation source. With the RDS UV LED, the assembly remains stationary throughout the exposure process, allowing the entire activated area to be irradiated simultaneously for a precisely defined period.
This approach makes curing conditions easier to control and reproduce, as the exposure process is no longer affected by conveyor speed or position-dependent dwell times. For complex assemblies with components of varying heights, stationary exposure also helps reduce unwanted shadowing effects and achieve a more consistent UV dose.
The system features a 500 × 500 mm UV LED panel divided into four independently controllable segments. Depending on the PCB format, only the segments required for the active process area are switched on. Targeted exposure beyond the PCB edges further improves irradiation uniformity, achieving homogeneity levels of more than 90 percent for PCB formats up to 410 × 410 mm.
Selectable wavelengths of 365, 385, 395 and 405 nm allow the system to be adapted to different conformal coatings, adhesives and other UV-curable materials.
Lower Energy Consumption, Smaller Footprint, Higher Productivity
Process reliability was not the only priority in developing the RDS UV LED. Economic efficiency and sustainability were equally important. Typical exposure times of just a few seconds enable short production cycles and high throughput in electronics manufacturing.
One of the system's key benefits is its low energy consumption. Compared with conventional UV lamp systems, the RDS UV LED can reduce energy use by up to 70 percent. The LED modules are activated only when needed, eliminating the need to keep the radiation source running during production interruptions.
The compact design also saves valuable production space. Requiring up to 70 percent less floor space than conventional systems, the RDS UV LED is particularly well suited to manufacturing environments where efficient use of space is essential.
Additional benefits include LED module lifetimes exceeding 20,000 operating hours, low maintenance requirements and mercury-free operation. Since UV LED technology also minimizes unnecessary thermal radiation, it helps protect temperature-sensitive electronic assemblies.
Designed for Connected Electronics Manufacturing
The RDS UV LED is designed for inline integration into existing coating and electronics production lines. Communication interfaces such as SMEMA, Hermes and CFX, as well as connectivity to MES solutions, enable data exchange in connected manufacturing environments.
Rehm's ViCON operating and control software allows relevant process parameters to be configured, monitored and documented. These include exposure time, intensity, activated LED segments and temperature values. This provides greater process transparency and supports consistent quality assurance.
Receiving the Mexico Technology Award in conjunction with SMTA Guadalajara is an important recognition of Rehm Thermal Systems' ongoing development of UV LED curing technology. The RDS UV LED demonstrates how process reliability, productivity and resource efficiency can work together in modern electronics manufacturing.
