Laser Pointers

May 18, 2017

Laser Pointers: Stepping Up to Laser Processing for Flex, Part 6 — Proper Care and Feeding of Your Equipment

Supplementing your production capabilities with flexible circuit laser processing can pay big dividends. It not only enables you to broaden the set of services you can offer your customers, but it also extends your reach into additional markets you might not otherwise be equipped to serve.

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April 20, 2017

Laser Pointers: Stepping Up to Laser Processing for Flex, Part 5—Process Development

In Part 5 of this six-part series on effectively supplementing your flex production capabilities with laser processing, we’ll discuss how to develop a process library and learn several best practices, tips and tricks for typical flexible circuit laser processes.

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December 14, 2016

Laser Pointers: Stepping Up to Laser Processing for Flex, Part 4—Installation, Training and Initial Operation

Supplementing your production capabilities with flexible circuit laser processing can pay big dividends. It not only enables you to broaden the set of services you can offer your customers, but it also extends your reach into additional markets you might not otherwise be well-equipped to serve.

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September 08, 2016

Laser Processing and Telecentricity

Since Mike Jennings and Patrick Riechel often receive questions on topics that are relevant to a broader audience, they’ve decided to start using this column to share those questions and answers with their readers. They’ll periodically devote this column to address questions that are especially timely or topical, or address a topic that affects a wider range of readers.

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May 04, 2016

Stepping up to Laser Processing for Flex, Part 3: Readiness and Site Preparation

With so many processes to keep track of in a flex manufacturing line, it can be easy to get lost in the details and begin to rely on your suppliers to address any issues that might crop up. However, given that laser processing equipment and flex materials are both impacted by your facilities, your attention to and investment in clean, stable, and robust facilities and support equipment will quickly pay off in less downtime, higher yield, and—perhaps most importantly—fewer headaches!

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June 09, 2016

Automate to Innovate in Flex Processing

The growing market demand for mobile devices, wearables and Internet of Things (IoT) devices continues to create new challenges for suppliers and manufacturers in the electronics value chain. Along with this market demand comes a challenging set of market requirements for the underlying circuits and components that drive such devices.

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April 14, 2016

Stepping Up to Laser Processing for Flex, Part 2: Calculating and Optimizing Production

In Part 1 of this series, we discussed the advantages of adding flex laser processing to gain a competitive advantage. In Part 2 we will build on that discussion, looking at the ways you can optimize your flexible circuit laser processing to get the efficiencies that drive lower cost of ownership.

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October 08, 2015

Stepping Up To Laser Processing for Flex, Part 1: Opportunities and Implications

Market demand for smaller, faster, wearable, lighter and more powerful devices continues to keep PCB manufacturers scrambling to keep up as they evolve and adapt their manufacturing capabilities to meet changing customer needs.

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July 26, 2015

Keeping on Top of Laser Safety

With consumer electronics continuing to get thinner and packed with more functionality, laser processing systems have become a permanent part of the manufacturing landscape. Lasers are used to produce ever-smaller microvias in increasingly delicate flexible and rigid-flex circuits.

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