Emerging Themes: Day 2 Coverage of productronica 2019

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Day two at productronica, and the themes emerge: 5G, high-speed, low-loss, and new formulations. These were the catchphrases of the materials suppliers. It is clear from all the conversations that designers and board specifiers need to learn all they can about the new materials emerging on the market.

The equipment makers are engaging in that same conversation with new capital equipment that either provides additional capabilities to support these new materials, or data collection and reporting via the Industry 4.0 protocols, or both. Wet process equipment continues to move toward the realization of the digital factory and the “lot size of one," with systems that adjust the parameters as needed, automatically.

CAM providers are chipping away at the work process walls that have traditionally existed between design and CAM, as well as knocking holes in the hand-off to fabrication to assembly. New software features and applications are aimed squarely at taking the drudgery out of the operation, finally letting the computers do what they do well.

Chemistry providers had news to share, as well. Atotech announced the addition-through-acquisition of the Via King graphite-based product to the portfolio. And not to be left out at all, solder mask and conformal coatings suppliers talked about environmental extreme protection, application accuracy, and efficiency.

It becomes very clear, after day two that the digitalization of the electronics manufacturing factory is the most effective path to increased profitability.

Enjoy the photos from Wednesday’s productronica show floor. We’ll continue to bring you quick coverage throughout the rest of the week from Messe München and the productronica exposition.