Dan's Biz Bookshelf: 'Move Your Bus'
Driving Innovation: Direct Imaging vs. Conventional Exposure
It’s Only Common Sense: Selling to Today's Generation of Buyers
A Conversation with Laurent Nicolet, Schmid Group
December 7, 2014 | Barry Matties, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
During the recent HKPCA and IPC Show, held in Shenzhen, China, I had a chance to talk with Laurent Nicolet, VP - PCB Business Unit of Schmid Group . The thing that really caught my eye was the crowd gathered around a piece of automation technology that they were displaying in their booth. Automation is in very big demand here in China. The following was transcribed from an audio interview I conducted in Schmid’s booth with Laurent regarding the technology and the changes he has seen in the China market.
007: So we’re looking at some flexible automation here?
LN: Yes, these are intralogistic, so it transports the parts from point A to point B. The system is fully intelligent; it can choose the way that you want even if the way is occupied or not. The big advantage of the system is it is fully flexible. If you need to extend or change the track it is very simple and not a lot of hardware is necessary for a change. The interesting things for the electronic industry is that you can have some assembly parts on the shuttle so that during the transport of the parts we can take currents from the rail and make a check of the parts.
007: This would certainly add value to what is normally a non-value added step, moving product from step to the next. So now, it’s not just transporting it’s adding value to the manufacturing process?
LN: Yes, that is when it is helpful and a benefit of the system.
007: Is this a system you guys designed?
LN: We acquired a company in Switzerland called Montratec a few years ago and now we have transferred the production partially in Germany and also in China.
007: The automation in China, there's a big demand for that, yes?
LN: It's a big demand now, especially in the car industry and the medical industry.
007: So what do you see here in the China market?
LN: I think for the next five years automation will be a big boom. Some companies are interested to buy some small machine such as this to assemble just one process and transfer it to the next one with this kind of logistic.
007: Now is this the only automation that you have to offer or do you have other products?
LN: No we call this intralogistic, just the logistic of the parts on a production, and we have a department in Germany where we make the full automation integration, where we can work on the parts directly and continue the process. We were originally using it more for photovoltaic before but now we have extended it to another type of industry.
Page 1 of 2
Share on:
Suggested Items
Results of the AT&S Annual General Meeting: Andy Mattes appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board
07/04/2025 | AT&SAndy Mattes was newly elected to the Supervisory Board of AT&S Austria Technologie und Systemtechnik Aktiengesellschaft and is appointed until the 36th Annual General Meeting 2030. Georg Hansis was re-elected.
Murray Percival Company Welcomes CeTaQ to Its Line Card, Optimizing SMT Processes for PCB Manufacturers
07/03/2025 | Murray Percival CompanyThe Murray Percival Company, a trusted supplier to the Midwest's electronics industry, is pleased to announce that it has added CeTaQ to its line card, a global expert in Surface Mount Technology (SMT) measurement systems.
Why I Finally Embraced Autorouting
07/03/2025 | Stephen V. Chavez, Siemens EDAHere is a common misconception held by those who don’t fully understand the PCB layout process or how to wield today’s high-level EDA tools: "All I need to do is push the autorouter button, let the computer route all the signal traces, and get the layout 100% routed. It’s a no-brainer. Anyone can do it. It should take less than a few hours.”
China Plus One, Part 3: Inorsen Group, a Vietnam Success Story
07/03/2025 | Manfred Huschka, Manfred Huschka Management Consulting (Shenzhen) Ltd.In recent years, Western OEMs have continued to push for China Plus One factories and the advancement of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). At present, there are two main modes for PCB companies to go global: building greenfield factories or through mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Thailand is currently the primary geographic choice to build greenfield factories, whereas, increasingly, mergers and acquisitions in Vietnam and Malaysia provide opportunities for companies to expand markets and acquire resources.
Symposium Review: Qnity, DuPont, and Insulectro Forge Ahead with Advanced Materials
07/02/2025 | Barb Hockaday, I-Connect007In a dynamic and informative Innovation Symposium hosted live and on Zoom on June 25, 2025, representatives from Qnity (formerly DuPont Electronics), DuPont, and Insulectro discussed the evolving landscape of flexible circuit materials. From strategic corporate changes to cutting-edge polymer films, the session offered deep insight into design challenges, reliability, and next-gen solutions shaping the electronics industry.