Green is winning

It is becoming increasingly more difficult to obtain licenses to operate chemical plants. The water utilization conditions and the regulations relating to the prevention of air and soil pollution are becoming increasingly stricter. However, legal regulations are not the only factor driving “green” into electronics production.

A large number of companies themselves now realize that cost-effective action, coupled with environmental protection and social responsibility, creates worthwhile prospects. Anyone using this as a basis to develop production solutions for the next technology generations can count on a clear cost advantage in every respect.
Atotech, a manufacturer of chemical processes for galvanic metal finishing, PCB technology, wafer technology and electronics material, has created strategic and sustainable development practices across all areas and included them as a guiding principle in all lines of business. Process safety is also increased thanks to innovative galvanotechnical production systems which substantially reduce the consumption of raw materials, water and energy.

Here are two examples of this: In our “UNIPLATE” system concept, we developed a unique horizontal galvano system. Compared with current vertical production systems, the drag-out of process solutions has therefore been reduced from around 200 ml to 110 ml per square meter. With a total annual capacity of approximately 50 million square meters of through-contacted PCBs, this reduction of around 45 percent results in much lower chemical consumption and far less waste water. This also naturally leads to high cost savings in the process. Another project involves our new superfilling process: This reduces the deposition of copper on the surface of the PCB by a considerable amount, i.e. 50 percent. Compared with the conventional process, up to 75 percent of the current process steps can also be saved with the corresponding costs when filling through-holes.
Focusing on these more environmentally-friendly technologies had led to new impressive solutions. They will improve the quality of life of future generations by counteracting the increasing demand for energy and excess consumption of water, chemicals and other materials.

Any company following this path will discover that it also has a better position on the international market. This sustainable development will become increasingly more important for securing the future of the world: 6 billion people now live on our planet – this figure could rise to 10 billion by the year 2050 – and they all need food, accommodation, energy and solutions for their mobility. Through its awareness of these critical requirements, Atotech encourages all its customers and business associates to use more environmentally-friendly technologies and innovative solutions. That’s because this sustainable development will have to be established to secure the economic success of these companies throughout the world.

Dr. Gerd Linka is Manager Sustainable Development at ATOTECH Deutschland GmbH. Contact address: Gerd.Linka@atotech.com


Atotech Deutschland GmbH
The company is a member of the Total Group, the world’s fourth largest mineral oil enterprise. The company’s services include the manufacture and sale of systems and chemical processes for galvanic metal finishing, PCB technology, wafer technology and electronics material. Atotech has committed itself to developing new processes to reduce its own water and energy consumption, cutting back on harmful emissions and limiting the amount of waste. For more information, please visit:www.atotech.com/en/corporate/sustainable-development

Green Manufacturing
Greater attention is being paid in the electronics industry to the trend technology of green manufacturing. This will also be the case at productronica 2009: Environmental policy regulations are becoming increasingly stricter while the demands for sustainable handling of resources are becoming louder. Production managers all over the world must comply with strict environmental protection regulations. However, a large number of companies have already realized that environmental corporate management increases efficiency, promotes innovative thinking and improves competitiveness.

On the sunny side

The use of lasers as a tool has developed into a key technology in the photovoltaics industry. Conventional manufacturing processes are increasingly being replaced by new production methods based on laser technologies. For the coming years, we at TRUMPF envisage a three-digit growth rate in laser technology used in the production of photovoltaic equipment.

In the same way as manufacturers of solar technology, we are also convinced by the worldwide assertive potential of photovoltaics. Correspondingly, our range of products is broad and comprehensive, thus allowing us to support ongoing endeavours aimed at producing solar cells and modules more cost-effectively and with greater efficiency for the expanding mass market.

Lasers are used to produce microfine conductors, wafer-thin layers and precision holes. High and medium frequency generators with precisely reproducible operating characteristics are designed and manufactured by our subsidiary Hüttinger in Freiburg to use plasma technology to efficiently coat large surfaces of thin-layer solar cells. After coating, a laser is used to precisely structure the surface, contactless and with short processing times. In edge stripping processes, fibre optics guided lasers with high average power output achieve maximum material removal rates of up to 50 square centimetres per second. These values enable the efficient use of lasers even for large surfaces and short cycle times. In the field of crystalline solar cells we are actively working on increasing achievable efficiency by 20 percent through the use of lasers. For example, thanks to its outstanding focussing properties, laser light can apply line widths of only a few micrometres on to the solar cell. In this way, the effective area of the solar cell is influenced only minimally while maximising electric current utilisation.

With our systems we support the development of new production processes. The laser tool operates fast, precisely, contactless, as well as energy and cost efficient, thus making a decisive contribution to lowering production costs. Consequently, in recent years our commitment and product range have undergone considerable growth in terms of the photovoltaics industry. An important aim for the future will be to develop customised solutions in cooperation with science and users in order to spur on this innovative technology. Ultimately, the more companies committed to solar energy and its associated future-oriented technology of photovoltaics, the more effectively its potential can be developed.

Dr. Kurt Mann is the manager of international marketing of laser beam sources at TRUMPF Laser. He studied physics, focussing on laser physics with Prof. Weber at the University of Kaiserslautern. Following his doctorate on the subject of solid-state lasers, he became a project manager at FLI, Berlin. In 1990 he joined Haas Laser, Schramberg, today’s TRUMPF Laser, as product manager. He played a decisive role in the introduction of multikilowatt solid-state lasers to industry. Today, he manages the international marketing of laser beam sources at TRUMPF. Dr. Kurt Mann is a member of the productronica technical committee. Contact:Kurt.Mann@de.trumpf.com


Photovoltaics
The business of converting light into electrical current is thriving. According to renowned market research institutes, the German solar power industry is set to continue to grow in the coming years and develop into a significant branch of industry. Growth can also be expected on an international scale. This development is accelerated by the fact that “grid parity“ – the time when electrical current from a photovoltaic system can be offered at the same price as conventional electricity – is fast approaching. Recent research successes that have continuously increased the efficiency of photovoltaic systems have played a decisive role in this development.


TRUMPF
TRUMPF is the global market and technology leader in the area of industrial lasers and laser systems. TRUMPF laser technology includes CO2 lasers, solid-state lasers, marking lasers as well as laser systems. Whether cutting, welding, marking or surface processing – the broad spectrum of lasers, laser systems and associated services offers precision solutions. 
The subsidiary HÜTTINGER Elektronik manufactures power supply systems for plasma, induction heating and laser excitation applications. The affiliated company is part of the TRUMPF Laser Technology and Electronics Division which, with 1,805 employees, achieved a turnover of 551.7 million euros in the business year 2007/08. The total turnover of the TRUMPF Group was 2.1 billion euros. TRUMPF’s customers primarily stem from the automotive and automotive supplier industry, electronics and precision mechanics, mechanical engineering, tool and mould making as well as medical technology. For more information please go to www.trumpf.com  

There is still a lot to be done
                                 
Today, the highest level of automation integration can be found in the semiconductor industry. What for a long time has been standard in this industry is now extending to ever more areas of electronic component production. The aim is to make production processes leaner, save costs and at the same time increase unit quantities with efficient automation solutions. The fact that we at the ASYS Group continuously observe the developments and trends in this sector makes us an authoritative partner.

Our customers define specific requirements that the introduction of automation solutions has to meet. The predominant need is to achieve consistent quality and quantity independent of specific production periods. This is followed by the automation of production processes that could pose a health risk for members of staff working on filling systems for chemical substances for instance. Over and above these considerations is the general realisation that the implementation of automation solutions always leads directly or indirectly to an increase in efficiency while at the same time assuring consistent quality. In this context we can still see great potentials in Germany and recognise several overriding trends.

One of these trends is the growing need for automation in the manufacture of high-value products such as in the medical technology sector or aerospace industry. This development is driven by the fact that these products must satisfy high quality requirements and be extremely reliable. For this reason, process control and quality assurance play a significant role in production automation. As high-value products are normally produced in small quantities, high flexibility in automation and short production changeover times are of fundamental importance.
 
By contrast, the situation regarding the trend towards automation in the production of low-value products is significantly different. Here, the margins are often very low while unit quantities are high. In most cases this means repairing defective products is not a feasible prospect. Correspondingly, with the ‘Basic’ product line, the ASYS Group has developed cost-efficient automation solutions. With a total of 15 modules, all automation tasks ranging from transport through loading and unloading, turning and flipping to labelling are realised most cost-effectively.
 
We use the term low-value/low-volume products wherever low-value products are produced in small quantities and the demand for automation is currently still considerably low. Nowadays, such products can scarcely be produced efficiently and cost-effectively in Germany. In low-wage countries, for example, instead of using automatic process control, products are often checked manually by cheap labour. This often results in large fluctuations in quality, often leaving the end user to carry out the final inspection.

And while on the subject of costs: they are key to the way our customers assess our solutions. More and more often total-cost-of-ownership considerations in terms of an automated production line are based on the entire effective service life. These considerations take into account such aspects as availability, throughput, energy consumption and workforce requirements. The overall assessment of automation solutions incorporates to an ever increasing extent the RAM appraisal (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability).

Summing up: In future, the level of automation integration in the production of electronic components will increase on a global scale – creating new challenges and opportunities for the entire sector.

Dr. Lars Wende is Global Sales Manager at ASYS Automatisierungssysteme GmbH. Contact: Lars.Wende@asys.de


Automation technology
Innovative automation solutions make it possible to optimise procedures and processes beyond those of classic production systems. Many suppliers are developing technical approaches for these applications that promise increased efficiency and higher product quality. As the saying goes to err is human, yet automated, machine-controlled processes make a considerable contribution to reducing the fault quotas. This poses the question whether we have already reached the end of this development or are there alternatives to satisfy the demands for higher efficiency?

ASYS
The ASYS company group is a leading manufacturer of handling systems, process installations and automation solutions for the electronic and solar industry. ASYS develops, manufactures and markets high quality and technically innovative products for achieving efficient automation. More information can be found at:www.asys.de.

The two faces of EMS

In our capacity as a manufacturer of customer-specific applications for electronic module production, we keep a close watch on international markets. When we analyze our customer relations, there is still a very pronounced trend among manufacturers to transfer their production to EMS. However, there are already some companies which are moving away from outsourcing.

This is demonstrated by a sober look at world market shares. From 2000 up to the present day, consumption of all worldwide produced semiconductors has risen in Asia by more than 30% to the current figure of 53%. Purchases of semiconductors in Europe dropped from 22% to 13%. The situation is identical in North America and Japan: the USA is now only producing half as many components as in 2000 while the quota in Japan has fallen from 23% to 17%. Around 20% of all worldwide manufactured electronics products are now produced by other companies – and the trend is still upward.

That’s because the cost pressure on manufacturers as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) is increasing in all markets and the margins are becoming increasingly smaller. Outsourcing is therefore still regarded as a tried and tested strategy for expansion through market shares. Buyers at third-party producers are also feeling the pressure on costs. Only they are currently still so liquid that they can compensate for this with increasingly faster production systems. Here is an example of this: we recently supplied reflow soldering systems to Asia that solder up to 40 kilograms of solder paste at a speed of up to two meters per minute in an 8-hour production shift.

However, some OEMs are already falling back on their own strengths. Nokia, for example, is returning outsourced capacities to its own plants. The objectives are to increase the capacity utilization of these plants again and achieve a higher contribution margin. One of the reasons for this downward trend is more precise calculation of the actual costs involved in outsourcing production. A company that analyzes pure unit costs and also includes the frequently hidden subsequent costs in a general calculation will discover that outsourcing is not actually as cheap as was previously thought.

Some companies were actually too naive in this respect in the past. Based on our observations, an increasing number of OEMS are therefore starting to realize that if they reinvest more in their own production plants, they can themselves become better, stronger and faster again – instead of leaving this to third-party producers.

Marc Dalderup is Chief Customer Officer (CCO) at Rehm Thermal Systems GmbH in Blaubeuren-Seissen. Contact: m.dalderup@rehm-group.com

EMS
Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) and their suppliers now cover the entire production chain in electronic manufacturing. These “suppliers of manufacturing services” for electronic components operate factories in China and other Asian countries where they produce all kinds of electronic products for renowned European, American and Japanese manufacturers. This extensive form of outsourcing is increasing because original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) want to use it to reduce costs enormously and concentrate more on the development of new products, marketing and sales rather than carry out manufacturing activities themselves. The American market research company iSuppli is predicting an EMS world market volume of more than 20% of all manufactured electronic products in 2009.

Rehm Thermal Systems GmbH
The company has made a name for itself in the area of soldering systems and thermal system solutions for the electronics and solar industries. It supplies innovative systems and software as custom tailored solutions for a great variety of applications in modern electronics and solar manufacturing. Standards have been set all over the world with the development of protective gas reflow soldering systems and the design of customer-specific applications for cost-effective electronic module manufacturing. Founded in 1990, Rehm is now one of the leading suppliers of manufacturing technologies for the electronics and solar industries.

Effective testing despite cost pressure

Mobile phones have become multi-technology miracles. As a result, however, the test requirements and cost pressure in production are immense. Lean processes and creative solutions are needed to boost efficiency. Preferably during the development phase.

The extent of testing required during production increases for mobile phone manufacturers with each additional mobile technology and each additional frequency band. In view of cost pressure, however, testing times during production have to be significantly reduced. One promising way out of this dilemma is for chip set suppliers, mobile phone manufacturers and test and measurement specialists to work together as early as possible. Because cost-optimized test modes reveal their optimal effect if they are taken into consideration during product development.

One initial approach, for example, would be to carry out all test steps – regardless of whether this involves calibrating the individual components or verifying the entire device – in what is called non-signaling mode. The speed of this has been specially optimized for production. If test sequences are additionally used instead of carrying the necessary measurements out individually, throughput can again be considerably speeded up. This leads to significant economic advantages, but only if these approaches are already implemented in the mobile handsets' chip sets.

The chip set manufacturers would be well advised to make additional resources available for this. Particularly in the case of high-quality multi-technology mobile phones or when launching new products and new technologies such as 3GPP LTE, each manufacturer attaches great importance to risk avoidance. Production tests which correspond as closely as possible to real operation in the future network are required for this. Such signaling concepts simulate real network operation in real time. Investing in high-performance test equipment pays dividends here. Particularly if the same measuring devices are used in all of a product's development phases. Continuously consistent and comparable results can only be attained in this manner.

For mobile phone production, this means that the measurement technology must support both signaling and non-signaling concepts. Our Radio Communications Tester R&S CMW500 is designed for this, for example. It covers the entire bandwidth of radio technologies from GSM to WLAN and can be used to test mobile phones under real network conditions in signaling mode. At the same time, it guarantees that production lines can switch to less expensive non-signaling tests at the desired point in time without problems.

These and other solutions enable testing times and costs in mobile phone production to be dramatically reduced. Provided that all participants work hand-in-hand at an early stage in the future.

Anton Meßmer is director of the mobile radio testers subdivision at Rohde & Schwarz.
Contact: anton.messmer@rohde-schwarz.com


Efficiency-enhancing solutions in production
Efficient, cost-saving electronics production is more important than ever before. This necessitates a holistic analysis of how development, material and production are connected. The value creation-oriented structure of the supply chain can help in this regard. As can a critical analysis of all production costs. Product development has to be integrated at an early stage to achieve this. This opens up the opportunity of achieving greater potential savings. And leads to creative solutions. 

Rohde & Schwarz
Rohde & Schwarz is an independent group of companies specializing in electronics. It is a leading supplier of solutions in the fields of test and measurement, broadcasting, radiomonitoring and radiolocation, as well as secure communications. Established 75 years ago, Rohde & Schwarz has a global presence and a dedicated service network in over 70 countries. It has approx. 7500 employees and achieved a net revenue of € 1.4 billion (US$ 1.9 billion) in fiscal year 2007/2008 (July 2007 to June 2008). Company headquarters are in Munich, Germany.
More information can be found at: www.rohde-schwarz.de