While attendance rose modestly this year, Productronica has ceased to be a must-attend event for Europe’s shrinking PCB base. But new innovations on the show floor revealed that Munich is still a good place to see the next-generation of PCB equipment and materials.

On the last day of Productronica, Munich received its first snow of the year. But while the snow will melt next spring, Europe’s PCB industry will probably remain frozen: a victim of its own high labor and tax rates--not to mention Asia’s meteoric rise. The cavernous halls that once housed PCB exhibitors from all over the world hoping to sell into the European market were relatively quiet. Some exhibitors did well, but the real action took place across the atrium where assembly equipment vendors were swamped with people. “That was how it used to be on the PCB side,” lamented one industry veteran.

About 44,000 people came to Productronica.

But there were also some encouraging signs. Approximately 44,000 people came to Productronica during the show’s four days, up slightly from two years ago. The show also continues to attract a more international crowd: 42% of the visitors came from outside Germany (up from 38% in 2003). But perhaps Productronica’s biggest highlight was the number of new innovations revealed in Munich: improvements in process material and equipment could be found at many booths, with even a few “revolutionary” products on display. One attendee, Pete Starkey, who has been to all but one of these events, said the show has evolved in the past few years. “The West is no longer a volume region,” he said. “People here are buying technology and service--not capacity.” To that end, CircuiTree examined the technology on display, and created a brief (but by no means comprehensive) report of what exhibitors offered in Munich.

Technology Parade

The MetalJet 6000 digital printing system.

One of the most interesting items we saw during the show’s first day was a digital printing system dubbed MetalJet 6000. A collaborative effort between Preco Industries, Xennia Technology, and Conductive Inkjet Technologies (CIT), the machine uses a UV curable conductive ink to direct write metals, such as solid copper, on to non-porous flexible substrates, including PET, PEN, polyamide and other electronics-grade materials. Preco’s vice president Chris Walker, visibly excited about the machine’s flexibility, said it’s geared toward high-speed production of UHF antennas, flexible circuitry, displays, and a variety of other applications.

Making the machine unique is the fact that the inkjet print engine separates the printing process from metallization. Perhaps the machine’s most startling feature is what isn’t there: After the roll-to-roll substrate passes through the curing station, the MetalJet 6000’s web accumulator performs electroless metal deposition without the need for large chemical baths. This allows for a very small footprint compared to traditional plating lines because of the serpentine way the substrate scrolls through the baths.

With its huge booth, Mania Technologie was clearly trying to make a statement: “We’re back.” And thanks to a huge infusion of cash by global investment firm Investcorp., the company can now concentrate on introducing new equipment. Mania’s vice president of sales and marketing, Stuart Hayton, said they sold nine pieces of equipment at the show. The company also launched five new products in Munich, plus two major enhancements to their existing range. New versions of the company’s Argos and Titan AOI’s were shown for the first time. Machines with the new HR8 option are able to inspect down to 1.5-mil.

Mania’s imaging range was significantly enhanced with the launch of the new calibr8tor high-end laser plotter. The calibr8tor benefits from new optics, new electronics and new RIP to offer among highest throughput and accuracy available in the industry today.

In electrical test, Mania launched a completely new test suite of four machines. The valid8 is a new high-end grid tester. The new super speed (10,000 test points per second) modular electronics allows Quad density testing up 19.2" x 16.0", and has options for both buried resistor and low continuity testing. The valid8 is available as a manual and a fully automatic machine.

The loc8 is a new mid-level probe tester capable of test speeds of up to 3,000 test points per minute (tpm). The accur8 is a high-end prober with a completely re-designed motion system and measurement hardware giving unparalleled test speeds (5,000 tpm) and accuracy.

Finally, it showed acceler8, which it called “a new paradigm in probe testing.” Using capacitance testing techniques, the acceler8 scans circuits at a constant speed, independent of density and size, offering users a 10x throughput improvement over traditional probe testers.

Another piece of equipment at the show illustrated how the lines between PWB fabrication and packaging continue to blur. Traditionally an equipment maker focused on bareboard test and inspection, Lloyd Doyle showed that it has branched out into packaging with an innovative prototype for micro solder bump inspection. Dubbed the “Interferometric Bump Inspection System” (IBIS), it inspects coined and non-coined solder bumps on chip carrier die attach regions. It can scan 3,000 devices per hour and report on solder bump height, volume, circularity and co-planarity. It can also find missing or additional bumps and debris.

“This system represents a breakthrough in inspecting and measuring bump parameters accurately at high speed,” said Roy Lloyd, CEO. “It will enable manufacturers to have 100% inspection of solder bumps on chip carriers rather than only being able to measure these under laboratory conditions. The bumps on the flip chips are about 80 to 100 microns in diameter and 30 to 35 microns high. The challenge is to measure the height of all 5,000 bumps to an accuracy better than one micron in two seconds. We’ve done that with this system.”

More Innovation

German football star Sepp Maier and the Mania team.

First EIE SA exhibited a new line of photoplotters: the +SST series. With its unique 512-beam single SDH head, the RP200 can create homogenous and clean spots (as small as 6 micron). The machines are also fast: The RP300 model is capable of plotting up to four times as fast as its predecessors, maintaining a maximum drum rotation speed of 110 rpm. In addition, it features a small footprint (914 x 660 mm). Finally, the RP500 model can produce 12 micron lines at 16,000 dpi, and eight micron lines at 25,000 dpi.

atg showed its flying probe test system: the A6. With sixteen test probes (eight on the top, eight on the bottom), the machine can test boards up to 10mm thick with probe accuracy of +/-0.4 mil. Two cameras scan both the top and bottom of each board, allowing for a throughput of up to 9,000 tests each minute on multilayer boards

Automa-Tech debuted its new Evolution 3 Exposure unit with Full Random Partition System (FRPS™). The Evolution 3 full automatic exposure system is Automa-Tech’s high end system able to expose inner, outer or solder mask panels. The Evolution 3 was equipped and demonstrated with the FRPS™ which the company claims is the answer to the high density chip packages such as BGAs. The FRPS™ divides a given panel area into multiple sub-exposures areas, aligning and exposing each sub-section individually with 2 or 4 targets (fiducials). The panel area is not divided in 2-3-4-5-6 fixed sections, but in any random number of sections.

New System's Newprint UV etchresist printer.

When it comes to direct imaging, digital inkjet legend printing has continued to make headway, and now shows some real potential to cut into the market share traditionally reserved for photolithography and screen-printing techniques. New System (Gorizia, Italy) exhibited, among other equipment, its Newprint line of UV curable ink jet printing machines, including legend printers, soldermask printers, and etch resist printers. Improving on its own process, the company exhibited the new generation of its digital ink jet primary track imaging machine and digital inkjet soldermask printer, which allows PCB makers to image faster and for less money than traditional techniques by eliminating the need for phototools, screens and dry film resist. Rosanna Pascolo, New System’s sales and marketing manager, said the company has installed almost 80 machines worldwide.

Schmid's new inkjet printer: the DirectMask DoD 8000.

Also pushing into the ink jet printing market, Schmid showed off its DirectMask DoD 8000 machine. Eliminating the need for screens, phototools or image development, the machine is equipped with a modular multi-printhead fixture capable of holding various piezo-electric printheads for their respective applications. According to Dr. Jan Schonefeld, the company’s expert on ink jet printing, “The machine is capable of creating etching resists and soldermasks with conductor widths and spacing down to 80um (with 1000 dpi).” Its throughput it also good; it takes approximately 30 seconds to process each side at 1000 dpi.

Arlon exhibited its 38N prepreg, a polyimide low-flow prepreg suitable for bonding multilayer polyimide rigid-flex, attaching heat sinks to polyimide multilayer boards or other applications where minimal and uniform resin flow is required. The RoHS-compliant prepreg can withstand temperatures greater than 200^oC temperatures, but it’s curable at temperatures as low as 177^oC.

Teknek revealed its new CM8 high performance clean machine. Like other contact cleaning machines, the CM8 uses elastomer rollers that lift contamination from the surface of the substrate, transferring it to an adhesive roll. This new generation, however, is twice as fast as previous machines thanks to its direct motor drive, which eliminates the need for drive belts or chains. It also incorporates slide mechanisms in the rollers, allowing access to the adhesive rolls without stopping the process. In addition, it features a multi-lingual operator interface, including Mandarin and Cantonese dialects. According to Teknek’s David Westwood, who demonstrated the machine’s abilities, the company is aggressively pushing into Asia, with sales offices in both China and Japan.

HMS exhibited the ComPlate UTM, designed for the electrolytic copper or tin processes using reverse pulse technology. “Due to its simple … design and the utilization of the Tsunami flooding system we have ensured that the ComPlate UTM reduces maintenance costs and keeps down-times to a minimum, whilst still providing the highest possible productivity and quality…” said managing director Thomas Kosikowki.

Not to be outdone in the area of horizontal plating, Atotech exhibited its new InPulse 2 copper plating system. The company has refined the process by reducing distance between the anodes and cathodes as well as matching electrolytes. Using the InPulse 2, HDI board fabricators can also perform blind microvia filling and through-via filling; Atotech claims the machine creates uniform copper thickness on both the surface and in the hole at current densities of up to 12 A/dm².

OptoJet head.

Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials revealed its new Circuposit C3Ultra, the latest self-accelerating electroless copper process. It’s complemented by two additions to the electroplating portfolio with Copper Gleam Microfill copper viafilling process and Copper Gleam CuPulse next-generation pulse plating acid copper process.

The company also enhanced its final finish product line with Duraposit SMT 88 electroless nickel for ENIG applications, and Pallamerse SMT 2000 electroless palladium. In the imaging sector Rohm and Haas showed new developments also, notably the Lithojet UV Mask, for inkjet able phototool and the latest in Halogen Free Soldermask products with Durashield 5900HF.

JetCompany BV (JetCo) is a new company that distributes inkjet machines developed and built by a European consortium consisting of Patterning Technologies Ltd (PTL), KLG Maschinen GmbH (KLG), and Adeon Technologies BV. JetCo introduced OptoJet: a combination of inkjet and direct imaging in one machine for the application and exposure of liquid photoimageable etch resist. The unit is built with a set of four inkjet heads that print the PCB image on the substrate in photoimageable etch resist at 360 dpi, immediately followed by a matrix of LumaJet units, exposing the image with collimated UV light at 400 dpi, polimerizing only the exposed part of the liquid photoresist. Finally, a plasma unit removes unexposed liquid photoresist.

Adeon Technologies shared with us a new version of its CXInsight design software. Described by the company as a “project content management system,” it allows internal and external collaboration between project members across OEM and manufacturing sites in real time. This version allows for server-to-server connectivity between the supply chain, based upon peer-to-peer structure. It can incorporate data from Valor, Mentor Graphics, and other PCB design sources to create a comprehensive database. Jan Keijzer, the company’s managing director, explained that server-to-server connectivity “allows for multiple connections between the ‘owner’ of the data and all its external partners in a secure and controlled environment, without compromise to rights control and management.”

Burkle introduced a new lamination tool: the Quick Cycle Lamination (QCL) system. In development for the past two years, the machine can laminate a panel every 90 seconds; including the curing process, it takes about twenty minutes (compared to the conventional press lamination cycle of approximately two hours). According to Michael Van Loo, the company’s sales director, the machine will save fabricators money by its high-throughput and quality improvements, including thickness tolerances of +/- 3 percent. In addition, CCL processing is also possible.

German fabricator Schweizer, which helped Burkle test the machine using standard “off the shelf” material, is taking delivery of it after the show. The victim of a fire last June, Schweizer has a lot of money to spend replacing its destroyed equipment. According to one source, its insurance policy is paying the company 60 million euro for new equipment alone.

News and Notes

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Coates Circuit Products, a Division of SunChemical, is best known in our industry as a supplier of surface coatings, making a range of liquid photoimageable products like etch resists, soldermasks, flexible coverlays and legend inks. Coates also made the first commercial UV-cured inks and the first UV-setting inks for printed circuit applications. With demand for LPISM diminishing, the company is exploring the RFID market. Specifically, the company is supplying screen printed etch resist for print-and-etch subtractive processing, which is the preferred cost-effective manufacturing route for RFID tags. Additionally, the company has developed a range of conductive inks for plasma displays, EMI shielding and electroluminescence applications.

Meanwhile, Isola held a press conference to talk about its status approximately one year after it was bought out by a group of investors: TGP, a private equity firm (85%), Redfern Partners (10%) and company management (5%). CEO Ray Sharpe, who joined the company during the transition last year, said one of his goals is to earn a quarter of Isola’s revenue from the new products that it has produced within the last three years.

To no one’s surprise, the company’s current sales revenues are increasing in Asia (41%) but Europe (36%) and North America (23%) still make up a sizeable market. As he shifts the company’s focus to high mix, high performance materials, Sharpe said he was proud of Isola’s accomplishments in the last year: including reducing scrap rates in prepreg by 49% and laminate by 48% largely through Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing initiatives.

Sharpe said that he would like to guide the company through an IPO “within the next two years,” but admitted that it depends upon favorable market conditions. Regarding the rumors circulating about a possible merger between Isola and Polyclad, Sharpe would only say, “no comment. I don’t think it’s responsible to speculate on rumors.” But he didn’t say “no.”

The Last Call

As good as the technology offerings were at this year’s show, there’s another, more important reason so many people continue to attend Productronica: catching up with old friends over a pint of beer (or two). During one wild night at Munich’s famous Hofbrau House, about 40 people from one company (which will remain nameless) consumed 109 liters of beer in just under three hours. Two CircuiTree journalists did their best to keep up, but to no avail.

All in all, most exhibitors we polled said the show was worthwhile, and that they would be back in Munich in 2007. While Productronica attendance numbers lag behind the Asian shows, it is clearly one of the major events when introducing new equipment. As one exhibitor put it: “We will not leave Western Europe; we view it like the U.S.: an R&D center and we must be here.” CT