From April 12th to 15th, the 15th China International Electronic Production Equipment and Microelectronics Industry Exhibition (NEPCON2005) was held in Shanghai as scheduled. With the participation of 700 exhibitors from 21 countries and regions, this exhibition became China. The most influential event in electronics manufacturing.
From the perspective of exhibitors and seminars, lead-free, SMT placement machines and soldering have become the three hot spots of this exhibition. Among them, lead-free throughout the entire exhibition, from the basic solder to the lead-free upgrade of electronic equipment, all indicate that the lead-free wave is approaching, becoming the main theme of the current electronics manufacturing industry.
Welding and lead-free become the biggest highlights
In 2006, Europe will enforce the “Regulations on the Prohibition of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment”, so this year will be a very crucial year, which is evident from the reaction at the show. The soldering area and lead-free technology have become the highlights of this exhibition.
Research on lead-free processes has been carried out a few years ago, and the process has matured, so it will not have much impact on the products. Lead-free solders can basically be supported by suppliers. For manufacturers, the biggest concern is cost. In addition to the cost of the solder itself, the cost of the components, connectors, etc., which can be withstand different soldering temperatures, will increase the cost.
During the NEPCON period, Nitto Technology (Holdings) Co., Ltd. demonstrated their N2 series reflow ovens for lead-free soldering and their recently represented German Rim C2 reflow oven equipment. Liang Quan, the company's marketing director, said that the two directives on waste electrical and electronic equipment and hazardous substances proposed by the European Union provide clear standards for the healthy and stable development of the SMT industry on a global scale, allowing electronic equipment manufacturers to have development strategies. Higher requirements. At the same time, the ban has brought some pressure on Chinese electronics manufacturers to export, requiring domestic electronic equipment manufacturers to have sufficient flexibility to develop feasible development strategies according to national conditions.
It is believed that many companies such as Electronic Assembly Materials, Kester, Senju Metal (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Indium Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., and OK Company of the United States have demonstrated their lead-free materials, including solder paste, flux, and solder wire. , preforms, solder balls and flow sealants.
In addition, the lead-free requirements, in addition to the impact on reflow soldering, the patch device should also be changed accordingly. According to Wang Jiafa, general manager of Universal Instruments China, due to the different temperature and stress of the solder joints, the placement machine has higher requirements for pattern recognition and placement accuracy. In response to this demand, Universal Instruments has improved the performance of the newly introduced placement machine, and the placement accuracy has been doubled from the previous 50 micron to plus or minus 25 micrometers. In addition, image recognition technology has also been simulated. Processing is turned to digital processing to ensure better placement in lead-free processes.
At present, both consumer household appliances and high-end notebook computers and communication equipment manufacturers are actively preparing for the lead-free era. Some of these manufacturers have begun to adjust the production supply chain, such as some small-volume manufacturing, including PCB circuit board design, raw material and component supply, production process equipment testing.
The placement machine begins to focus on flexibility
In the previous NEPCON exhibitions, the placement machine is almost one of the protagonists, and this exhibition is no exception.
Information from this equipment supplier indicates that the speed or price of the placement machine is no longer the only competitive advantage. The overall manufacturing capacity and high cost have quickly become the focus of the manufacturer, including the flexibility, efficiency, resources and equipment of the production line. Factors such as utilization, assembly yield, and equipment upgradeability are key to maintaining long-term sustainability and strength.
Universal Instruments Wang Jiafa said that the flexibility of the platform is crucial for customers who need to assemble various types of circuit boards every day. The assemblers of mass production do not have to worry about the complicated assembly requirements of the circuit boards. Universal Instruments can provide the most With a good solution, we can configure the corresponding assembly line for different production needs, and flexibly handle various chip placement or precision placement requirements without affecting productivity and easily balancing the production line.
Siemens Logistics and Assembly Systems Ltd. has focused on the software optimization management system. The company's marketing director Sven Buchholz said that the system focuses on improving the efficiency of the SMT production line, while the modular design concept is flexible for users to purchase and smooth upgrade It is very convenient.
The electronics manufacturing industry chain is getting better and better
In addition to large-scale manufacturing equipment such as SMT placement machines and wave soldering machines, this year's NEPCON exhibition also launched three major sections: measurement and testing, electronic manufacturing services and component manufacturing, thus further improving the concept of the electronics manufacturing industry chain.
Valor is an Israeli company that provides computer-aided engineering system software products for PCB line. This highlights the Trilogy5000 software package, Enterprise 3000 and Trec Xpert solutions.
According to Rony Homossany, President of Wallace Technology Far East Co., Ltd., the Trilogy500 solution covers all of the PCB assembly process, integrating new product introduction, manufacturability analysis and computer-aided manufacturing into a smooth workflow; Enterprise3000 is PCB design Dedicated DFM Verification and Optimization System with 700 optimized features for physical design verification and manufacturing for PCB/MCM/HDI layout applications; Trec Xpert solution is a real-time PCB assembly control software It can monitor production in real time, improve machine performance and control inventory, and accurately track each device for overall management to optimize production processes.
Patrick E. McGoff, vice president of the company, said that Hua Lai Technology's current customers in the Asia Pacific region include Taiwan Inventec, Foxconn and Jabil Electronics. At present, the company's global sales in 2004 reached 800 million US dollars, an increase of 20%, and is expected to maintain a high growth rate of 40% this year. He also said that in order to further strengthen sales and service capabilities in China, the number of employees will double.
Asymtek is a global supplier of automated dispensing systems that designs and manufactures a full line of automated dispensing equipment for semiconductor packaging, printed circuit board assembly, optoelectronic assembly and precision industries, and is increasingly enriched by such equipment suppliers. Electronic manufacturing industry chain