66 FLEX007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2018
Flex Talk: E-Textiles—The Wild Frontier E
Tara Dunn recently sat down with Connie
Huffa, textile engineer and principal of Fab-
designs. Her current work is focused on pho-
tovoltaic, conductive and smart fabrications.
Connie shared some thought-provoking e-tex-
tile applications and her experience in this
developing market.
EIPC 50
th
Anniversary Conference Day 2:
The Past, the Present and the Future, Pt. 1 E
Speaker Micha Perlman of Orbotech predicted
that automotive electronics would place new
demands on the PCB industry: HDI was pre-
dicted to grow from zero to over 15% of the
total HDI market by 2020, high-power systems
would require heavy copper, and flex and flex-
rigid harnesses would replace conventional
wiring.
Flexible Substrates Market Worth
$775.8 Million by 2023 E
The flexible substrates market is projected to
grow from $402.9 million in 2018 to $775.8
million by 2023, at a CAGR of 14% from 2018
to 2023. The growth of the flexible substrates
market can be attributed to the rising demand
for flexible displays from the electronics
industry.
Flex Time: Why is Rigid-Flex
So Expensive? E
One question that I hear fairly often, particu-
larly after an initial quotation, is "Why is rigid-
flex so expensive?" In this article, I'll share
with you the cost drivers in rigid-flex relative
to standard rigid boards and flex circuits with
stiffeners. A typical rigid-flex PWB will cost
about seven times the cost of the same design
on a hard board. Why?
All Flex Introduces Thermal Controller E
The AFTC-5000 utilizes a single-button inter-
face providing both OEMs and end-users with
the ability to easily adjust the thermal settings.
The controller provides six temperature setting
increments that are pre-programmed by All
Flex per the customer's specific requirements.
Atotech Introduces Cupracid Flex
and InPro Flex E
Atotech has developed two new acid copper
processes—InPro Flex and Cupracid Flex—to
serve the flexible printed circuit board mar-
ket and support its customers to overcome the
current technical barriers in FPCB manufactur-
ing. The two simple additive processes can be
analyzed by standard CVS methods.
RMAs: Negative Experience or
Valuable Opportunity? E
In the flexible circuit industry (and any other
industry, for that matter), there are times when
all the material delivered to the customer fails
to meet the specifications. Non-conforming
material that is sent back by
the customer can
easily be interpreted as a negative experience.
However, if it is perceived as an opportunity to
learn and support the customer it becomes a
much more pleasant and satisfying endeavor.
Printed Circuits Upgrades Photo
Department E
"We purchased a 16-watt laser direct imager a
few years back and needed to add capacity, par-
ticularly for inner and outer layer photoimag-
ing," said Matt Tannehill, executive vice presi-
dent at Printed Circuits. "The new LDI uses LSO,
or lar
ge scan optics, for very high throughput
with excellent quality at the same time, which
is critical for our customers' success."
