Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1520956
MAY 2024 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 27 effects. To create the intended product, we are applying different printing strategies, i.e., sin- gle droplets, to avoid this effect. Also, to keep pads free of ink, you can print a dam using sin- gle droplets that you fixate with UV. The Customer Technology Journey What is your approach when working directly with your customers, assessing their needs and understanding their new product ideas to develop processes further? Hans: When I talk to both existing and new cus- tomers, I try to understand the product or the future product they want to build. It may be in PCBs, confidential printing, fuel cell manufac- turing, or all kinds of high current, high volt- age, high-frequency applications. ey explain their problem or challenge. I may have ideas as to how they can manufacture. We discuss pos- sibilities. en, we do trials and build samples. Sometimes I do this on my own to confirm my idea is sound. I show the customer the prod- uct, and honestly, they usually start by laugh- ing at me. So, I show it again and again. I give the customer more detail each time I expose them to this new idea or approach. Eventually, somebody says the idea may not be so bad aer all, and we go from there. Several years ago, Milena and I took a cus- tomer to a laboratory in Japan to do bench- mark testing. We tested different inks, materi- als, surfaces, ink thicknesses, and resolutions. We did print tests using different inks and sur- face preparations. Aer just one week in the lab, we concluded that we were seeing good results and a better yield with inkjet than with the photolithographic process. is customer was planning a big factory in China and based on this, they committed to doing digital additive. He bought the first machine in order to prove proof-of-concept. Within three months, they decided to build their whole new factory with additive digital processes. That is a great success story. At the end of the day, everybody wants to simplify and streamline, but everything has to align. How do you facilitate the process with a customer to, perhaps, develop a new technology or process? Hans: More than five years ago, I had drawings on about 15 napkins and, together with Yorio Hidehira from MicroCra we worked out how to control the physics of PCBs. He took the drawings and gave them to a small company in the U.S. that developed CAM soware. He said, "We need a raster image processor (RIP) for this." ey said, "is is a huge thing, nearly impossible to do." But they figured it out. As a result, we have this solution, which makes mass printing possible in a much better and simpler way without many of the problems previously experienced. is is long-term thinking for technology development, but we are still gaining signifi- cant advantages from the existing technology today. Modern Additive Inkjet Printing Where is modern inkjet technology as it relates to PCB fabrication? Hans: e technology is a working technology. It just needs to be adapted to specific applica- tions, in this case, electronics and PCBs. e material is different. It's 3D and it has all these effects which must be controlled. It looks dif- ferent than everyone has been conditioned to expect. So, you must look at your goals. Figure 2: Printhead droplets.