Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1527952
56 PCB007 MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2024 oping new technology for the PCB industry. We decided to put all that talent and time to good use. At the time, we had 250 installations across 23 countries. Known as the leader for pinless alignment bonding systems primarily for mul- tilayer rigid PCBs, we had not changed our system significantly over the past 10 years. So, we went back to our customer base and said, "Tell us what you like and don't like about the current system, what improvements you want to see, and what features you want added." We went back to the drawing board and updated all our equipment with new technologies: soware, con- trollers, drivers, vision systems, electri- cal, and mechanical systems. We went through everything and brought the new systems to life. I am happy to say that it has been a tremendous success. Since that COVID period, start- ing in 2021, we've sold 50 units globally and don't see that trend slowing down. We improved and advanced the technology, providing a lot of automation, which sig- nificantly minimized the opera- tors' handling and touching of the machine. Everything is run from a digital touch screen on the com- puter and is very user-friendly. Let's chat about a few specific DIS offerings that are newer, like soft- ware, SAM (shop assistant machine robot), and going beyond rigid PCBs. e first thing we'd like people to know is that we have expanded beyond multilayer rigid printed circuit boards into the flex and rigid-flex builds. Of course, we still have traditional post-etch punches and continue to help those customers who are not yet ready to leap into pinless or pin- welding technologies, which is an intermedi- ate solution between conventional tooling and pinless technology. Pin welding is a familiar technology throughout the world, and many shops in Europe and Southeast Asia still use this technology, though it is typically used on four- to eight-layer jobs as a registration sta- bilizer. en, we have our pinless alignment bonding product that has expanded outside the rigid PCB arena into the rigid-flex and flex industries. In addition to all that, we opened a divi- sion focused on automation and devel- oped a multi-use intelligent robot arm system called SAM. is created new opportunities for us to help customers in new areas, like the wet process department. Moving into solutions for wet processes is a newer area for DIS. How did that come about? When we were doing our research and due diligence as we designed our SAM, we asked customers what some of the most common places were where this technology would be needed, and many of them pointed to the wet pro- cesses. ere's a lot of handling that happens there, both with inner layers and other materi- als going through the feeds and different chemical treatments, etching, stripping, exposing, and printing. Simultaneously, customers were telling us that wet process operators are hard positions to fill and retain. ere is a high turnover rate that hasn't been fully resolved since COVID. Mishandling of the material was the other main issue they were facing. Jesse Ziomek