ST. LOUIS, MO – The ECM Group, a leading global procurement and supply chain management firm in the electronics industry, is proud to announce that it has facilitated over $1.3 billion in purchases from its Asia-based Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Manufacturing Partners since its inception in 2002. This significant milestone demonstrates the company's unwavering commitment to providing exceptional service and fostering long-term relationships with its partners across the globe.

The ECM Group's ability to facilitate such a substantial volume of purchases underscores its position as a vital intermediary between its clients and PCB manufacturers in Asia. The company's comprehensive understanding of the market, combined with its dedication to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction, has been instrumental in achieving this remarkable milestone.

"We are incredibly proud of reaching this significant milestone, which reflects our team's hard work and dedication to delivering unparalleled service to our clients and partners," said Robert Mills, CEO of The ECM Group. "This achievement further solidifies our position as a trusted partner for PCB procurement and showcases the value we bring to the global electronics industry."

The ECM Group's success can be attributed to its robust network of established manufacturing partners, its expert team of industry professionals, and its unyielding focus on meeting the evolving needs of its clients. The company has consistently excelled in managing complex supply chains and providing tailored solutions, enabling it to maintain its status as an industry leader.

OSAKA, JAPAN – The Electronic Materials Business Division of Panasonic Industry Co.,Ltd. (Panasonic) is a premier supplier of electronic materials like printed circuit boards laminates, semiconductor packaging materials, display films and other leading-edge products. Leveraging our core expertise in high-performance thermosetting polymer chemistry, we developed BEYOLEX™, a fully cross-linked, non-silicone, thermosetting stretchable film. BEYOLEX™ is specifically designed as a soft, stretchable, and durable substrate for reliable printed electronics. BEYOLEX™ exhibits superior performance when compared to existing stretchable films like Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) and Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and is under evaluation and qualification for a wide variety of demanding applications. In collaboration with our innovative partners, Panasonic introduces our latest case studies on soft circuit development which is one of the promising applications of BEYOLEX™.

Case Study 1: Pliable PCB made with copper sintering ink

InnovationLab and Panasonic developed a pliable PCB demonstrator. This device was designed and manufactured by InnovationLab using BEYOLEX™ and sintered copper ink. Generally, the copper inks require a high sintering temperature (>160 °C), which is extremely challenging for TPU. The BEYOLEX™ substrate had no difficulty tolerating the sintering temperature and exhibited no damage from the process. Furthermore, the combination of the high temperature tolerance of BEYOLEX™ and the solderability of the sintered copper ink enabled component mounting with standard solders such as Sn-Bi or SAC305: resulting in reliable and high density assemblies and delivering a functional PCB with more pliability and softness than typical flexible printed circuits (FPCs.)

Case Study 2: Stretchable hybrid PCB made using copper ink and stretchable silver paste

Kelenn Technology, a leading manufacturer of printing equipment, also makes functional inks that are customized for their printing systems. Using their proprietary Direct Material Deposition (DMD) technology, Kelenn Technology printed land pads with copper ink and circuit traces with stretchable silver-based paste onto BEYOLEX™ film. This hybrid circuit produced a solderable, stretchable PCB configuration that would be difficult to achieve with copper circuitry alone. Definitely, BEYOLEX™ is the only substrate solution for this design.

Subsequently, Panasonic engineers reflowed solder paste onto test vehicles prepared by Kelenn Technology. We printed an industry standard SAC305 solder paste and reflowed the part in a Vapor Solder Oven with a temperature of 230°C. We confirmed both the solderability of the copper ink pads provided by Kelenn Technology as well as the mechanical integrity of BEYOLEX™ after soldering. As a result of this test, we believe BEYOLEX™, with sintered copper ink, is a promising solution for solderable, pliable or even stretchable PCB constructions.

Case study 3: Tackling the challenges of truly stretchable electronics

Stretchable silver pastes are an attractive conductor solution for new form factor devices. However, these polymer composite pastes have inherent limitations for forming truly stretchable electronics; typically, the resistance increases significantly with each elongation cycle and these increases are cumulative, climbing with each stretch cycle. A printable Liquid Metal Based Composite developed by University of Coimbra (UoC) is a promising solution to this issue. UoC’s ink exhibits metallic conductivity and much lower resistance change during stretch cycles compared to silver-polymer pastes. Thanks to the lack of plastic deformation of BEYOLEX™, UoC’s ink printed on BEYOLEX™ looks to be a promising combination for truly stretchable electronics requiring repeated stretching.

The soft-circuit solutions made with BEYOLEX™ introduced in this article are made by additive printing processes which are generally more environmentally friendly than the conventional subtractive PCB fabrication process. Panasonic’s Electronic Materials Business Division keeps contributing to create value and to society through innovative materials.

To learn more about BEYOLEX™, please visit https://industry.panasonic.eu/products/devices/electronic-materials/beyolextm-thermosetting-stretchable-film

SCHWETZINGEN, GERMANY – Notion Systems, a leading provider of industrial inkjet solutions opens the construction site for the new company headquarters with a total of 3,600 m² of floor space with a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony. The company is growing at a rate of 20% per year and therefore needs new premises to cope with the ever-increasing number of orders.

With digital inkjet printing technology, Notion Systems meets the trend of the times and offers solutions that cannot be realized with any other technology in such a cost-saving and sustainable way.

"We are very proud of the achievements of our employees, who have made Notion Systems a market leader in the industry. We will continue to work hard in the coming years to provide our customers with innovative and sustainable products," said Carsten Schimansky, CEO, on the occasion of the anniversary.

Notion Systems and especially the 4 founders are very happy about the progress of the construction work and explicitly thank all project participants for the trust and the good cooperation.

STATE COLLEGE, PA – Chemcut, the United States’ leading manufacturer and supplier of Develop/Etch/Strip equipment, announced today that it has installed and commissioned multiple wet processing systems at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL). SEL is an industry leader in digital products and systems that protect, monitor and control electric power systems. The processing systems, including Develop/Etch/Strip (DES), are part of the state-of-the-art equipment operating at the company’s new printed circuit board factory in Moscow, Idaho USA.

The 162,000-square-foot facility features a highly automated and environmentally friendly process for fabricating printed circuit boards, which are vital components in the electronic devices SEL manufactures in Pullman, Washington; Lewiston, Idaho; Lake Zurich, Illinois; and West Lafayette, Indiana. 

“The Chemcut team has not only demonstrated their ability to provide exceptional products and services, but also their commitment to manufacturing in the United States,” said SEL Engineering Director John Hendrickson. “Their willingness to collaborate and their outstanding customer service have been key to the success of this project.” The first of two Chemcut DES lines is now operational in the new facility, which began production on March 1, 2023. The second line is scheduled to be delivered and installed later this summer. 

Mike Soble, Chemcut Technical Sales Manager stated “Working hand in hand with the people at SEL in outfitting their new PCB facility in Moscow, ID has been a joy and privilege for Chemcut. The expertise of the SEL organization and its unprecedented level of cooperation and collaboration with Chemcut, has resulted in the successful completion and launching of an outstanding world class printed circuit board manufacturing facility.”