HANAU, GERMANY – Heraeus Electronics is proud to announce its participation in the FastLane project, an ambitious EU-funded initiative aimed at revolutionizing the European value chain for Silicon Carbide (SiC)-based power electronics. This project, led by Valeo France, spans 36 months, from May 1, 2024, to April 30, 2027.

The FastLane project, titled "Boosting the European Value Chain for Sustainable Power Electronics," brings together 29 partners with a total budget of €96 million, including a €23 million contribution from the EU. The initiative aims to accelerate the adoption of SiC-based power electronics by establishing a full and highly competitive technology excellence across an all-European value chain, from powder and boule to engineered SiC substrates. This comprehensive approach will enable the development of novel smart semiconductor devices, smart power modules, and power converters, significantly broadening the application domains for SiC-based technologies.

Heraeus Electronics will develop innovative Ag sintering and AMB materials to enable the design of new, cost-efficient SiC power modules.

Within the FastLane project, Heraeus Electronics will focus on developing new Ag sintering materials for precious metal-free metallized Active Metal Brazed (AMB) substrates and aluminum heat sinks. By minimizing the number of metallization steps and layers, Heraeus aims to simplify the production process, reduce thermal interfaces, and decrease material complexity in the power module stack. These advancements will enable the design of new, cost- efficient SiC power modules with higher power density, longer lifetime, and overall reliability.

The FastLane project is poised to significantly contribute to the European Green Deal by reducing the environmental footprint across the product lifecycle, promoting a greener economy, and ensuring European sovereignty in power electronics. The reuse of automotive economy of scale will also provide cost benefits to end users, making these advanced technologies more accessible.

Heraeus Electronics is excited to participate in FastLane, accelerating the future of sustainable power electronics. For more information about FastLane please visit https://www.linkedin.com/company/fast-lane-eu/ 

For additional information on Heraeus Electronics, visit www.heraeus-electronics.com 

MILWAUKIE, OR – ECD today announced that it has increased its customer support staff to ensure its continued, award-winning legacy of timely, personalized customer assistance. Along with its product innovation leadership, ECD has built a solid reputation based on trusted, high-quality, responsive service. The company’s latest hire, Rob Bishop, has joined the team as a Senior Product Support Technician to uphold this commitment.

Bishop brings broad experience to ECD, having previously held positions in equipment maintenance, personnel and customer technical training, field service support, and technical documentation writing. Over the last twenty years, he has worked primarily in the semiconductor manufacturing sector and, most recently, was a training project manager at Lam Research. Rob is a self-described solution-seeker who is technically skilled, innately curious, and passionate about helping people.

“By nature, I am a fixer and a technology nerd,” shares Bishop. “Ensuring proper calibration so our products are at peak performance is critical to our brand reputation and I’m proud to be part of that. I also enjoy meeting and learning from people of all different backgrounds and cultures, which this job allows me to do. Having come from larger organizations, working in a collaborative, tight-knit company like ECD where my contributions are palpable is refreshing. I look forward to learning, growing, and helping our customers succeed.”

ECD’s thermal profiler, machine quality management, product sensor, and humidity-controlled storage cabinet portfolios have enjoyed a steady growth trajectory. Most notably, the company’s recently-introduced M.O.L.E.™ EV-series touchscreen thermal profilers -- with three models now commercialized – have exceeded sales expectations. The industry uptake necessitated additional resources for routine scheduled device calibration, process troubleshooting, and technical guidance.

ECD President Tara Fischer says that customer support is the solid foundation on which ECD is built and is not something the company will outsource; adding internal staff was essential. “We have developed incredibly impactful process control technologies, and enabling our customers to get the most out of our products’ capabilities is our top priority,” she explains. “Customer support takes technical knowledge, yes, but also a calm demeanor, respectful communication, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to satisfy the customer. Rob has demonstrated all these characteristics, and we -- and ECD customers – are grateful he is part of our growing team.”

Bishop holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Automated Manufacturing Technology from ITT Technical Institute in Portland, OR. He is based in ECD’s Milwaukie, OR headquarters.

BURGKIRCHEN, GERMANY – cts GmbH made a major appearance at SMT-Connect to present its contribution to the Smart Factory in PCB assembly. The focus was on the Mini Smart Warehouse as a production-related automatic storage option for PCBs in magazines, assemblies and components in boxes or trays. An autonomous mobile robot (AMR), a drop point unit and an unloader from Flexlink as the end point of an SMT line brought the innovative concept to life. This makes cts the first intralogistics and automation specialist to offer a standardized solution for automating material flows and short-term intermediate storage in production. The goals: Avoiding employees having to walk around in production and saving space.

The intelligent software from cts, which can also be used to manage larger smart warehouses, is supplied with information via ERP or MES. Based on this data, the system consisting of the Smart Warehouse and a self-organizing AMR fleet ensures that all materials are available at the right place along the lines at the right time. Materials that are not needed are removed from the way. At SMT-Connect, the process was demonstrated using PCB magazines, trays and KLT boxes, just as it had been at SEMICON Malaysia. Thanks to its compact form with storage areas around a central robot, it is even possible to set up the Mini Smart Warehouse in clean rooms. The cts Smart Warehouse portfolio is completed by the SMT warehouse for component reels.

"Printed circuit boards and components, but also consumables such as solder paste or cleaning fluid - there are many things on SMT lines that need to be tidied up and are also needed again quickly. We are convinced that mixed automatic storage and delivery using a production-related intelligent system is the right way forward," explains Alfred Pammer, VP of Sales, Marketing and Product Management at cts. "Our system is open for integration with existing software and hardware. The discussions we have had at the past two trade fairs show that our intralogistics concept is a very practical smart factory approach that is well received."

PHELPS, NY – Z-AXIS, a fast-growing provider of electronic design and manufacturing services, will double its surface mount technology (SMT) capacity during Phase 1 of a $1.5M USD expansion. The electronics contract manufacturer ordered a total of 15 new pieces of equipment after visiting the IPC APEX 2024 tradeshow this spring.

“This is the first phase of three-phase expansion,” said Michael Allen, Z-AXIS’ President. “Expanding our surface mount capabilities will allow us to take on even more SMT jobs while accelerating production,” he added.

During the first phase of its latest expansion, Z-AXIS will replace its new product introduction (NPI) line with an SMT line that is effectively as fast as its other two high-speed lines combined. The company will retain the current NPI line’s oven but add a board dropper, stencil printer, conveyor, two pick-and-place machines, a board turner, another conveyor, and automated optical inspection (AOI) technology.

Z-AXIS selected the AOI equipment based on information gained at IPC APEX 2024, the electronics manufacturing industry’s largest event in North America. Z-AXIS expanded its wire and cable assembly production in 2020 and has a rich history investing in state-of-the-art equipment. The company’s current expansion is self-funded and reflects a record number of sales bookings this year.