OTHER ELECTRONICS & NANOTECHNOLOGY
INDUSTRY UPDATE
August / September 2019
McIlvaine Company
Ericsson to Build 'Fully-Automated' 5G Factory
in US by 2020
OnRobot Opens First US Office
Exclusively Dedicated to Research & Development
Exyte Opens Lab to Economize Dryroom Components
Shanghai Lab will test and evaluate key components for dryrooms under various
conditions in order to design and build cost-effective dryrooms
Exyte, the German engineering and construction company that specializes in
cleanroom projects, has inaugurated a new hi-tech dryroom laboratory in Shanghai
that will allow Exyte to test and evaluate key components for dryrooms under
various operating conditions. This is in order to design and build dryrooms for
customers in the most cost-effective way possible.
Dryrooms are a key component for customers in the Li-ion battery industry. This
latest build will boost Exyte’s capabilities in expanding its battery business
as the demand for Li-ion manufacturing capacity is expected to more than double
by 2023, due to growth drivers such as e-mobility and stationary storage
systems.
The German company designs, engineers and delivers facilities for high-tech
industries and has long-standing experience and expertise in controlled
environments. Based on this extensive know-how, Exyte filed various patents for
‘advanced dryroom systems’. In order to test and demonstrate these features,
Exyte engineered and built the dryroom laboratory located at Exyte’s premises in
Shanghai. The dryroom conditions are specified to a dew point as low as -60°C,
which is key to ensuring enhanced battery quality.
The facility opened in July this year.
Dr Klaus Eberhardt, Technology Manager at Exyte, said: “Operational kickoff for
the dryroom laboratory marks an important milestone for Exyte’s battery
business. We are working with many of the leading battery manufacturers, who
have expressed strong interest in seeing the dryroom and discussing Exyte’s
advanced solutions for their future battery factories.”
The facility will contribute to optimizing both, capital and operational
expenditures for dryrooms within the battery cell production.
Exyte is positioned as a partner for all battery customers – supporting
everything from small and flexible R&D lines through mid-scale pilot plants to
large-scale, highly automated factories. Building on its potential in this area,
the company is continuously expanding its capabilities spanning the full project
lifecycle from consulting, design and engineering to turnkey construction of
battery factories, tool installation and commissioning included. The planning
and construction of production facilities such as these represents a major
technological challenge as the safety and operating requirements are extremely
demanding.
Serving complex and controlled high-tech factories, Exyte serves clients
globally to the same standards while also adapting to local permit requirements.
As the demand for high-tech battery production facilities continues to grow,
Exyte expects its battery segment to develop into an important business segment.
Ericsson to Build 'Fully-Automated' 5G Factory
in US by 2020
Ericsson announced its plans to build a 5G factory in the US sometime early next
year.
The factory will be the Swedish telco equipment maker's first fully-automated
factory, the company said, and will be used to produce 5G radios designed for
urban areas. It will also make Advanced Antenna System radios that it said are
components for large-scale deployments of 4G and 5G networks for both rural and
urban coverage. Around 100 people will be employed to run the factory.
"With today's announcement, we conclude months of preparations and can move into
execution also in the US," Ericsson executive vice president and head of
networks Fredrik Jejdling said.
"In addition, we are digitalizing our entire global production landscape,
including establishing this factory in the US. With 5G connectivity we're
accelerating Industry 4.0, enabling automated factories for the future."
Ericsson did not provide details about where the factory will be located, but
the company has plans to initially employ around 100 people at the factory,
which will have "highly automated operations".
The race to launch 5G networks among telcos is already well underway, with
telcos like Verizon having already rolled out a live 5G network.
Ericsson's announcement to build a 5G factory in the US also follows US
President Donald Trump in recent months banning companies from using telco
equipment made by its competitor Huawei.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai applauded Ericsson's
announcement.
"Building 5G equipment in the United States is good for our economy, good for
the supply chain, and good for the rapid rollout of the next generation of
wireless connectivity in the United States," he said.
Ericsson is currently signed on by T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, US Cellular,
and GCI to help build out their respective 5G mobile networks.
According to the Ericsson's latest mobility report, North America is expected to
lead in the adoption of 5G, with the company predicting that 63% of North
American mobile subscriptions will be 5G-based in 2024.
OnRobot Opens First US Office
Exclusively Dedicated to Research & Development
New office location in Culver City provides OnRobot opportunity to attract
talent and add new products to a portfolio including robotic grippers inspired
by lizards and sensors lending a human touch to robot arms
OnRobot, a global leader in end-of-arm tooling for collaborative robot
applications, has opened its first location specifically dedicated to research
and development (R&D) in the United States. Based in Culver City in Los Angeles,
California, the new office area boasts 6,000 square feet for engineers,
researchers and local staff to work and develop new products. Last year marked
OnRobot’s first foray into the LA area, as it acquired Perception Robotics. With
this acquisition, OnRobot brought the award winning Gecko Gripper technology
into its product offerings and developed it for commercial launch. The tactile
Gecko Gripper uses millions of micro-scaled fibrillar stalks that adhere to a
surface the same way that lizards climb. Originally created to help NASA salvage
and repair satellites, the Gecko Gripper’s unique ability to pick up porous and
delicate objects has already gained significant traction with OnRobot’s
industrial automation customers.
With limited square footage in the original Perception Robotics space, there
wasn’t enough room for OnRobot to focus on its two important tasks: production
and assembly, and continuing its R&D efforts to spawn new ideas for future
product development. “As OnRobot continues its aggressive expansion throughout
North America, moving to a larger location in Culver City offers multiple
benefits,” said Enrico Krog Iversen, CEO of OnRobot. “It has space for our
current staff of 17, with plenty of room for the research team to use multiple
types of collaborative robot arms in our quest to develop new tools for these.
It’s also directly across the street from a multi-million dollar entertainment
industry hub that is currently being built, called Ivy Station. The new building
will be home to HBO, Apple, and Amazon, bringing to Culver City a more qualified
pool of candidates for us to choose from when we look at increasing our staff
next year. We’re excited to be here and are looking forward to all the great
things we’re going to accomplish in this region.”
The new location is conveniently located for staff and visitors trying to reach
the office in the notorious LA traffic. Located next to the Culver City light
rail stop, tucked between Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles near the 405 and
10 freeway intersection, the new OnRobot office is also close to the LAX
Airport.
The collaborative robot market is now the fastest growing segment of industrial
automation, expected to jump ten-fold to 34% of all industrial robot sales by
2025 according to the International Federation of Robotics. Collaborative
robots, or simply “cobots”, are robots that unlike traditional industrial robots
do not need to be bolted down in safety cages but can work safely alongside
humans on ever-changing tasks. With the U.S. facing record low unemployment
rates, companies are now turning to cobots to help them automate tedious,
repetitive tasks that they can no longer staff. OnRobot plays a pivotal role in
this growth by providing cobots with end-of-arm-tooling such as grippers, tool
changers, and force/torque sensors, that are used with cobots and light
industrial robots from a variety of robot manufacturers. OnRobot works with all
major cobot brands at the new Culver City office, with plans to add more as the
California location grows.
JSR Plans Big Electronic Materials
Facility in US
The US semiconductor industry may be mature, but don’t tell that to Japan’s JSR
and several other foreign chemical companies that are investing in new US
facilities to produce key raw materials for the electronics industry.
JSR says it will spend about $100 million to build a facility in Hillsboro,
Oregon, that produces advanced formulated cleaning products used to clean
circuit-covered silicon wafers between production steps such as lithography and
etching. Set to open in 2020, the facility will mark JSR’s entry into the
“advanced cleans” market, says Mark Slezak, president of JSR Micro.
Today, JSR Micro mainly produces materials for photolithography, but Slezak says
the firm’s US semiconductor industry customers asked it to bring its
quality-management and technical skills to the advanced cleans market as well.
Doing that locally will allow the company to have more control over logistics
and raw material supply. Hillsboro is home to Intel’s largest chip production
operations.
With the new US plant, JSR will follow the lead of other overseas firms. Planned
investments include a $45 million electronic materials plant in Texas by South
Korea’s ENF Technology, $80 million worth of upgrades to existing plants in
Arizona and Rhode Island by Japan’s Fujifilm, and a $60 million project by
Japan’s Mitsubishi Gas Chemical to build ultrapure hydrogen peroxide plants in
Oregon and Texas.
ENF, for example, says it chose its Texas location to be close to customers such
as Samsung Austin Semiconductor, GlobalFoundries, Micron Technology, Texas
Instruments, and Intel.
The US investments are occurring even though most semiconductor production is in
Asia. Together, facilities in Japan and the rest of the Asia-Pacific make almost
70% of the world’s computer chips.
That may be true, but the US carries outsize importance in the most advanced
chips with circuit lines of just 10 nm or 7 nm, notes Mike Corbett, a principal
with the electronic materials advisory firm Linx Consulting. Key players include
Intel and Samsung Austin Semiconductor, he says.
For each new chip generation, Corbett says, electronic chemical suppliers must
contend with “new requirements around materials with regard to purity,
contaminants, and particles. A lot of time the older infrastructure isn’t
adequate to meet the end user’s needs.”
EAG Laboratories Launches New Laboratory in China
EAG Laboratories has announced the launch of a new laboratory in China dedicated
to improving materials, products and electronics. Built in Shanghai, this
facility brings the advanced imaging and surface analysis expertise and
technology to China, providing manufacturers with direct access to scientific
expertise in the analysis of physical structures, chemical properties and
composition of materials.
The new lab offers advanced microscopy capabilities in TEM (FEI Themis Z) and
Dual Beam FIB (Helios G4 HX & UC FIBs). For supporting advanced R&D, the Themis
Z aberration corrected TEM is capable of ultra-high energy resolution and
ultra-high sub-atomic spatial resolution for imaging and chemistry (EDS & EELS).
These state-of-the art tools, along with EAG’s specialized team of highly
trained and qualified staff can apply these techniques to the most complex
investigations involving materials and electronic products.
In addition, the new lab broadens EAG Shanghai’s capabilities in Secondary Ion
Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). SIMS is a very powerful technique for dopant
characterization, contamination measurement, dielectric film analysis, etc. We
have installed a new PHI ADEPT 1010 SIMS tool which is optimized for high depth
resolution analysis of semiconductors, thin films and bulk insulators.
Applications range from ultra-low energy ion implants in Si to dopants in
compound
semiconductors to gate dielectrics to glass surface corrosion.
Parpro Expands Mexico Factory
Design, engineering and manufacturing service provider Parpro has completed
expansion of its factory in Mexico, expecting business in second-half 2019 to
resume growth, according to company chairman and president Johnny Liao at an
August 20 investor conference.
Parpro also has a factory in Taiwan and another two in the US. The two US
factories accounted for 61% of 2018 consolidated revenues, the Taiwan one for
25%, and Mexico one for 14%. Parpro has added a SMT production line each at the
Taiwan and Mexico plants.
Parpro produces devices/components used in aerospace, gaming, medical,
industrial and networking equipment. As Parpro has passed US ITAR (International
Traffic in Arms Regulations) certification, devices/components for use in
defense-related products are expected to become a main source of business
growth.
TPK Silver Nano Touch Solution Production on Track
TPK Holding has started equipment move-in at its new production line for silver
nanowire-based touch solutions that will kick off volume production in the
fourth quarter of 2019 before beginning to ramp up output in the first quarter
of 2020, according to company CSO Freddie Liu.
About 70% of the touch panel maker's 2019 capex of NT$4 billion will be used to
finance construction of an integrated silver nanowire production line, including
NT$1.6 billion set for the third quarter after spending NT$1.01 billion in the
second quarter, Liu revealed.
After shipping its silver nanowire-based touch solutions to BOE Technology for
production of 65-inch displays in March 2019, TPK has recently landed related
orders from Guangzhou Shiyuan Electronic for production of 81- to 104-inch
digital whiteboards, according to industry sources.
To demonstrate the applications of silver nanowire-based solutions ranging from
large-size displays to small-size foldable smartphone screens, the company will
highlight its silver nano technology at the upcoming Touch Taiwan 2019.
The commercial production of its silver nano touch solutions comes after eight
years of R&D efforts, Liu said, noting that the initial production of the
integrated production line will reach 10,000 units a month in the fourth
quarter.
Meanwhile, on behalf of its subsidiary Cambrios Advanced Materials (CAM), TPK
has filed complaints in China against C3Nano, alleging that two patents related
to silver nanowire technology as claimed by the US-based company are
invalidated.
C3Nano announced recently that it has defeated an attempt by CAM to invalidate
one of its key patents related to its proprietary NanoGlue fusing technology in
US patent court.
PARC Opens New Cleanroom Facilities
The PARC Cleanroom can prototype display and imaging thin-film transistor
backplanes which are compatible with manufacturing facilities.
PARC, a Xerox company, of Palo Alto, CA, announced the opening of new cleanroom
facilities for use by corporate research departments, government agencies and
startup companies to develop prototype electronic devices and novel technologies
quickly and cost-effectively.
PARC’s shared “cleanroom-as-a-service” center was designed to enable partners to
develop and test new thin-film electronics and optoelectronic devices. PARC
provides end-to-end processes to design and fabricate a wide variety of active
devices. The PARC Cleanroom can prototype display and imaging thin-film
transistor backplanes which are compatible with manufacturing facilities.
The PARC Cleanroom is equipped with a wide range of tools that allow for unique
processes such as deposition, electroplating, etching, wafer bonding and
sputtering. In addition, PARC Cleanroom clients can draw on PARC’s expertise in
working with semiconductor thin-film materials including amorphous silicon,
metal oxides, low-temperature polysilicon and microelectromechanical systems
(MEMS).
“The new cleanroom gives PARC’s partners a newfound ability to develop and test
exciting products in the areas of printed organic semiconductors, flexible
electronics, nanowire devices, and solar cells,” said Bob Street, PARC Senior
Research Fellow and manager of the Printed Electronic Devices area.
“Many large technology manufacturers already have advanced cleanrooms in place,
but very few facilities are readily available to those who need small and
medium-sized research and development capabilities to develop next-generation
electronic devices,” said Noble Johnson, PARC Research Fellow and manager of the
Optoelectronic Materials and Devices area. “Using these advanced tools, our
expert staff is poised to help clients with their prototype designs, simulation
and fabrication.”
Center for Engineering, Innovation, and
Sciences Opens on Wentworth Institute of Technology’s Boston Campus
Wentworth Institute of Technology’s first new academic building in 45 years was
recently completed on the university’s Boston campus. The Leers Weinzapfel
Associates-designed Center for Engineering, Innovation, and Sciences is a
multi-disciplinary facility meant to expand the school’s engineering education.
The four-story, 75,000-sf facility will offer an environment for students of
biology, civil engineering, mechanical engineering,
biomedical engineering, and biological engineering to collaborate. The
building’s ground floor houses an additive manufacturing lab and Accelerate, an
interdisciplinary and entrepreneurial project-based program. Floors two through
four include laboratories, student learning and meeting spaces, offices, and
support/storage space.
The campus is vulnerable to flooding, so the Center’s ground floor was built two
feet above current grade and the design minimized the systems equipment in the
basement. Sustainability elements include a highly-efficient thermal envelope
that includes sun shading on the east, south, and west facades, and mechanical
equipment designed for maximum efficiency. The facility is targeting Leed Silver
certification.
Leers Weinzapfel Associates designed the building.
The Center for Engineering, Innovation, and Sciences opened in November 2018.
Bringing path-breaking research in nano sciences to young science enthusiasts,
the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), Bengaluru, will launch
Materials Research and Technology Facilities at its new campus in Shivanapura,
on August 17.
“These state-of-the-art laboratories in the center, will serve as a potential
hub for startups and entrepreneurs to hold their ‘prototype-level technological
activities’, based on their own innovations or by adopting the technology
transfer method,” said a scientist from the center. Entrepreneurs can also
collaborate with CeNS or similar research institutions in India.
With the facility, the Department of Science and Technology will have
well-equipped labs to study research in nano materials. The center presently
focusses on studying a variety of metal and semiconductor nanostructures, liquid
crystals, gels, membranes and hybrid materials.
The laboratories will include technology such as the High Resolution
Transmission Electron Microscope, Atomic Force Microscope, Raman Spectroscopy,
Hyperspectral Darkfield Imaging Microscope, and BET Surface Area Analyser.
The research facilities will be inaugurated by Professor C N R
Rao, FRS, and Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa. Professor Ashutosh Sharma,
Secretary to Government of India, Department of Science and Technology,
professor V Ramgopal Rao, Chairman, Governing Council, CeNS and Director,
IIT-Delhi, will also be present.
Jenoptik Opens New Production Facility in
France
Near Bayeux in French Normandy Jenoptik has invested in a modern production
environment for the approximately 60 industrial metrology employees.
New production space, offices and a modern metrology laboratory were built on an
industrial site southeast of Bayeux, only a few kilometers from the previous
Jenoptik location. The new building has a total area of around 26,900 sq. ft.
(2,500 square meters). Construction began in spring 2018, the employees moved
into their new workplaces at the beginning of this year.
At the opening ceremony on April 3, 2019, Jenoptik President & CEO Stefan
Traeger and CFO Hans-Dieter Schumacher welcomed customers, suppliers and
partners as well as political representatives. The opening was at the same time
the starting point of a regional event on the latest trends in industrial
measurement technology to be held regularly.
With this investment Jenoptik has state-of-the-art production and sales
environment for its high-precision industrial measurement machines, which are
used in industry and automotive manufacturing. In France, Jenoptik’s customers
include renowned automotive manufacturers and supplier companies. As regards the
global metrology business of Jenoptik, France is the excellence center of
pneumatic metrology.
The original corporate building from the 1930s had been extended again and again
over decades and no longer met the requirements of modern production
environments. ”In the new building, we can offer our customers, employees and
partners a modern environment and are also an attractive partner for
universities and technical colleges,” says site manager Marc Schuh. Contact with
research institutions is to be considerably expanded.
In the metrology market segment Jenoptik acquired the French company ETAMIC S.A.
in 2006 and merged it with its industrial metrology business. Jenoptik’s other
major metrology sites are located in the geographic centers of the global
automotive industry: Besides Germany and France, these are Rochester Hills near
Detroit in the USA, Shanghai in China and Pyeongtaek in Korea.
The industrial metrology business belongs to the Light & Production division,
which Jenoptik is currently expanding. In addition to acquisitions to strengthen
the global business Jenoptik is also investing in existing locations. The new
production complex in Rochester Hills, Michigan, went into operation in 2017. In
Villingen-Schwenningen, the German metrology headquarters, a new production
complex is currently being built for around 11 million euros.
About Jenoptik:
Jenoptik is a globally operating technology group. Optical technologies are the
very basis of our business with the majority of our products and services being
provided to the photonics market. Our key target markets primarily include the
semiconductor equipment industry, the medical technology, automotive and
mechanical engineering, traffic, aviation as well as the security and defense
technology industries. Jenoptik has more than 4,000 employees worldwide.
The Light & Production division of Jenoptik is a global specialist in the
optimization of manufacturing processes. Our many years of experience and
know-how in the field of industrial measurement technology and optical
inspection, modern laser-based material processing and highly flexible
robot-based automation enable us to develop tailor-made manufacturing solutions.
As established key supplier in the global automotive market we face the modern
challenges regarding flexibility, productivity and increasing variety and thus
cover the growing demand for complex industrial solutions with a focus on
machine integration and process automation.
Active Silicon Expands in the UK
Active Silicon has opened a new, state-of-the-art production and operations
facility in Langley, England, where the company has relocated its assembly,
testing, inspection, and supply chain functions.
All research and development, design, support, and head office responsibilities
will remain at the flagship office in Iver, just a couple of miles up the road.
The move gives Active Silicon more space to increase product throughput and
recruit more staff at both company locations. The company has made several new
appointments over the past two months, including an FPGA engineer, stores
controller, test technician, and human resources manager. Additionally, there is
ongoing recruitment for a number of roles, including software and hardware
engineers and a business development manager.
The new facility is located close to major highways, within sight of the
mainline train to London, and less than 10 miles from Heathrow Airport. Active
Silicon is a manufacturer of imaging products and embedded vision systems.
Edwards Joins MIT. Nano As Founding Member
New MIT facility features state of the art lab space and equipment for nanoscale
research
Edwards, a manufacturer of vacuum and abatement solutions, is joining MIT's
MIT.nano consortium as a founding member with an investment that includes
equipment and personnel, as part of a broader initiative to be an essential
participant in new technology developments at the nanometer scale.
MIT.nano is a 214,000-square-foot laboratory dedicated to the characterization
and fabrication of nanoscale materials, structures, devices, and processes.
Science and engineering on the scale of nanometers — about 1/100,000 the
thickness of a human hair — can only be done in highly specialized, uniquely
outfitted environments. As much as a quarter of current MIT research activity
depends on these kinds of resources.
As a founding member, Edwards brings valuable experience and expertise to the
MIT.nano consortium, courtesy of its 100-year history in vacuum technology.
“We're delighted to be working at MIT.nano with the team providing fundamental
research at the nanometer scale,” commented Chris Bailey, VP of engineering,
systems and solutions semiconductor division at Edwards. “This research will
deepen our understanding of the new materials that support developments in nano
technology and 3D structures, areas of increasing interest to the semiconductor
industry.”
McIlvaine Company
Northfield, IL 60093-2743
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