Videos from the show

Presentation: LGAs & QFNs Bob Willis's complete presentation on LGA and QFN design, assembly and rework.	Presentation: Emerging Technologies Global SMT's Trevor Galbraith's full presentation on the recovery and emerging technologies.	Balver Zinn Balver Zinn's president, Josef Jost, at SMT Nuremberg.
Cyberoptics Sean Landbridge previews the new SE500 solder paste measurement system.	Datapaq Rob Hornsblow promotes Datapaq's new Easy Oven Setup product.	ERSA Bernd Schenker, president and COO of ERSA, talks about the VERSAPRINT P1 stencil printer.
Essemtec Trevor Galbraith interviews Essemtec's president and CEO, Martin Ziehbrunner.	Juki Automation Systems Jurg Schupbach, president of Juki, introduces the high-speed FX-3 component placer.	KIC KIC's Marybeth Allen talks about reflow process inspection and KIC 24/7.
MIRTEC Europe David Bennett features MIRTEC's latest tabletop and inline AOI machines.	Rehm Thermal Systems Rehm's Marc Dalderup talks about the VisionXP forced convection reflow system.	SEHO Markus Walter, CEO, SEHO Systems, presents their latest wave, reflow and selective soldering machines.
Yxlon Dr. Andreas Lechner, head of marketing for the electronics industry department for Yxlon, introduces the Cheetah.

Show report: SMT/HYBRID/PACKAGING beats the recession

Just like 2001, SMT/Hybrid Packaging in Nuremberg, Germany, May 5-7th, retained its title as the most resilient exhibition in the electronics calendar. If there was as recession going on, there certainly was no sign of it here.

The total floor space was the same as 2008, and pre-registrations were up 20%. The show kicked off with an official press conference hosted by Udo Weller, the division head for Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH, and featured presentations by Profesor Herbert Reichl, Klaus Dieter Lang and Dr Randolph Schliesser from Future Packaging. Hr Volker Pape also gave the latest development from the VDMA.

Professor Reichl presented “Trends in system Integration,” highlighting 3D assembly, flexible circuits and LEDs as the areas that will see future growth. In particular, high brightness LEDs are projected to double by 2010 from €4 billion to €8 billion as a raft of new applications come to the market.

Klaus Dieter Lang focused his presentation on process technologies. Dr Lang forecast an acceleration of active and passive devices being integrated into boards. Flexible circuit applications are rising faster than rigid boards, and Lang predicts a bright future for roll-to-roll substrates. Lang explained that further improvements will come from materials science and felt that more work was need on board finishes such as Ag.

On the show floor, the biggest news came from Heraeus, who acquired Umicore AG. Umicore is the global leader in die attach and tacky flux, with production plants in Hannau and Singapore. The acquisition was a perfect complement to the Heraeus paste and bonding wire divisions.

On the product front, Heraeus were reporting success with their InnoLot SAC alloy, which has greater reliability at higher operating temperatures (up to 150°C). The company also introduced dippable paste—a welcome product that uses fine particles instead of tacky flux. The particles increase the height of the standoff, but this makes the tacky quality stronger and acts as a thickener. Finally, Heraeus are now successfully mass producing spheres < 100 µm.

Pfarr Stanstechnik exhibited a new range of high purity gold products on ceramic substrates for use in high reliability applications such as pacemakers.

Siemens revealed a new sales strategy which focuses on selling capacity—not machines. Customers can choose the base number of gantries, heads and feeders they need for normal production and then rent additional capacity at peak times, e.g. for the Christmas market. Siemens have now completed their carve-out from Siemens Drives & Technologies Division and now report directly to Siemens AG.

Koh Young at last confirmed the name of their new 3D AOI system. It is called the “Zenith” and relates to the machine’s Z-height inspection capabilities.

Systronic revealed the new Stencil Washer MP from Aqueous Technologies for the first time in Europe. The system comes with two sizes of chamber, 18" x 18" or 24" x 24". The Windows™ based software has full SPI capability and is network-ready making it more user-friendly.

Cyberoptics doubled the inspection speed of their SE500 SPI system. The improved system can inspect at 80 cm² per second using improved cameras with a larger FOV (up from 20 x 10 to 40 x 8). The resolution has also been improved to 30 µm for high speed inspection and 15 µm for high resolution.

The HR Ultra AOI system also benefited from a software upgrade that incorporates auto seeding. This feature calculates the total number of boards, then identifies the most likely images or characteristics that need to be inspected in order to tune the system. This is all performed automatically.

KIC were celebrating their new partnership with Balver Zinn. The KIC 24/7 brings inspection inside the box using thermal data to produce yield charts (DPMO) that enable users to close the loop on reflow defects.

Production Solutions introduced a new MPM Vacuum Tooling Box for UP2000 and AP series printers. The system clamps the company’s Red-e-Set universal board support system into the vacuum box, creating the stability needed during the manufacturing process.

That was most of the highlights from this year’s SMT/Hybrid/Packaging. Of course we had one major news announcement of our own, and that was that Global SMT & Packaging pioneered the first live broadcasts from The Forum during the Tuesday and Wednesday at the show.

—Trevor Galbraith.

On the Show Floor

Here's just a sample of what was showcased on the show floor at SMT/HYBRID/PACKAGING 2009.

Aqueous Technologies Booth #7-429 Trident automatic defluxing system is reportedly the fastest batch-format defluxing system available,capable of defluxing and cleanliness testing up to 200 101 x 152 mm boards and up to 28 457 x 508 mm boards per hour. Learn more...	Balver Zinn Booth #9-536 Balver Zinn’s new range of bar solder (for wave, selective, tinning, and similar applications) will be on show to complement the company’s product offerings of solder pastes, fluxes, and cored wire solders. Learn more...	CyberOptics Booth #7-430 CyberOptics redefines inspection speed with the SE500 — a new 100 percent 3-D solder paste inspection system. Learn more...
Dage Booth #7-220 The award-winning XD7600NT with a 2M pixel imaging system offers feature recognition to 250 nanometers and oblique angle views up to 70-degrees. Learn more...	EPM Handels AG Booth #9-446 The Mini Waver bench-top wave soldering system for lead-free SMD or mixed boards is ideally suited for pre-production up to medium range production. Learn more...	ERSA Booth #9-330 The ERSA IR/PL 650 XL is the company's new rework flagship machine for extra large PCBs. Learn more...
Europlacer Booth #7-219 Winner of the Global Technology and NPI Awards in 2008, the iineo platform features many enhancements to the Europlacer machine range such as a higher feeder count, increased board size and increased maximum component height. Learn more...	Indium Booth #7-430 Indium8.9HF Solder Paste is a halogen-free Pb-free solder paste with unsurpassed print transfer efficiency and response-to-pause printing. Learn more...	IPTE Booth #7-549 IPTE’s new FlexPresser (flexible press-fit equipment) processes components for press-fit operations on PCBs. Learn more...
Juki Booth #7-333 A new product in JUKI’s light range, the KE-2050 light High-speed Chip Shooter is to premier alongside the Intelligent Shop Floor Solutions (IS) software, together with a host of key products in the JUKI portfolio.. Learn more...	Kyzen Booth #7-539 Winner of a 2008 Global Technology Award, in the category of ‘cleaning materials’, AQUANOX® A4241 is Kyzen’s latest aqueous cleaning solution. Learn more...	LPKF Booth #6-327 LPKF Laser & Electronics AG will be showcasing a complete prototyping solution and two world premieres, the LPKF ProtoLaser U and the LPKF MicroLine 6000 S (shown in the VDE/VDI pavilion in booth 6-220). Learn more...
MicroCare Booth #7-501 MicroCare Corp. announced on April 15, 2009 that it has been registered to the ISO 9001:2008 quality standard. This registration indicates MicroCare is in compliance with the internationally-accepted standards for quality.Learn more...	MIRTEC Europe Booth #7-506 MIRTEC’s MV-7L in-line AOI system provides one top-down camera with a native resolution of two or four mega pixels and four side-view cameras with a native resolution of two mega pixels. Learn more...	Peters Booth #9-604 The conformal coatings of the series ELPEGUARD® SL 1307 are especially yellowing resistant conformal coatings for assembled printed circuit boards, based on polyacrylic resins. Learn more...
phoenix|x-ray Booth # 7-411 At SMT 2009, GE´s product line phoenix|x-ray will exhibit at booth 411 in hall 7 one of the company's latest technological developments, the breakthrough software platform x|act for the fast, fully automated inspection of solder joints at highest magnifications (µAXI). Learn more...	RMD Instruments Booth #7-219 RMD Instruments LLC will premier a new solder analysis and identification feature of its innovative LeadTracer-RoHS XRF system. Learn more...	SEHO Booth #9-540 SEHO announces the availability of a fiducial recognition function with automatic PCB alignment for selective soldering systems. Learn more...
Sono-Tek Booth #846 The launch of SelectaFlux will see the industry benefit from a complete, ready-to-integrate ultrasonic selective fluxing system, offering the highest degree of accuracy, precision and fine-line control in the industry. Learn more...	Speedline Booth #7-430 EdgeLoc™ board clamping system is a unique solution that firmly holds the board without the use of top clamps. Learn more...	Vision Engineering Booth #7-136 Designed to be simple, but powerful, accurate, but affordable, Falcon is suitable for both multi-user shop-floor use and advanced manufacturing inspection applications, delivering accurate results with complete confidence. Learn more...
Würth Booth #9-424 Würth Elektronik integrates cantilevers operating as a sensor, integrated in the PCB, allowing new industrial applications.. Learn more...	Yxlon Booth #7-228 Y.Cheetah offers effortless high-quality x-ray imaging via 1-click solutions for a wide range of continuously changing inspection tasks.Learn more...	ZESTRON Booth #7-314 The MPC®-cleaning agent provides excellent cleaning performance in capillary spaces. Therefore flux residues even under low standoff components, such as Micro BGAs, Flip Chips, and 01005 components can be reliably removed. Learn more...