4th Technology Forum focuses on “digital services”

The Ersa Technology Forum took place for the fourth time on June 21 and 22 in Wertheim. The technology event, which has long been an integral part of the electronics production calendar, brought together 300 experts and decision-makers from the DACH region to examine the core topic of “digital services” from all sides.

The two-day event once again offered an attractive platform for the exchange of knowledge, experience and ideas within the electronics production community. Dr. Vinzenz Krause, founder and managing director of the Academy for Exponential Change in Munich and expert in the implementation of disruptive business models, led the program as moderator.

At the beginning of the top-class lecture program, Andreas Westhäußer, Head of Service & After Sales at Ersa GmbH, presented the “Service of the Future”. Under the keyword “servitization”, he showed, among other things, how numerous service processes can be significantly accelerated with the help of Kurtz Ersa CONNECT. Lutz Wilke from LPKF Laser & Electronics SE took over and dealt with fast, highly accurate in-house PCB prototype production (manufacturing a double-sided PCB with galvanic through-hole plating in a network of different systems).

The next topic was “Soldering Technology for High Reliability Electronics” – Jürgen Friedrich, Head of Ersa Application Technology, addressed challenges in the design of high reliability assemblies and applications from a thermodynamic point of view. Sebastian Bechmann (Christian Koenen GmbH) and Axel Lindloff (Koh Young Europe GmbH) showed in the following lecture “From PCB to silicon chip” how printing and 3D measurement technology can be used for semiconductor packaging – the two also addressed the European Chip Act, which supports the development of a European semiconductor industry.

The participants of the 2023 Technology Forum in front of the Ersa site in Wertheim, Germany

Already at the get-together there were several dialogs on expert level

In addition to the lecture program, there was also intensive exchange at the Technology Forum in the CCC - often directly at the exhibited systems of Ersa and at the booths of the participating partners

As Head of Sales Support, Nicolai Böhrer gives a tour of Ersa´s Smart Factory, which was named "Factory of the Year" in 2021

Day two started with “Automation – on the way to the Integrated Smart Electronics Factory”, Erwin Beck from ASMPT GmbH & Co. KG highlighted relevant success factors for smarter electronics production. It came to Adrian Münkel (Ersa GmbH) to present “The Missing Link – Traceability in Hand Soldering” with the IoT soldering station i-CON TRACE. Stefan Huttelmaier from the Swabian Kurtz Ersa subsidiary SCHILLER AUTOMATION GmbH & Co. KG took a look at best practice applications with regard to press-fit technology in electronics production, Thomas Winkel (Viscom AG) spoke about “100% cycle-time compliant 3D AXI inspection in the production line” using automatic X-ray inspection, and Odin Holmes from AI Group concluded with “The world is not DIGITAL enough!”, including rapid prototyping in hardware development, resilience against chip shortages and open source approaches.

Casual get-together in the evening at the castle in summer temperatures

In addition to the lecture program, there was enough time for exchange and networking – whether during the breaks, at the exhibition in the Customer Care Center, which covered the entire spectrum of electronics production thanks to the participating partners, or at the evening event at Wertheim Castle. Hands-on sessions with Ersa HOTFLOW THREE, Reworksystem HR 600 XL, i-CON TRACE and VERSAFLOW ONE provided the practical reference. “These were two extremely valuable days for determining where electronics production stands – for Ersa, the business partners involved, and all the participants. We clearly determined where we stand and where the journey will take us. Digital services will essentially accompany us on this journey – but we must also take people along with us on this path,” said Ersa General Sales Manager Rainer Krauss.