1. SMT equipment industry ecological map
SMT (Surface Mount Technology) refers to a technology where chip components are mounted and soldered on the surface of a printed circuit board. Compared with traditional through-hole assembly technology, this technology has the characteristics of high assembly density, small product volume (volume reduced by 40% to 60%), light weight (weight reduced by 60% to 80%), high reliability, strong vibration resistance, Easy to implement automation and other advantages.
At present, more than 80% of electronic products in developed countries such as Japan and the United States use SMT. Among them, network communications, computers and consumer electronics are the main application areas, with market shares of approximately 35%, 28%, and 28% respectively. Other application areas include automotive electronics, medical electronics, etc.
The SMT production line mainly includes the following equipment: patch machines, printing machines, SPI (solder paste detector), wave soldering equipment, reflow soldering equipment, AOI testing equipment, X-Ray testing equipment, rework workstations, etc. The technologies involved include: mounting technology, welding technology, semiconductor packaging technology, assembly equipment design technology, circuit forming technology, functional design simulation technology, etc.
Equipment involved in the SMT process
Among them, the placement machine is a device used to achieve high-speed, high-precision, and fully automatic placement of components. It is related to the efficiency and accuracy of the SMT production line. It is the most critical and complex equipment and usually accounts for the entire SMT production line investment. More than 60%. At present, the placement machine has developed from an early low-speed mechanical placement machine to a high-speed optical alignment placement machine, and has developed towards multi-function, flexibility and modularization.
It can be seen from the NEPCONCHINA 2014 exhibition that domestic companies have emerged with relatively strong capabilities in printing, welding, testing and other aspects, such as the welding equipment of Ridong and Jintuo, the printing press of Keiger, and the AOI testing equipment of China Vision. UFJ’s X-Ray testing equipment, etc. However, the core part of the placement machine is still controlled by Japan, Germany, South Korea, and the United States. The main manufacturers include: ASMPT (ASMPT acquired the SIPLACE placement equipment department of Siemens in 2011), Panasonic, Universal, Fuji, Yamaha, and JUKI , Samsung, etc.
2. SMT manufacturing industry and technology development trends
(1) Industrial development trends
Industrial transformation and upgrading bring opportunities and challenges to the SMT equipment market.
Driven by the new technological revolution and new demands for economic and social development, demand has undergone major changes in depth and breadth. At present, "transformation and upgrading" and "integration of informatization and informatization" are iconic concepts that reflect the changes in demand under the influence of these two driving factors. Reducing labor costs and enhancing automation levels are fundamental requirements for manufacturing technology transformation and upgrading, and have also brought strong demand for SMT equipment.
On the one hand, higher requirements are put forward for production and manufacturing complexity, accuracy, processes and specifications; on the other hand, the cost of labor and other factors is rising, facing the dual demands of cost and efficiency. The above two reasons have given rise to automated, intelligent and flexible manufacturing, processing and assembly, system assembly and connection, packaging and testing. At present, Sichuan Changhong has planned to improve the level of automation through technological progress, thereby reducing costs and maintaining competitiveness. It strives to reduce labor costs by 20% in the past two years and by 50% within four years.
High performance, ease of use, flexibility and environmental protection are one of the main development trends of SMT equipment.
As competition in the electronics industry intensifies, companies need to continue to meet the increasingly shortened new product launch cycle, more stringent environmental requirements for cleaning and lead-free solder applications, and to comply with the trend of lower costs and more miniaturization, which poses challenges to electronic manufacturing equipment. higher requirements. Electronic equipment is developing towards high precision, high speed, easier use, more environmentally friendly and more flexible production lines. The placement machine's high-speed head and multi-function head can be switched at will; when the placement head is replaced with a dispensing head, it becomes a dispensing machine. The stability of printing and placement accuracy will be higher, and the flexibility will be stronger when parts and substrates change.
At the same time, high efficiency, low power, and low cost have been achieved through high-speed production lines and miniaturization of equipment. For placement machines, the demand for high-speed multi-function placement machines that can meet both production efficiency and multi-function is gradually increasing. The productivity of dual-channel placement production mode can reach about 100,000CPH.
The integration trend of semiconductor packaging and surface mount technology is obvious.
As electronic products become increasingly miniaturized, their functions become more diversified, and their components become more sophisticated, the integration of semiconductor packaging and surface mount technology has become a general trend. At present, semiconductor manufacturers have begun to apply high-speed surface mount technology, and surface mount production lines have also integrated some applications of semiconductors. The boundaries of traditional assembly levels are becoming increasingly blurred. The integrated development of technology has also brought about many products that have been recognized by the market. For example, the direct wafer feeder of Unovis Solutions, a subsidiary of Universal Instruments, provides a good solution for the integration of surface mount and semiconductor assembly.
