Gatema PCB has been using a new pressing centre in the production of printed circuit boards since this autumn. This consists of three new pieces of equipment - a Lauffer press set, a Monolam MLP 25M and an Optical Pinless Bonding 211/8 machine.
The Lauffer pressing assembly was purchased and installed in production to replace a 30 year old pressing veteran that was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. It was also no longer suitable due to its limited capacity.
With the new presses, it is possible to press multilayer printed circuit boards made of standard materials as well as boards with hybrid composition, multiple laminations, special boards, high-temperature materials or boards made of flexible materials.
There has also been a significant increase in production capacity. Among other things, the new pressing plant has a work queue that allows the entire shift to be pressed without an operator being present ("ghost shift").
The second new machine is the Monolam MLP 25M high temperature press, which enables Gatema PCB to offer customers materials for special boards that are pressed at temperatures up to 400ºC (e.g. Teflon). It is also suitable for coverlay or stiffeners.
At the same time, Monolam is an important link for speeding up and streamlining production. In fact, it is preferably used for express orders and for orders with a small number of panels that would otherwise block large standard presses.
The third newcomer to the pressing centre is the Optical Pinless Bonding 211/8, which has made it possible to introduce a pinless pressing process. This machine is capable of demounting cores using cameras and then fixing the demounting using welding. This makes it possible to reliably produce boards that have more than ten layers as well as boards with finer motifs (where the joint or insulation can reach 50 µm).
After the first week of familiarisation with the new machines, a test run lasting several weeks followed. Currently, all machines are included in the standard production process. The new equipment for the press centre was purchased at a total cost of EUR 914,000.
