CAMBRIDGE, England — March 22, 2016 — The conductive inks and paste business will generate a demand of 1,800 metric tons. IDTechEx Research forecasts that this will grow to 2200 by 2026. This business has come alive again and is now a business where literally everything is changing.  The traditional markets are experiencing upheaval in terms of requirements and product leadership, whilst various emerging markets are opening up new frontiers.

The new IDTechEx Research report “Conductive Inks 2016-2026: Forecasts, Technologies, Players” provides the most comprehensive and authoritative view of the conductive inks and paste market, giving detailed ten-year market forecasts segmented by application and material/ink type. The market forecasts are given in tonnage and value at the ink level.

We provide a detailed analysis of at least 17 existing and emerging application sectors including silicon solar cells, UF/UHF RFID tags, touch screen edge electrodes, automotive, in-mould electronics, e-textiles, 3D antennas, 3D printed electronics, desktop PCB printers, ITO replacement, OLED lighting and others.

This report is based upon years of research. Our analysts have many years of hands-on prior experience and were at the forefront of the conductive inks/paste business, playing an important role in creating a multi-billion dollar industry. In the past five years alone, our team has interviewed and profiled more than 50 users and producers of various types of conductive inks and pastes. Each year we have learned more about the market and fine-tuned our analysis, insight and forecasts.

Photovoltaics

Everything in this sector is changing. At paste level, the initial group of suppliers that came to dominate the market are losing their leading position to those who were once low-cost and low-quality. This trend will continue in the short term, whilst in the long term we anticipate that this will become a Chinese business entirely. At the powder level, recent factory interruptions have convinced the end users to force through a more diversified supplier base despite the dominant supplier having a distinct quality advantage.

Touch Screens

This is a changing and declining market. The adoption of narrow bezel designs in premium phones has pushed the performance requirements beyond the limits of standard PTF and screen printing thereby opening the market to photo-curable pastes. This trend will continue and will in the long term favour competing approaches to printing. Standard PTFs will continue losing share but will remain substantial thanks to their cost advantage and the rise of low-cost devices. Intense cost competition will continue in this end of the market, eroding the margins even further.

3-D Antennas

Aerosol deposition for 3-D antenna is gaining traction. This technique enables antennas to be directly deposited on 3-D surfaces, thus helping save space. In addition, it accommodates a change in design by a change in software. It now competes with LDS even on cost. We anticipate that aerosol will establish itself as a major process for creating antennas in consumer electronic devices, thus creating a market opportunity for silver nanoparticle inks.

In-mould Electronics (IMEs)

IME will make a comeback after the Ford setback. This process combines electronic and graphical printing on a 2D sheet which is then formed or moulded into a 3D shape. IME offers an elegant and attractive way to structurally integrate simple electronics into 3D-shaped objects, particularly for high-volume production. It will find use both in the automotive and consumer electronic segments. There is still room for product improvement and optimization. The value chain is also not well-established yet.

Stretchable Electronics

Electronic textiles (e-textiles) are on the cusp of growth. IDTechEx Research forecasts that it will grow from nearly $100 million in 2015 to nearly $3.2 billion in 2026 at the final product level. The interconnects and sensors are critical elements of all emerging e-textile products. Printing here can deliver value as it is a post-production process familiar to the textile industry. This is why the number of e-textile products and prototypes with printed conductive lines is rapidly increasing. There is room for innovation as current inks fail to meet all the required performance targets. This is because technical requirement in terms of adhesion, washability and stretchability are stringent.

3-D printed electronics

3-D printed electronics can become a platform technology for creating arbitrarily-shaped and customized smart and electronic objects. This can transform standard plastic-based 3-D printing. The interest is rising as evidenced by the recent increase in the numbers of approaches, machines, ink supplier and prototypes. There are, however, some technical challenges: the printed embedded lines must provide high conductivity even at low (<80°C) annealing temperature.

Desktop PCB printing

Printed electronics wants to bring back ‘printing’ to the printed circuit board (PCB) industry. The recent trend has seen a rise in desktop PCB printers, aimed both at the hobbyist and professional ends of the market.  The hobbyist machines are simple systems capable of creating crude wide-track single or double-sided PCBs. They compete with, and will ultimately lose to, simple CNC milling machines. In contrast, professional desktop printers target complex multi-layer PCBs boards. They seek to cut down the prototyping time and to enable designers to keep circuit IP in house, whilst also becoming cost competitive with standards process at low volumes. This will be growing opportunity for silver nanoparticle inks since inkjet-printed conductive lines must be highly conducting and narrow.

RFID

RFIDs will become a business greater than $7bn in 2026 at the tag level. Printing is once again becoming a real contender for manufacturing RFID antennas. Silver prices have fallen, bringing down the BoM whilst the industry is projected to near full capacity utilisation soon, opening way for investment in new industrial process.  UHF and HF RFID firms have already started adopting RFID antenna printing en masse, and IDTechEx forecasts that this trend will continue.

by Dr Khasha Ghaffarzadeh, Head of Consulting, IDTechEx

Posted March 22, 2016

Source: IDTechEx

HEBRON, Ky. — March 2016 — Fives Group received the Excellence in Composites Manufacturing Award at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ (SME) annual Composites Manufacturing event, held last month in Long Beach, Calif. Fives won in the Large Company category for its lines of composites machine tool technology, including the Cincinnati VIPER fiber placement system, the Cincinnati CHARGER taper layer system and the Cincinnati GEMINI ATL/AFB system. These systems use advanced composites technology to produce complex parts or near-net shape, and are specifically designed to produce the fastest lay-up rates in the industry while maintaining superior reliability.

The Composites Manufacturing Tech Group — part of SME’s Plastics, Composites & Coatings Community — was created to recognize valuable contributions within the composites manufacturing industry, and acknowledge the valuable roles that both large and small manufacturers play within the industry.

The awards ceremony wraps up the three-day AeroDef Manufacturing with Composites Manufacturing 2016 conference and exhibit. There to accept the award was Robert Harper, Technical Sales Director at Fives. “To be singled out among the stateside and international companies that were nominated for this award is an honor and a testament to Fives’ commitment to transform the design and development of the technology used in manufacturing of advanced composites.” Previous winners include Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Callaway Golf.

SME has a rich and evolving heritage spanning more than 80 years and serves the manufacturing industry as a nonprofit by promoting advanced manufacturing technology and developing a skilled workforce. AeroDef Manufacturing is the leading exposition and technical conference of the aerospace and defense manufacturing industry, showcasing the field’s most advanced technologies.

Posted March 21, 2016

Source: Fives Group

NEUMÜNSTER, Germany — March 18, 2016 — Oerlikon Neumag will present itself at this year’s IDEA in Boston with its extensive technology portfolio for the production of nonwovens: from spunbond and meltblown to airlaid through to staple fibers for the production of carded nonwovens. Areas of application include technical, such as filtration, roofing, geotextiles and automotive, in addition to medical and hygiene applications.

Cost reductions of up to 30 percent for spunbond production

The proportion of nonwovens manufactured directly from polymer granulate now amounts to almost 50% of the total market, and its share is continuing to grow. The trend is towards lighter surface weights that despite everything still meet the high quality standards. Benchmark comparisons with current prod- ucts in Europe show that with the spunbond technology of Oerlikon Neumag, the required qualities are achieved with reduced surface weights. This results in raw material savings of over 5%.

Furthermore, the machine builder from Neumünster has optimized the energy consumption of its sys- tems. The new generation of systems saves almost 20% of the energy requirement in spinning alone. Together with the raw material savings and further technology optimizations, the conversion costs are up to 30% below those of the spunbond systems producing today.

Meltblown technology for even higher qualities

The optimized meltblown technology defines new requirements for the production of filter nonwovens. Whether as stand-alone mono and bicomponent systems, or as Plug & Produce components in existing systems, the Oerlikon Neumag meltblown process today enables cost-efficient manufacture of melt- blown nonwovens with the quality standards of tomorrow.

Airlaid technology for extremely thin nonwovens

Production of high-quality, light airlaid nonwovens with economically attractive production speeds and system throughputs is nowadays in demand. In this area, the forming head of the Oerlikon Neumag airlaid technology with a high uniformity and homogenous fiber placement, even with extremely thin nonwovens, is setting standards.

Fiber production for carded nonwovens

For manufacturers of carded nonwovens, who in future would like to produce their fibers in-house, Oer- likon Neumag offers a comprehensive technology portfolio. The economically viable system capacities for special mono and bico fibers made of PP, PET and other polymers start at 5 t per day.

Posted March 19, 2016

Source: Oerlikon Neumag

GREENVILLE, S.C. — March 16, 2016 — The Greenville Area Development Corp. (GADC), the county-chartered organization tasked with promoting and enhancing the economic growth of Greenville County, has announced that Fitesa Simpsonville Inc., a global leader and innovator in the design and manufacture of nonwoven fabric solutions for the global hygiene market, will further expand its existing facility in Greenville County to increase production capacity. The $52,000,000 investment is expected to create an additional 38 jobs over the next five years.

Established in 1973, Fitesa primarily serves the hygiene, medical and industrial markets. Its products provide a variety of physical and aesthetic properties, including softness, strength, abrasion resistance and sustainability. The company’s Simpsonville facility, which was opened in 1990, represents one of the company’s eleven plants located across eight countries worldwide.

To expand its Simpsonville operations, which are located at 840 Southeast Main Street, Fitesa is adding 20,000 square-feet to the existing facility. The company will be making infrastructure improvements and adding equipment to increase production of spunmelt fabrics.

“Our mission is to be the preferred choice for the supply of nonwoven fabrics to the global hygiene industry, and to deliver high quality products with exceptional service and sustainable processes. We are pleased to continue to grow our operations here and appreciate the support of Greenville County in making this announcement a reality.” -Fitesa Simpsonville Global Marketing Director Ray Dunleavy

“It’s another great day in South Carolina as we celebrate Fitesa and its decision to expand in Greenville County. With global headquarters already established in the Upstate, this $52 million expansion and the 38 new jobs it will create further show Fitesa’s fantastic commitment to our state and our people.” -Gov. Nikki Haley

“South Carolina’s robust manufacturing industry continues to drive economic success in our state, and today’s announcement from Fitesa is a testament to that. I’m excited to see what our loyal, world-class workforce will achieve with this expansion in the months and years to come.” -Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt

“Fitesa has been an integral manufacturing partner within the Greenville community for almost 30 years. The company’s growth and continued expansion are a true testament to the County’s workforce and collaborative spirit.” -Greenville County Council Chairman Dr. Bob Taylor

The company expects the improvements to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2017, and hiring for the new positions will begin in the spring of 2017.

Posted March 16, 2016

Source: The Greenville Area Development Corporation (GADC)