New pressing centre in the production of printed circuit boards. From test operation to faster and more efficient production.

Gatema PCB has been using a new pressing centre in the production of printed circuit boards since this autumn. The new technology significantly strengthens the production of printed circuit boards and improves efficiency across the production of printed circuit boards workflow.

The pressing centre consists of three new pieces of equipment: a Lauffer press set, a Monolam MLP 25M, and an Optical Pinless Bonding 211/8 machine. These investments modernize the production of printed circuit boards and ensure higher stability and precision in the production of printed circuit boards.

The Lauffer pressing assembly was installed in the production of printed circuit boards to replace a 30-year-old pressing veteran that had become increasingly difficult to maintain and was no longer sufficient in capacity for current demands in the production of printed circuit boards.

With the new presses, it is now possible to manufacture multilayer printed circuit boards from standard materials as well as hybrid constructions, multiple laminations, special high-temperature designs, and flexible materials, all within a more advanced production of printed circuit boards process.

   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 production of printed circuit boards with Monolam MLP 25M

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.