Additive Electronics Manufacturing: Innovations and Prospects

Printed electronics enables a transition from conventional sheet based subtractive manufacturing to more efficient and responsive production methods that can be additive, digital, and higher throughput. As electronics become increasingly ubiquitous, and pressures on cost and sustainability increase, taking advantage of the latest manufacturing methods will become ever-more important.
 
An especially notable transition is from sheet-to-sheet (S2S) to higher throughput roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing. Since conductive ink can be directly printed onto low-cost flexible substrates such as PET or paper via established methods such as flexographic or gravure printing, there is scope to dramatically lower the unit cost of simple electronics. This dramatic cost reduction is a pre-requisite for high volume applications such as smart packaging for consumer goods.
 
Furthermore, there is increasing interest in digital manufacturing methods that facilitate rapid prototyping and efficient high-mix low-volume (HMLV) production. Especially notable is laser induced forward transfer (LIFT), an emerging approach that brings the benefits of inkjet printing to a much wider range of printable materials while increasing throughput.
 
In this webinar Dr Matthew Dyson, a Principal Technology Analyst at IDTechEx, will discuss the following topics:
  • The status and prospects of competing analogue and digital manufacturing methods for printed electronics, including a comparison of length scale and throughput.
  • Technical discussion of emerging digital manufacturing methodologies, such as laser induced forward transfer and electrodynamic printing.
  • Evaluation of the benefits and challenges of adopting high throughput roll-to-roll manufacturing.
  • Innovations in component placement and attachment that will facilitate manufacturing of flexible hybrid electronics (FHE).
 
The brand new IDTechEx report, "Manufacturing Printed Electronics 2023-2033", explores the developments, transitions, and technological innovations within printed electronics manufacturing. Drawing on IDTechEx's many years of experience analyzing the printed electronics space, and on interviews and interactions with over 30 companies, we assess the attributes, readiness level, use cases and market demand for 20 analogue/digital printing and component attachment technologies.
Q&A Session
There will be a Q&A session at the end of this webinar, where Dr Dyson will answer a few questions that have been sent in.
 
Please send your questions to a.garrington@IDTechEx.com by Monday 6th February. Please note that there will not be time to answer all of the questions sent in.

Presenter

Dr Matthew Dyson
Dr Matthew Dyson
Principal Technology Analyst
IDTechEx