John Malboeuf, Vice President of Global Sales, DDM Novastar

In 2018, the industry has experienced both uncertainty and innovation.

The tariffs introduced by the Trump Administration have seen businesses move out of China, to other S. E. Asian countries as well as India, which is fast becoming the mobile phone "center of the world", with both Foxconn & Samsung making substantial investments.

This has resulted in new growth opportunities for those companies supporting the various electronic manufacturing processes, with an emphasis on quality and local support.

Automation is playing a key role in this shift away from China and the Thermaltronics, TMT-R8000S Solder Robot, which won a Global SMT Award for innovation, has been garnishing much interest.

In fact, the drive for automation, especially in the hand soldering processes, will see robotic soldering move into the SMT Production Line.

These requirements are being strongly pushed by major EMS companies, who continue to seek ongoing cost reductions on the assembly line.

Accuracy and consistently good yields have been lacking in certain machines available on the market, but the design of the Thermaltronics Robot is based on replicating the movements and decision-making processes of a good hand solder operator, rather than on a simple X Y Z basis.

As a result, systems that incorporate vision and mapping, fiducial marks, dynamic laser height adjustment, as well as intelligent software, will be the benchmark for solder applications.

These important technical advancements will see Solder Robots play a key role in future electronic manufacturing and inline versions, such as those developed by Thermaltronics, with underboard heater options and 450mm x 450mm solder capability, will play an important role.