Developing smarter processes today for the evolution of electronics tomorrow
Rapid growth in global consumer demand for sophisticated, yet affordable, electronic devices such as smart phones and tablets is changing the manufacturing requirements of companies worldwide. Component manufacturers must improve their manufacturing capabilities and efficiencies to remain competitive and relevant. Manufacturing systems must support new product ranges and design iterations, as well as the use of advanced materials, alongside the need to reduce time to market. These goals can be achieved by making manufacturing processes more robust and flexible to suit demand.
Consumers expect increasingly lightweight and compact products with more features, greater reliability, and longer battery life – regular updates and upgrades are required faster than ever before. Frequent product innovations require manufacturers to adopt the latest, most flexible manufacturing technologies to deliver their products into the hands of consumers quickly and reliably.
The high-quality, high-volume nature of consumer electronics manufacturing also requires versatile and robust processes capable of quickly introducing new products to market with minimised scrap and manufacturing costs, to achieve overall margin targets.
Where we specialise
Process control and quality assurance
Precision machined enclosures and components are critical to the performance and aesthetics of electronic devices. Highly capable manufacturing processes are essential for accurate volume production. This accuracy is reliant upon sensors used throughout production, including machine tool inspection probes during machining and CMM inspection at the end of the machining process to verify parts. Control of complex assemblies using solutions like robot arms relies on the precise control of motion systems. Effective process control ensures automated production processes produce parts to specification every time, creating products that meet or exceed consumer expectations.
Thermal control
Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as metal 3D printing, can be used to control thermal effects in the manufacture and use of components. Heat sinks can be produced with integrated cooling channels and other internal structures using AM to enable the temperature of electronics to be regulated during operation using optimised surface area to cool sensitive components such as microprocessors.
Wafer manufacture
Made from advanced semiconductor materials, silicon wafers are a key component in microchips. Renishaw's position encoders are used throughout semiconductor production to provide precision feedback in many motion control operations including robot arms for wafer cutting and transfer. Renishaw's inVia™ confocal Raman spectroscopy instruments can be used to assess the quality of wafer production by analysing the chemical composition of finished products.
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