What’s next for electronics manufacturing? In this guest post, SmartRep CEO Michael Brianda shares his thoughts on where the industry is headed, from automation and AI to sustainable production and the role of data in driving smarter processes.
Q: How would you describe the current developments in the electronics market?
As a distributor of process machines along the SMD line, we believe that Europe has reached a turning point in the downturn: Germany's leading automotive industry is in the process of developing a strategy and sending out hopeful signals; the economy has adjusted to the decoupling from China, and the defence industry is booming. The task now is to develop opportunities from this situation.
Q: What do you think are the biggest challenges for providers of precision solutions?
One of the biggest challenges is having the courage to continuously push boundaries — both technologically and strategically. Precision solutions often require significant investment in high-end equipment, and skilled personnel. It takes a bold mindset to commit to these investments, especially in uncertain markets or when returns are not immediate. Providers need to stay ahead of rapidly evolving customer demands and technological standards, which means embracing risk and being willing to invest in innovation today to stay relevant tomorrow. Without that courage and long-term vision, it’s easy to fall behind in such a demanding field.
Q: What trends in automation and artificial intelligence are currently shaping SMD manufacturing?
The shortage of skilled workers, rising quality standards and the pressure to use production capacities efficiently are increasingly driving automation and the use of AI and computer-assisted processes. As a supplier of SMD equipment, our goal is to relieve operators and technologists of repetitive tasks so that they can concentrate on challenges that require human expertise and experience and that artificial intelligence cannot yet handle independently.
Q: How do you see the role of automation and AI in future manufacturing technologies?
Together with ESCATEC, we are investigating exciting questions such as how artificial intelligence can analyse the entire SMD manufacturing process and establish causal relationships. Since an SMD line produces millions of data points every day, helpful conclusions can be drawn from this data, such as how to increase first pass yield.
Q: Are there any technological advancements significantly influencing the demand for precision manufacturing solutions?
The global political situation, wars and crises, and the need for security upgrades are leading to an increase in production in Europe. As these military applications are subject to high security standards and are used in harsh environments, there is growing demand for underfill, inspection and X-ray systems in SMD manufacturing.
Q: Which technologies do you believe will drive the biggest transformation in manufacturing over the next five years?
SMT Equipment is increasingly being integrated with AI, robotics, and data analytics to create smart, adaptive manufacturing environments. The demand for smaller, more powerful devices is pushing SMT toward ultra-fine pitch components, Advanced soldering techniques. Tight tolerances and flexible and rigid-flex PCBs need to support compact, multi-layer designs. Sustainability and lead-free manufacturing will remain to be an important driver for manufacturing transformation.
Q: What does the future of manufacturing look like in your opinion? Will AI and automation dominate?
Concerns about so-called ghost shifts have actually existed since the advent of the SmartFactory concept – but so far, I am not aware of a single real-life example of this in the German speaking region.
The situation is similar with regard to artificial intelligence: in the next five to ten years, SMD production will most likely not be controlled entirely autonomously by AI. The main reason for this lies in the special requirements for innovative, customized solutions of the European Electronic market – especially in the high-mix, low-volume sector.
Frequent changeovers and comparatively small batch sizes may make it economically and technically unfeasible to train AI systems to handle this diversity. The prerequisites for fully autonomous manufacturing are simply different here than in regions with large-volume series production, for example.
Q: What potential do you see for sustainable technologies in your industry?
Energy efficiency is undoubtedly a key issue in modern electronics manufacturing. Here, too, technological innovations are making a decisive contribution. For example, our advanced thermal profilers enable intelligent control of the reflow oven – the largest energy consumer in the SMD line. With the help of AI, energy consumption can be optimised in a targeted manner without compromising process quality.
In addition, closed-loop systems in cleaning plants help to significantly reduce the use of chemicals and sustainably lower environmental impact. I could cite many more examples.
There are many smaller, technically sophisticated measures that, when combined, have a major impact – both ecologically and economically.
Q: Do you have an example or story of how AI or automation has delivered groundbreaking results in manufacturing?
Due to a growing shortage of experienced specialists who can quickly and efficiently set up an SMD printer for a new product, we have added an AI product to our portfolio that provides support to SMD novices: KPO, Koh Young Process Optimizer. In addition, it ensures real-time adjustment of the process – errors caused by contamination, changing environmental conditions or changes in solder viscosity during the process are prevented because live monitoring detects these trends and initiates countermeasures – this is groundbreaking!
Q: What personally excites you about the latest developments in technology?
I am particularly excited that modern systems are becoming increasingly intelligent and user-friendly. This makes work noticeably easier for operators – complex processes can now be monitored and controlled with significantly less effort.
Against the backdrop of a shortage of skilled workers, I find this an encouraging sign: if technology helps to reduce the workload on staff while at the same time increasing process reliability, this represents real progress – both for production and for the people who work in it.
Q: What three trends should the industry focus on in the coming years?
Unfortunately, Europe is not the global leader in SMD manufacturing. However, our strength lies in our process expertise, and this is precisely where systematic data analysis offers enormous potential for further optimising manufacturing processes and deepening our know-how in a targeted manner.
A second, long-term trend is clearly automation. It remains a key lever for ensuring productivity, efficiency, quality and scalability in production in the long term.
I see a third area with great development potential in the field of new product introduction (NPI). Here, we need to become even faster and more flexible – bringing new products into production quickly, with high quality and as little waste as possible right from the start. This can be a decisive unique selling point, especially in Europe.
About SmartRep
SmartRep is one of the leading providers of high-tech capital goods for electronics production and represents renowned SMT manufacturers in the D-A-CH region. The company offers its customers state-of-the-art production machines and comprehensive local service. For over 15 years, SmartRep has been the exclusive sales partner of Koh Young, the global technology leader in 3D inspection systems, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
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