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IPC Guiding Monetization of Printed Electronics
September 12, 2013 |Estimated reading time: 1 minute
Abstract
Printed electronics is considered by many international technologists to be a platform for manufacturing innovation. The strong foundation established at IPC in 2010 and the complementary activities recently initiated at IEC and other organizations substantiate this claim. Its rich portfolio of advanced multi-functional, nano-designed materials, scalable ambient processes, and high-volume manufacturing technologies lends itself to offer an opportunity for sustained manufacturing innovation. Moreover, the intrinsic mechanical, electrical, and optical properties of the materials and design architectures that are used enable a plethora of novel and highly desirable final product features such as flexibility, stretchability, transparency, and bio-compatibility. These features are driving designers as they strive to offer customers product differentiation.
The success of introducing a new manufacturing technology platform is strongly dependent on the ability to achieve high final product yields at current or reduced cost. In the past, standards have been the critical vehicle to enable manufacturing success. In 2000, it was proclaimed that printed electronics would revolutionize many aspects of our daily lives. Some futurists even suggested that it was the platform technology for “smart everything,” “virtual everything,” and “interconnect everything.” Today, the future is brighter for printed electronics as the participation by representatives from small and large companies, academia, and technical laboratories in standards activities has observed sustained growth; as an example, the number of participants in the different IPC Printed Electronics Standards Subcommittees averages 80 individuals. This involvement suggests that companies are engaging in “technology pull” in contrast to the pre-2010 period of “technology-push.”
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the August 2013 issue of The PCB Magazine.