When it comes vertical industries, arguably few are more visible and familiar to most of us than consumer electronics. Our appetite for such products appears to be endless. As a result the market continues to expand. According to Reports Insights[1], it was valued at USD 740.79 billion in 2022, with a CAGR of 4.62% forecast for the period 2023-2030. By the end of that time, the consumer electronics market is projected to be worth USD 1063.39 billion.
Keeping pace with the predictions, however, may be challenging for manufacturers. Making electronics components is a complex matter and a challenge heightened by the rapid pace of product evolution. Quality, cost, and production efficiency place constant demands.
Facing challenges
If we look at specific challenges in more detail, we can quickly see why. Among them:
- Electronic device design continually trends towards smaller and more compact sizes and that means the components within devices must downscale accordingly. Making ever smaller components with high precision understandably isn’t easy. It demands advanced tools, technologies, and processes to deliver the required results.
- All of us are aware of the rapid pace of change and technical innovation in the industry (new product releases, for instance, have become major events for some!) To keep up, manufacturers must continually invest in their equipment and processes, without sacrificing quality along the way.
- Speaking of quality, ensuring consistency in electronic components is vital. Defective or poorly manufactured components mean product failures and recalls. So strict quality control measures to minimize defects and ensure reliability tend to be table stakes in the industry. This requires investment.
- Cost-effective electronic components are in high demand which means there’s constant pressure to reduce manufacturing costs. As you can imagine, that isn’t easy.
- The raw materials required for manufacturing aren’t always easy to find as rare earth metals and minerals are often used in electronics and their availability can be limited. Both sourcing and supply, as well as minimizing wastage, are key issues to overcome.
- Electronics components frequently require complex, multi-step manufacturing processes including precision machining, surface mounting, and testing. Coordinating and implementing these means efficiency is a challenge.
Of course, there are other issues. Short product lifecycles, intense global competition, skilled labour shortages, and cybersecurity among them. In short, the electronic components manufacturer faces the need to continuously invest in research and development, to adopt innovative and advanced manufacturing technologies, and to bear a serious commitment to quality control to achieve success. Accuracy, agility and adaptability are key.
The role of machine tools
Playing a central role in meeting many of the challenges outlined above are machine tools. These play a critical part in the manufacturing process because they enable the precise and repeatable performance necessary for successful production. Think about the end products for a moment and it’s easy to see why: devices with intricate shapes, tight tolerances, and fine details abound. As often as not, machine tools – used at various stages of manufacturing – are responsible so let’s look more closely at how they’re used:
- Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are common and often need specific shapes and outlines with routing machines required to cut boards to the desired shape. Some boards require embedded components, with milling machines necessary for precise material removal.
- Product enclosures and chassis’ must be fabricated, involving sheet metal cutting, bending, and forming using a variety of tools; different types of cutters, punches, and press brakes among them to create the desired shapes and angles.
- Connectors are generally built via turning and milling processes, with lathes and mills used to create intricate shapes and threads for connectors and contact pins. Electrical Discharge Manufacturing can be used to create highly accurate, complex shapes where precision connectors are necessary.
- Milling machines also play an expanding role in manufacturing the metal chassis of many consumer electronic devices. One obvious example is the MacBook with its backlit apple logo milled with tolerances of a few microns. Phones and other high-end laptops are further examples of devices that depend on fast milling using conventional milling tools and also forming tools cut with a wire-EDM to resemble the negative of the shape they are extruding.
- Grinding tools are frequently used to refine the surface of components, ensuring they meet requirements for smoothness and flatness.
- The process of making the machine tools themselves is important and also worth noting, with milling machines widely used in their creation in the consumer electronic business. One example is the milling of plastic molds deployed in injection molding. Others are tools for stamping, punching, extrusion and die sinking.
Those above are just some examples of the vital role of machine tools in electronics component manufacturing. Enough, certainly, to see that the performance of these tools is essential if the electronics industry is to maintain the high levels of precision and consistency its end products require. Tight tolerances, complex shapes, granular details; reliability and consistency are all table stakes for success.
Machine tools mean measurement systems
In an industry where machine tools play such a central role, accuracy is predictably critical to assuring manufacturing performance. As we’ve already seen, there really isn’t any margin for error in electronics manufacturing because quality is non-negotiable. Yet achieving accurate outcomes isn’t easy, particularly considering the small scale and fine detail the industry demands. One outcome of this is that the deployment of measurement systems which ensure the required tools perform optimally is a key aspect of successful manufacturing processes.
Made for measuring tools in demanding environments, effective deployment of such systems can dramatically improve manufacturing outcomes. Of course, there are numerous individual tool measurement scenarios but generally, it’s true to say that electronics component manufacturing involves repetitive processes. Deploying and continuously using measurement tools such as a camera-based system to ensure the quality of the end product will therefore be an investment that helps the manufacturer maximise returns. As there are no shortcuts to accuracy, and a lot of parameters to consider if you want to achieve it, such an investment is guaranteed to pay off.
If you’d like to discuss the best approaches to machine tool measurement systems with us directly – and to learn how our CU2 solutions can reduce waste and provide in-situ measurements of machine tools, please click the link below.
About Conoptica
Conoptica is a leading source of high accuracy measurement systems. They enable accurate measurement, so users can track consistency and take appropriate actions – avoiding excessive quality deterioration and enabling better production outcomes.
Conoptica has been providing high tech camera-based measurement solutions for the metal working industry since the 1993. We make sure that the metal working industry has access to key quantitative data about their products and tools.
[1] https://www.reportsinsights.com/industry-forecast/global-consumer-electronics-market-statistical-analysis-673824