June, 2020
www.us-
tech.com Swissbit Invests in SMT Lines and Cleanrooms for 3D Chip-Scale Packaging
opening of Swissbit’s new plant. The Swiss compa- ny is investing around $22 million in high-per- formance SMT lines and cleanrooms with state-of- the-art equipment for advanced 3D chip-scale packaging. The production facility will be used for Swissbit’s own product manufacturing and is open to other OEMs and electronics developers. Dr. Frank Nägele, Berlin state secretary,
A
appeared pleased and proud at the ceremonial opening of the new Swissbit plant in the CleanTech business park, based in the northeast- ern district of Berlin-Marzahn. This year, the new high-tech
location in the urban area is expected to offer more than 215,000 ft2 (20,000m2) of commercial space, as well as 100 jobs in the production facility and another 100 jobs in devel- opment and testing. Later on, an additional 100 jobs are planned to be added. The plant also has the poten- tial for future expansion by adding to its floor area. Silvio Muschter, CEO, Swissbit,
is investing the money in these addi- tional development and manufactur- ing capabilities. Known primarily as a leading manufacturer of industrial flash storage solutions, Swissbit is now addressing an extremely attrac- tive new market with a second busi- ness unit dedicated to “embedded IoT” solutions. This unit was created in 2019 and is where the company offers hardware-based security for manufacturing plants, machines and products in the Internet of Things (IoT).
Swissbit integrates encryptor
components and trusted platform modules (TPMs), as well as the corre- sponding firmware in its memory modules, through advanced packag- ing technologies. The company enables sensitive data and boot sec- tors to be secured and a verifiable identity created for communication across the network of IoT compo- nents. For manufacturers of machines
and products, the benefit of this solu- tion is that Swissbit modules provide flexibility and cost-effective imple- mentation with wide-ranging storage interfaces for IoT components and their data. They can even be retrofit- ted in existing machines in the field. Some of the first successful applica- tions of these technologies include solutions for POS systems or body- cams with encrypted video recording.
Integrated, Customized Solutions
“At the plant, we work 24/7 in
five shifts and are working toward tripling our production capacities in the medium term,” says Lars Lust, head of advanced packaging —assem- bly and test solutions, Swissbit. Lust is also responsible for the Berlin site. “In Berlin-Marzahn, we have clean- rooms and state-of-the-art systems for semiconductor assembly and con- nection technologies and can already produce up to one million assemblies per month.” The production is designed in
such a way that prototypes, and small and medium-sized batches in particu- lar, can be produced efficiently. “For German and European manufactur- ers of machines and embedded IoT
View into Swissbit’s cleanroom with ASM solutions for ball-wedge wire bonding. By Grady Lambert, General Manager, Swissbit NA
t the end of 2019, Berlin gained one of the most modern semiconductor and electronics production facilities in Europe with the
components, safety is important,” says Lust. “This is another reason why we produce exclusively in Germany.” While the company previously outsourced its
SMT assembly, the new plant includes both SMT assembly and advanced semiconductor packaging processes. The company is also opening the new plant up to other organizations. The objective is to provide state-of-the-art processes rarely found in Europe to a broader market, and to be able to use them efficiently. Engineering and test services can be included upon request. The idea is to allow developers and manufac-
Continued on page 53
Page 51
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
