EMS@C-LEVEL
As Forbes, Entrepreneur, Fast Company and SCOOP writer, Philip Stoten, continues to talk to EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Services) executives he learns more about their individual and collective experiences and their expectations for their own businesses and for the entire electronic manufacturing industry.
EMS@C-LEVEL
Electronica 24: Harald Eppinger, Koh Young Europe talks to EMSNOW's Eric Miscoll
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What if the future of European electronics hinges on rekindling the pride of 'Made in Germany'? Join Eric and as we explore this notion with Harald Eppinger from Koh Young Technology at Electronica 2024. As we journey through the evolution of the electronics industry, Harald sheds light on Europe's resilience amidst global shifts, emphasizing the indispensable role of automation and AI in tackling labor shortages and enhancing production quality. Discover why there's cautious optimism for economic recovery beyond 2025 and how innovations are paving the way for the region's manufacturing excellence.
In the second part of our episode, we tackle the rippling effects of the Chips Act across Europe and the US. While initial excitement has faced headwinds, companies such as TSMC and Infineon are navigating these challenges with strategic caution. Despite slower progress, Harald shares his optimism about Europe's potential to emerge as a semiconductor powerhouse, thanks to its outstanding talent and strategic foresight. Tune in as we spotlight the region's drive for independence in semiconductor production, a crucial step toward solidifying its standing in the global electronics arena, amidst current challenges and the promise of future success.
EMS@C-Level at electronica 2024 was hosted by IPC (https://www.ipc.org/)
EMS@C-Level is hosted by global inspection leaders Koh Young (https://www.kohyoung.com) and Global Electronics Association (https://www.electronics.org)
You can see video versions of all of the EMS@C-Level pods on our YouTube playlist.
Hello and welcome to Electronica 2024, eric Miskell with Harold from Coyoung Technology here in Europe. Harold, welcome, thanks for coming by. Thanks for the invitation, yep. We were just talking about all the history here, but specifically, this is the 60th anniversary of Electronica and you've been to some of those.
Speaker 2Yeah, I think I started around the mid-80s. I cannot contribute with the 60s, but yeah, Very interesting if you see the history, the changes of electronics. That's what we see on a daily basis. Very good to see how much is changing and how much innovation is in this business.
Speaker 1Yeah, I mean, I walked through some of the halls here earlier. I'm just amazed at the variety of the parts and the companies and everything, and from all over the world too.
Speaker 2Yeah, I think Electronica is really reflecting a kind of mirror of the electronic DNA worldwide, and I heard that they have really more than 3,000 exhibitors and all of us are busy. So it's really good to be here and to see, and let's also hope that with the signs from us as vendors, the economy really can go on.
Speaker 1Yeah, Well, and we're all waiting for that, right. I mean, it's been a bit of a slow year in the industry and everybody's hopeful for the future that in 2025 and beyond, things pick up.
Speaker 2We need to understand. Europe is always conservative and slow, so there's a slowdown and this, this takes a time and this comes back. We are competitive. That's what we have to see Europe is not a bad area.
Speaker 2Europe is a great area. We have good people, we have qualified people, we have high efficiency in our products, so it's not something we have to be shy on and we are not competitive. But I think the most important thing is that we have to learn to stand for what we are doing. So that was a good phrase a long time ago, made in Germany, was a mic for quality, for excellence, and I think we should come back to this way of thinking because we can do it and we have the products. We are respected and I think it's still in our hands. Also from both sides our customers, our clients, we all, as vendors, we have to support and believe in Europe.
Speaker 1Yeah, and that's interesting because I've been touring last week a lot of EMS here, well, mostly in Eastern Europe, but we've toured before in Germany and I see a lot of automation, everything to drive for automation and more, and there's a hunger for more of it, and obviously what Koyang sells the inspection is such a critical component of that.
Speaker 2The inspection is one part, but what we have to understand is that I personally am involved, since I'm in this electronic. I'm involved in this ICT functional test, aoi, spi and I have to say we are focusing too much on the machine itself as a job to detect the defect. The interesting thing is that the manufacturing process, you raised the automation. The interesting thing is that the manufacturing process and you raised the automation. Automation is one thing, but a sustainable and a reliable quality is the second aspect of efficiency and profitability and competitiveness. So with our tools, the machine itself, combined with the software, can really analyze the process stability. We can really analyze the process stability and we can utilize, from my point of view, with less labor involvement, still a high quality. So the capability to deliver but also to keep this on a high level and utilizing expensive lines really 24-7, instead of having continuously downtime on machines.
Speaker 2I think this is exactly what we have to see. It's not just the machine itself, it's now comes the software of smart factory. And I was this year invited a lot of speeches and my most important goal was you cannot save the world on your own in this business. So the partnering, the partnership between two vendors like a printer and an SPI manufacturer and exchanging the value things between the two machines and to somehow make the communication. This is exactly what will help us. We are still suffering with labor shortage. We need to have more qualified people. Senior people are facing out.
Speaker 1And the next generation is a good generation.
Speaker 2We are allowed to train on the job for years until we get the responsibility. Now you get the responsibility, you have to do something. I think this is something that has to be compensated. Everybody is talking about AI, ai, ai With the tools we can support and upskill people on the line. Yeah, and that's why with the labor shortage.
Speaker 1what I've seen when I go around is all the increased automation that people are putting in who are saying is what I've seen when I go around is all the increased automation that people are putting in.
Speaker 2Let me say, if you take this point from the labor shortage, you see that we need to upscale the people, we have to train them better, we have to utilize the limited amount of people, and this is generating efficiency, profitability and competitiveness in the market, and this helps everybody at the end of the day. So automation on one hand for the workflow, but on the other hand, predictive quality and even in critical designs, this is what we see. Not to utilize the machine as a machine, as a database and data generator, as a sensor for quality, and then acting wisely to keep this wisely, to utilize the learning, and here AI and other tools can really help.
Speaker 1Yeah, you know it's interesting too. What I see a lot is still a lot of pin-through-hole in Europe, especially the type of products they're building, the volume mix ratio that it is, and that's hard to automate sometimes for people. So you still need a lot of people on manual insertion. But I know there's a big drive and then you need to make sure the quality is still good with that.
Speaker 2There are two aspects. On one hand there's PressFit, which is replacing this high-power connector, and it's one of the reliable ones and it's like a lot of technologies, it's going up and down and it disappears. One of the reliable ones and it's like a lot of Technologies is going up and down and it disappears and comes back, especially the. The e-mobility with it, with high power connectivity is is two aspects press fit can solve it, and Big pins through all THD, and it's always there and it was always there and it was not fully disappearing. Especially the mixer that you have high density control um and and and um chip based things, and then you have the power, on the other hand, where you need the big wire somehow because otherwise you cannot handle this. So this mixture is utilizing again this technology. There there's automation, there's a lot of automated soldering and also the aspect of inspection. It's all our business, but the mainstream is still the standard PCB. That's overlapping everything.
Speaker 1Almost without fail. With the factories I go into, you can sense that the business has been down this year, right, that it's been low and for whatever the reasons are, and now there's a lot of hope that within the next year that things will start picking up again.
Speaker 2What's your view? I don't know. We are long enough in the business and if you try to find a chart about the economy growth, you will realize that from the last 15, 20 years it goes like this yeah.
Speaker 2And deep in 17 and 21 and more on the big picture. It's just deep, just a bit, and you cannot always believe that it's only going in one direction. On the other hand, this kind of scenario helps a lot to concentrate on the core, because typically people are not sensitive to focus on the right things or on how to do the right. Focusing and focusing know-how, focusing investments, focusing on the right things and for Europe, and especially for Germany, I would say the mid-sized account, mostly private owned. They are the strong pillars in our economy. They are the guys who are reacting wisely. They are not purely finance driven. If investor invests, his purpose is to return the money one or the other way.
Speaker 2And I believe that the philosophy behind these mid-sized companies and there are big private owned companies but the decision process, the action and the focus to make things happen, because the slowdown I see today is homemade. We believe it's very bad, we cannot say super good, we are used to different.
Speaker 2But on the other hand, if you see how much production lines in the last three years after COVID has been built up and recovered, it's not so bad also in Europe. But we cannot compete with China. We cannot compete in Europe with company sizes like also in America or Mexico. But I think this mixture is the value of Europe. We are much more flexible. We are much more dynamic in adapting the market. But from my opinion, governments are in charge. They need to support and this is, I think, one of the most topics this industry also needs. We need the proper support and the environment to grow. So that's the chance for Europe.
Speaker 1Yeah, no, it is, it is. Last thing I wanted to ask you about about too is I know that within Coyoung you also have, in the semiconductor area as well, related industry, but kind of not directly as you've been doing. How is that? And I know even here at Electronica you're representing both places.
Speaker 2We have a second booth here in C2 and it's, by the way, a bigger one than in the electronica.
Speaker 2We are working on the same economy as a company since a few years, but it was mainly a product for asia and maybe a little bit in the us.
Speaker 2But due to the chip act and the supply chain topics we faced, it was very clear that there was a demand and a change, and with this change there was going a lot of money into the market and the chip act in the US. The chip act in Europe was more or less the same time frame, but now we see production in the US, but we still don't see the production in Europe, and this is something why it's slower, and we had an enthusiasm start two years ago and now it's slowed down. The big investment TSMC, infineon they're all slowing down a little bit More careful. This has an impact also in our, because we expected that it becomes more stronger in a shorter time frame. I still believe this is the future, because we all know that we have to get independent somehow, and so that's the reason why we have the two booths and there is a good chance for Europe to enter this business. It's not impossible.
Speaker 1Right. No, I'm nothing but impressed. When I come to Europe for the companies, I meet the technologists and the quality of the people who are making the decisions and managing it, and you echo that as well in your comments, and so I think you know you're right. It's tough times, but the future hopefully starts improving and Europe will continue to thrive. So, errol, thank you for your time. Thanks for taking time here today, of course, good luck with the show, Thank you.