Pat Trippel is one of the outstanding industry “veterans” in the area of electronics manufacturing in the US. Before he took over the current position at Henkel in America, he was head of Siemens Electronic Assembly Equipment business (Siplace) of Atlanta/GA. And as such he has more than trippled the company’s sales figures in this region.
Loctite, Multicore and Hysol are recognized brands in the electronics industry; bringing these under the banner of Henkel Technologies will any of the existing names disappear?
None of these globally used brands will disappear, but there is a re-branding of the corporate entity to Henkel Technologies. The brands are just being re-positioned, not re-named. Our customers are familiar with them and they will retain the same brand attributes and values, and enjoy the same competitive advantages as before. What the integration will bring is more of a solution base – taking those well-known brands and creating viable end solutions for customers.
Are the Henkel brands better known in any particular region?
We have an excellent set of product brands that have universally achieved high levels of success around the globe. Clearly, some are better recognized in specific territories and markets than others, mostly for historic reasons. That’s one of the objectives for the Henkel Technologies ‘umbrella’ brand – to promote and strengthen all products in all territories.
Could you give a quick run through the brands of Henkel Technologies as of today?
Loctite is known worldwide and is one of the leading suppliers for adhesive applications. Those products within the brand that are relevant to our electronics business sector are widely used in semiconductor and board assembly. Multicore solders have also established an excellent global reputation, predominantly in board assembly. Its lead-free products are pre-eminent in Europe, highly regarded in the US and making dramatic inroads in China and Asia. Hysol is known primarily for its superior epoxy-based semiconductor assembly materials. And, finally, our power devices business, another strategic acquisition, has an outstanding reputation in the thermal-management arena.
What are the aspirations of Henkel Technologies as a global corporate brand, and how will the group differentiate itself from other materials suppliers?
The aim is to establish a service ethic and infrastructure competitors cannot match. Few of them have the means to deploy support resources on the scale that we are already doing, and none of them can combine this with the global reach owned by us. What we are doing is taking our strong products and offering additional user value – complete wrap-around solutions that provide a higher level of application support tailored to customer requirements. Our corporate resources, customer focus and service commitment are what set us apart from the competition. That’s what makes the difference and will be an even bigger differentiator in the future.
Lead-free is a major issue, what impact has this had on Henkel Technologies’ product offering?
Lead-free, obviously, has had a substantial impact and effect on all of our materials, whether they are used on board or semiconductor level. Lead-free and higher processing temperature have a dramatic effect on our product offerings, and we see that as a huge opportunity for Henkel Technologies. We are in the enviable position of being able to offer a complete solution for higher temperature level, 260°C–compatible lead-free materials. We have spent tremendous resources developing superior materials to effectively enable lead-free manufacturing. Our pioneering endeavors over the past decade include the scientific investigation and formulation of Pb-free solder paste as well as compatible rework and underfill materials. The Multicore brand includes solder paste that are the clear market leaders outside of Japan – a dominant position that has seen us deliver considerable volumes of lead-free paste to the electronics industry.
The lead-free move affects more than the board-assembly community. What steps has Henkel Technologies taken to ease the transition for the semiconductor manufacturers who will be obliged to deliver Pb-free compatible packaging?
The semiconductor industry needs to reacquire vast quantities of data to requalify material sets for lead-free packages. There are huge efforts involved in assessing the abundant interactions between solder, flux, adhesive, encapsulant, overmold, thermal material and underfill. As we have the capability to provide fully tested material sets guaranteed compatible; we can reassure customers of the interactions between the different materials they have to combine. This relieves them of the need to requalify the next material sets. Henkel Technologies has also developed a unique prototyping and modeling service, through which we are able to model the most optimal set of materials to meet specific application requirements. Not only are we able to shape material sets that should be used, we are also able to actually qualify material sets in a real-world application environment. This is a global service provided by Henkel Technologies, with labs operational in California, Europe, Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea and Singapore.
For lead-free board assembly, users have to qualify materials characteristics both individually and together in sets. What support is Henkel Technologies offering as helpful solution?
It’s the same as with semiconductors. We already provide full material sets tested, and guaranteed compatible for Pb-free board assembly. Most material suppliers are not capable of delivering such a service. Yet it is essential since the industry is to meet its obligations in regard to lead-free legislation.
Among the corporate philosophies of Henkel Technologies is a commitment to remaining a ‘supplier with responsibility’. What does that mean?
It’s a stance that ensures our customers are kept aware of current and future environmental policies, and are provided with the optimum materials to maintain the highest attainable levels of quality and yield. Henkel Technologies offers a breadth of experience and depth of knowledge second to none. Our visibility of demanding modern assembly and rework processes gives us a unique perspective and a forward vision that allows us to help drive the market and proactively support our customers.
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