With more capacity for high precision into the new year.

2021 was a turbulent year for the electronics sector. Michael Brianda, Chief Executive at precision screens and stencil manufacturer Christian Koenen gives an interview on the learning outcomes from the Coronavirus period, the effects of the semiconductor crisis and current trends in precision printing.

Editorial team: Mr Brianda, the events of the last few months are keeping the tech sector in suspense even beyond turn of the year. What were the most serious developments for you and how have you dealt with the challenges relating to this?

Brianda: Over the course of the Coronavirus pandemic the sector advanced extremely fast digitally. We matched this tempo and used the chance to make our internal communications and production planning even faster, more transparent and more efficient with the help of online tools. One example are “Stand-up Meetings” with our key areas: In a maximum of 15 minutes we discuss the order situation and in this way every morning we can ensure our short delivery times through targeted information and quick decisions. On the other hand our customers have also digitally accelerated their processes and now expect even shorter delivery times. However, this has limits because the manufacture of high precision screens and stencils is, and to a large degree remains, manual work, which we implement as quickly as possible using quality oriented processes and well practised teams of reliable and competent employees.

How strongly are you feeling the ongoing semiconductor crisis?
Brianda: As yet our production has not been affected by the shortage of materials. As a result of stock replenishment we are well prepared for 2022. However, the ongoing component shortage has as of today led to huge bottlenecks in electronics manufacturing and to volatile order patterns in our customers. Whilst the order position regarding automobile electronics is weakening somewhat, it is developing rather more positively for international customers from medicine technology and semiconductor manufacturing. During the past year we managed to gain an American microprocessor manufacturer as a customer, and today we are supplying their worldwide plants with mass produced CK stepped stencils from Germany. This also involves interesting application fields such as sensors for hearing aids or enzyme printing on blood sugar measuring strips. Our new customers value the fact that we adapt quickly to specific requests and if needed we give support with process advice and evaluations in our Application Centre.

In your opinion which trends are shaping precision printing in 2022?
Brianda: With the progressive miniaturisation of electronic components the mix of components is increasing too. Different types of components of various sizes have to be placed in direct proximity to each other. The challenge for precision printing now lies in applying the respective optimum quantity of solder paste in one single squeegee cycle. We manage this by using stepped stencils to which we give different plate thicknesses and defined printing bumps with the help of our patented CK milling process.
I see a second trend in precision printing on low-priced circuit boards. Their reduced quality often leads to printing problems which cannot be resolved with conventional stencil designs. In order to deal with this topic, in the context of our applications service we also provide solder resist and circuit board measuring as well as solder paste evaluation. Based on appropriate analyses we produce individual stencils which are adapted up to 0.5 µm exactly to the contours of the circuit board and attain optimum printing results with milled bumps and microfine height variations.

And so the development is moving towards individual precision stencils with short delivery times?
Exactly so, and especially for automobile electrics, including precisely fitting counterparts for flush support of the circuit boards. These support work pieces must also be precisely manufactured and in view of the ever shorter lead times and more expensive print preparation must also be readily available. Because we want to offer both at the same time we have not just invested in the manufacture of stepped stencils, but also in a new milling machine for aluminium blocks at our Hungarian site in Györ. In contrast to our competitors we can now supply a one-stop service for the complete package of stencils, squeegee blades and supporting tools independently of partner companies.

In what other ways would you like to set yourself apart from your competitors?
Our customers benefit from a unique combination of skill, quality and reliability. The Koenen group brings together more than 53 years of applications knowhow in stencil printing. Our precision tools are often unique items which we supply promptly thanks to efficient processes. Despite sales quantities of around 75,000 precision tools per annum the complaint rate is always below 1.5 percent. If anything repeatedly goes wrong for a customer, I take it upon myself personally to identify the problem and to solve it through dialogue with the customer and with our team. This close customer relationship has made our family business great and I want to maintain this. Our teams support the Service Excellence Concept and even in the difficult years of the pandemic we were committed to continually improving processes.

How do you achieve this?
Our employees have mostly been with the company a long time. They are trained above all to produce high quality products and to cater for individual product requests. Furthermore our customer care staff and applications experts discuss the application and respective screen or stencil printing processes intensively with each other. During the first year of Coronavirus we converted this knowhow into our own series of web seminars, which reached more than 1,200 participants within twelve months. I attribute the high popularity largely to the fact that our staff prepare topics from customer manufacturing for the customer manufacturing and also present them in German, English and French.

What did you learn for your business from the Coronavirus period?
The crisis made clear how important it is for our business model to have sufficient materials in stock and to compare notes regularly and openly with our suppliers. As a senior executive one should be in a position to make quick decisions, even if they are unpopular. At the same time we must communicate regularly with the workforce, investigate genuine concerns and communicate trust. Luckily during the crisis year of 2020 we didn’t record any acute cases of Coronavirus in the workforce and remained capable of continuous supply. Instead of putting our workforce on reduced hours we were even able to pay a Coronavirus bonus at the end of the year. I am proud of the fact that our crisis management worked so successfully and that our workforce contributed at all times to the strict measures within our company so that we could continue to supply reliably.

What’s your prognosis for 2022?
The components shortage will probably last until the end of the year. Instead of keeping our head down we have counter-cyclically expanded our capacities and are now getting started with new machines and an additional production hall at our main site in Ottobrunn. Our team is prepared for rapidly increasing numbers of parts and to handle this whilst maintaining the high level of quality and workplace safety. I firmly believe that the willingness of the sector to invest persists, and that 2022 will be a good year for us. Besides this I am optimistic that medicine technology has the pandemic under control and that we will retain many of the learning outcomes and achievements.

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