LOPEC 2018, the 10th anniversary of LOPEC, held its closing session at Messe Munchen on March 15. Organized by the OE-A (Organic and Printed Electronics Association), a working group within VDMA, the conference and trade show featured many presentations during its final day, with major brands giving their thoughts on flexible and printed electronics. 
 
During the Plenary session, Johan Edvardsson, strategic dynamic marking program manager, IKEA of Sweden AB, discussed opportunities for flexible and printed electronics during his talk, “Enhancing Customer and IKEA Value through Printed Electronics.”
 
Edvardsson noted that IKEA’s vision is to create a better every day live for people, with prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. Last year, the company had sales of €38.3 billion. Now, IKEA is looking at ways to incorporate new technologies.
 
“We are curious about the future,” Edvardsson added. “Retail is undergoing rapid change. We are now looking into printed electronics for operations value potentials. We have two Open Innovation Challenges in progress: e-labels activated with market specific information on delivery, and digital communication carriers that can trigger smartphone display of information or execution of code. We have had a number of good proposals so far.”
 
Ashutosh Tomar, principal engineer (research) with Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Research and Technology, talked about potential uses for printed electronics in his presentation on “Applications of Printable and Organic Electronics in Automotive.”  These include interiors, exteriors and energy harvesting.
 
“There is massive competition,” Tomar noted. “We have to do something radical as we look forward in the future. The good news is there is printed electronics and four key areas where it can make an impact: A-surface features where customers interact; sensors; energy harvesting and storage; and ECUs (engine control units) and EDS (electrical distribution systems).
 
“With A-surfaces, the design and the electronics have to come together,” Tomar added. “This will come soon enough with functional performance, creating something like shaped displays that was impossible before. There are areas where we are looking into. The first application saved 60% weight.”
 
Tomar reported that Jaguar Land Rover is experimenting in energy harvesting. “There are 100+ sensors, screens and displays,” he said. “Blending ECU and EDS results in lightweight flexible connectors. We have developed two processes: laminated electronics and in mould electronics.
 
“The message going forward is pretty clear.,” Tomar concluded. “We are not that old company that made gas guzzlers. We have adopted the future. Printed electronics is coming.”
 
During his talk, “Electronic Skins Connecting Cyberspace and Human,” Prof. Takao Someya of The University of Japan showed an example of an electrocardiogram waveform measured with skin sensors appearing on mesh.
 
“People are choosing to be more responsible for monitoring their health. Doctors can monitor their patient while the patient is at home,” Someya reported. “Human-friendly skin electronics greatly approves accessibility to information.
 
“We have successfully fabricated a skin display that consists of a 16×24 array of micro LLEDs and stretchable wiring mounted on a rubber sheet,” Someya added. “An electrocardiogram was recorded with an ultra-thin breathable electric mounted directly onto the skin and the acquired data was shown by a skin display attached on the skin. The skin electronics system will reduce the strain on home healthcare systems in aging societies through continuous, non-invasive health monitoring and self-care at home.”
 
FlexEnable CEO Chuck Milligan closed the Plenary Session with “Industrialization of Game-Changing OTFT-Based Flexible Displays and Sensors.” Milligan reported that FlexEnable is working with “seven or eight automotive Tier 1s and 2s on displays of the future.”
 
“We are working on apps that need to be conformed,” Milligan added. “There is already growing demand for OTFT-based products into many applications. Use cases will explode when high-volume, low-cost sources of OTFT production are available, and this is starting now.”
 
 
The Technical Conference session on Smart and Hybrid Systems had some particularly interesting insights from its speakers, beginning with Keenan Thompson, global innovation director – Packaging Structure, Materials & Design at ABInBev.
 
Thompson discussed “Bringing New Technology Platforms to Life, in a Corporate Environment,” in which he showed the LED- and microphone-equipped cups that ABInBev is bringing to then 2018 World Cup.
 
“We designed 8 to 10 million cups going around the world for the World Cup, adding a microphone and lights,” Thompson said. “We had to figure out the price point – it was not a light investment. It is perfectly tailored to our brands’ needs, and there are so many things we can do with this.
 
Knowing what the project requires is essential. “You have to know your brief,” Thompson said in describing the cup project. “I don’t need an OLED to last three years, or to be beautiful. I need it to last 10 minutes and have two or three segments.”
 
Prof. Antti Keränen, TactoTek’s CTO, was next up with his talk, “Merging Form and Function with Injection Molded Structural Electronics (IMSE).”
 
“Structural electronics are a new paradigm,” Keränen observed. “A traditional control panel was 578 grams, with 25 tools and more than 60 assemblies. Our IMSE is 160 g, two tools, and one part. Our primary markets include automotive, appliances, IoT/wearables, industrial uses and medical devices.”
 
Douglas Hackler, president and CEO of American Semiconductor, Inc., covered “Complex Flexible Hybrid Electronics Today.”
 
“Hybrid electronics provide a flexible product solution that combines the best of silicon-based components and flexible organic and printed electronics,” Hackler noted.
 
Dr. João Gomes, COO for CeNTI – Centre of Nanotechnology and Smart Materials, closed the Smart and Hybrid Systems session with a talk on “Integrated Inductive Charger for Automotive Central Console.”
 
“One of the functions we have been looking into for automotive interiors is inductive charging systems,” Dr. Gomes said. “We also see that companies are looking to reduce weight in their central console design.”
 
LOPEC Reactions 
 
Conference organizers and exhibitors said that the show was a success.
 
Dr. Klaus Hecker, managing director of the OE-A, felt that LOPEC 2018 was a great event. “We met a lot of new contacts, with the automotive industry particularly active,” Dr. Hecker noted. “I see more companies exhibiting, and the show is growing.”
 
Wolfgang Mildner, LOPEC general chair and founder/CEO of MSW, noted that the industry continues to grow in different applications.
 
“We are seeing a lot of products, near products and research,” Mildner said. “It is visible. Exhibitors are having good conversations on industrialization.”
 
Thomas Kolbusch, VP for Coatema Coating Machinery GmbH, said that he was pleased with the interest on the exhibit floor. “It was really good.,” Kolbusch added. “Compared to last year, we saw more customers this year.”
 
Elise Alkhafaji, marketing and events manager at NovaCentrix, said that LOPEC 2018 was really good. “This year’s traffic has increased, and a lot of people have already seen us before and know us. They are further along in the development pace and want to take it to then next level,” said Alkhafaji.
 
Mike O’Reilly, director, Aerosol Jet Product Management for Optomec, Inc., also said the show was excellent. “For us, LOPEC was filled with people looking for next generation capabilities coming to us with real world problems they want to solve,” O’Reilly added.
 
Next year’s LOPEC will return to Messe Munchen from March 19-21. For more information, check www.lopec.com.

Prof. Takao Someya of The University of Japan showed examples of electronic skins during his talk at LOPEC 2018.