There has been an increase in interest in flexible and printed electronics (PE), which is seen in the increasing number of applications reaching pilot production and manufacturing. Leading printers in the PE field say they are seeing this increase in interest and activity.

PolyIC GmbH & Co. KG, Fuerth, Germany, was founded in November 2003 as a joint venture between Leonhard Kurz Stiftung & Co. KG and Siemens AG, with the purpose of developing printed electronics. In recent years, PolyIC has begun to specialize in transparent and conductive PolyTC films; its printing process is a proprietary roll-to-roll process.

“Currently our focus is on touch sensors for the consumer electronics/mobile, white goods and automotive market,” said Wolfgang Mildner, managing director for PolyIC GmbH & Co. KG. “These markets are basically the ones we have seen the most interest from.”

Si-Cal Technologies Inc., Westborough, MA, USA, has been producing printed electronics products for the past nine years, using roll-to-roll screen printing, The company has had its most success in areas such as medical devices and RFID.

“We have several medical device programs in production (iontophoretic patches, esophageal tube, oxygen sensor) and a very large RFID automotive security tag,” said Jaye Tyler, president and CEO of Si-Cal Technologies.

Headquartered in Burr Ridge, IL, GSI Technologies, LLC has a long history in printed electronics, ever since the company acquired the assets of BKO, which had printed electroluminescent (EL) lamps since the early 1980s. GSI is organized into two divisions: Functional Printing and Industrial Graphics, and offers screenprinting, flexo, and digital printing capabilities.

On the Functional Printing side, GSI Technologies has successfully printed products in a wide range of markets, beginning with medical devices.

“We are in a good position in the medical device market, producing electrodes for in vitro diagnostic strips for glucose, cholesterol and other tests,” said Gordon Smith, chief technology officer for GSI Technologies. “We also have business in the automotive space, in areas ranging from EL to heaters.

“We like to solve technical problems for our customers, as that builds long-term relationships,” Smith added. “Our products are underneath the fascia; we make the end product work.” 

Smith noted that screenprinting offers the best approach at present for the majority of PE.

“We primarily use screenprinting for printed electronics,” Smith said. “We do have a number of flexo lines with a new inkjet digital press for our label and industrial graphics printing, but the thicknesses laid down in flexo and inkjet are relatively thin, and that leads to concerns over conductivity.”

There is the idea that PE is all about saving money, but Smith said that the idea that printed electronics are driven primarily by cost ignores the advantages that these devices offer. He cites wearables as an area where these advantages can play a key role.

“The first thing people want to talk about is low cost, but this is a disservice,” Smith said. “Traditional electronics today are extremely inexpensive, and PE is not there just to take cost out. Wearables is an interesting area. There is potential for continuous glucose monitoring, perhaps lactate monitoring for athletes. In these cases, PE offers advantages, as they are flexible, thin and lightweight, and the inks enable tests that fit well within the PE framework.”

Advice to End Users
There is a lot of thought that goes into producing printed electronics systems. The specialists that produce PE products say that preparation and planning are critical when a new customer brings a PE project to production.

Tyler recommended that companies allow enough time for thorough and proper manufacturing development before their product to production.

“PE is a very fast moving area and requires a lot of specific knowledge,” Mildner said. “We see applications today where we substitute standard components like ITO-based sensors. We have to offer advantages for customers to encourage the substitution, such as better costs, easier integration, better functionality, etc. In the future, printed electronics will open up new applications and opportunities, e.g. for smart packaging with new functionality.”

Heading to Production
Anecdotal evidence indicates that flexible and printed electronics are heading into pilot and production stage, and the people producing these systems say they are seeing an increase in their business.

Tyler said that Si-Cal “absolutely” has seen an increase in interest in PE projects heading to production scale. “We are very positive for 2014 in PE, with a deep pipeline and consistent amount of projects moving to production,” Tyler added.

“We expect PE to become an even more important topic,” Mildner said. “We do have several PE projects running, and expect them to grow from pilot to mass production scale.”

Overall, GSI Technologies is seeing more products heading to production.

“We see quite a bit of interest in going to production, from making a component to a fully integrated device,” Smith said. “We see all types of new ideas. Our phone is ringing more often now, and it seems there’s a ramp happening.”