Yokogawa Ibiden Components Goes Digital With MARKEM Q2001

In printed circuit board (PCB) marking, silk screens must be made for each circuit pattern, and each screen must be kept in stock for a long period of time, resulting in the need for a large and expensive warehouse. Yokogawa Ibiden Components (YIP), a manufacturer of PCBs used in electronic equipment, was determined to eliminate its warehouse, and initiate a fully digital PCB marking system to provide high-quality marks, and quick turnaround time for its demanding customers. YIP recently chose the MARKEM Q2001 OptiMark™ laser printing system for the job.

The Q2001 system is an ideal solution to semiconductor manufacturers who require permanent, crisp, and opaque marks through a completely plateless and digital process. YIP successfully adapted this equipment for their own use marking on PCBs.

YIP installed the Model Q2001 system on a customer-designed and developed computer controlled Yokogawa X/Y table handler to mark the images on the PCB. Both the Q2001 and the X/Y table are connected to a computer network that programs each for the operation.

With the introduction of the Q2001 marking system, YIP was able to combine the high mark quality and package integrity of the normally used silk screen marking process with the flexibility and easily processed digital-to-print marking. The result was improved yield, greater uptime and lower operating costs without sacrificing the quality of the mark, which is required for very short production runs.

What also made the Q2001 system ideal for Yokogawa was its proprietary MARKEM OptiMark™ film. The Q2001 system uses a sealed CO2 laser that transfers ink from the OptiMark™ film onto the substrate, creating a permanent, opaque mark without altering the package surface. The customer proudly exclaimed "our vision was to introduce a fully digital system into our manufacturing facilities,". We expect to optimize our production and decrease our costs by using the MARKEM Model Q2001."