In recent years, the competitive pressure from Asia has led to substantial changes in the European printed circuit board industry. The European printed circuit board producers are forced by Asian competition to specialize in certain product niches with high technological requirements in order to be able to exist in the global competition. This product specialization also affects printed circuit board production machine requirements. The requirements for future machines are, first of all, high flexibility, low maintenance costs, automation concepts, high process reliability and State-of-the-Art technology for high end applications such as micro and blind hole drilling, controlled depth routing and CCD applications. This article explains these requirements for printed circuit board drilling and routing machines which allow the European manufacturers to continue now, as well as in the future, to economically produce printed circuit boards in Europe.
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