Printed electronics has already become a major field of innovation in recent years. Demand in Europe is likely to increase even further in the future. What do printing companies need to consider if they want to enter this field?

Printed electronics—it sounds like high-tech. And it sounds like the future; after all, analysts at Fortune Business Insights predict that global revenue in this sector will grow to $69.5 billion by 2032, at an annual growth rate of over 22 percent.

Applications of Printed Electronics

Processes such as screen printing and flexographic printing, as well as industrial inkjet printing, are primarily used to produce

  • Sensors (temperature, pressure, optical)
  • Displays for Small Mobile Devices
  • Solar Cells
  • RFID tags
  • Power Sources
  • Heating elements

used. These are often relatively simple circuits that are created by applying conductive pastes to flexible films or directly onto rigid surfaces. Typical applications include products for the automotive and defense industries, healthcare, wearables, energy generation, and HVAC, as well as process control, monitoring, and the IoT (Internet of Things). In other words, these are all business sectors in which significant growth is expected to continue in the future.

Screen printing system for printed electronics from INO. Photo: Sonja Angerer

Screen Printing in Industry

The use of printing technology in industrial processes is nothing new. Since the 1950s, screen printing has been used in Europe primarily to coat and decorate glass, print scales for measuring instruments, and mark components. Sometimes these applications are produced on the same screen printing lines that are also used in the graphic arts industry.

Occasionally, there are even screen printing shops that specialize in both graphic and industrial screen printing. After all, there is no difference in the screen-making process, and for the printing process itself, it is largely irrelevant whether inks, functional coatings, or conductive pastes are applied.

In recent years, however, small, flexible screen printing systems optimized specifically for the production of printed electronics have increasingly entered the market, such as those from the Slovenian manufacturer INO. These systems are generally quite compact and can be combined with automation and post-processing modules, such as stackers, destackers, or drying units.

In the field of printed electronics, screen printing is primarily used for large quantities of low-cost components, as well as in applications where particularly robust circuits with thick layers are required.

Specialized inkjet printers are also becoming increasingly popular for the production of small quantities or prototypes of printed electronics. They are particularly flexible and fast, as they eliminate the need for screen printing. Key developers include, for example, the French company Kelenn Technology and Profactor from Austria.

Circuits printed on foil. Photo: Sonja Angerer

Specialization in Printed Electronics

Although it is certainly possible to operate both graphic and industrial screen printing in parallel, most providers of screen-printed electronics today specialize exclusively in the latter.

There are several reasons for this:

  • Cleanliness: Depending on the application, the manufacture of printed electronics requires a largely dust-free environment—and sometimes even cleanrooms.
  • Security: Printed electronics are often used in sensitive sectors such as finance and defense.
  • Certification: Many customers require suppliers of printed electronics not only to hold standard ISO certifications, but also to comply with additional manufacturer standards.
  • Research and Development: Printed electronics often require the development of a new, complex process.
  • Further processing: To turn a printed circuit into an electronic component, contacts and connectors are required. Therefore, additional automated assembly machines—such as those from Föhrenbach—must be purchased.
  • Quality Assurance: Unlike in graphic screen printing, printed electrical circuits must be inspected not only visually but also for their technical functionality. This may require automatically testing each individual component for quality assurance purposes.

Experienced employees at a screen printing shop can usually create print templates for printed electronics with minimal training. The printing process itself is also fairly easy to master, especially for simpler circuits. However, additional specialists—such as those with expertise in electronics or materials science—are also required. These specialists are generally not found in commercial printing shops. That is why there are specialized consultants such as the MSWtech Test Center Europe in Nuremberg, which also provides a testing environment for flexible printed electronics.

Automated assembly machine for connectors on printed circuit boards. Photo: Sonja Angerer

Future Prospects for Screen Printing in the Manufacture of Printed Electronics
Printed electronics is undoubtedly an application in which screen printing will continue to play a major role in the future. Advances in materials science and printing technology will also further increase the performance and range of applications of printed electronics.

This also makes the field attractive to companies that currently focus primarily on graphic screen printing. In some cases, it is even possible to manufacture simpler circuits using existing machinery. Especially if industrial contacts already exist—for example, through existing orders in scale printing—expanding into printed electronics can be worthwhile even for medium-sized screen printing companies. However, this requires a willingness to invest in skilled personnel and machinery, and to familiarize oneself with an entirely new field.