The weather was perfect for running, the atmosphere was great and you could literally feel how eager the participants were to run together to the finish line. Around 10,000 runners from 410 companies were at the start when, after three years of interruption, they finally returned to the course around the Maschsee lake in the Heinz von Heiden stadium. Of course, we at ILFA didn’t want to miss out!
We are pleased to announce that three new apprentices started their training with us on 1 August 2022. Two young men will start as machine and plant operators (metal and plastics technology) and one of the new young colleagues will begin training as an industrial clerk. The training will last 2 years each, or 2.5 years shortened for the commercial training.
With the flexible automation concept ROBI-FLEX from LHMT, we get a bit more automation for our PCB production at ILFA. LHMT, a member of the Schmoll Maschinengruppe, has supplied and installed the first six loaders and unloaders for our production lines. Within just a few days, LHMT’s competent service technicians equipped us with the ROBI-FLEX handling devices for our tin and resist stripper as well as the acid etch, among other things.
It’s another tick we can add to our investment planning: Our new plasma system was delivered and commissioned at the beginning of July. The Boffotto P15V-E9 is a “high volume” plasma processing system that processes rigid, flexible and rigid-flex PCBs at high speed. Hard-to-wet and hard-to-bond surfaces are activated, carbon residue or other contaminants in PCB holes are removed and inner layers are prepared for improved adhesion.
In July 2022, four new colleagues will strengthen the ILFA team at our production site in Hanover. They will start in the purchasing, quality inspection, grinding laboratory and photo and lacquer technology (FLT) departments. The increase in personnel comes at a good time for us, because we always have exciting tasks and a lot to do.
The training lasted two years and there was plenty of content, both in theory and in practice. Now our two apprentices have successfully passed their exams to become machine and plant operators and are ready to enter the profession.
The FED PCB Working Group, an association of industry experts from Germany and Austria, met for its 21st meeting this time at ILFA in Hanover. Exciting topics were on the agenda, such as dealing with UL certifications, annealing recommendations for flex and multi-layer PCBs or the further handling of a joint project on copper layer thicknesses.
For its expansion plans, the Hanover-based PCB producer ILFA relies on the expertise of the respective industry leaders. In the field of wet chemistry and electroplating, the specialist Atotech has now been acquired. The Berlin-based company is one of the world’s leading suppliers of special chemical processes and equipment for the printed circuit board, chip carrier and semiconductor industries and is distinguished by its excellent support and services, among other things.
Leasing a bike is one of our new benefits that ILFA employees can now take advantage of. In order to bring the concept closer and also to be able to present a selection of modern e-bikes, we organised an information day at ILFA at the beginning of June, which was accompanied by our partner BusinessBike and the Hanover-based specialist dealer e-motion.
Sometimes it is not so easy to keep up with our new hires. On 1 June 2022, we at ILFA were once again able to recruit three new colleagues for our production site in Hanover-Anderten. The reinforcement is for our internal sales department and in the production area for the surface technology (OFT) and multilayer departments.