Editor’s Note: ICT’s 2026 Annual Symposium was held near Coventry on Oct. 6 under the theme “What Lies Ahead?” The program looked forward rather than back, at a time of significant change for the industry. Topics included the outlook for the European PCB sector, market dynamics driven by AI infrastructure, the use of AI and digital-twin modelling on the factory floor, sustainable roll-to-roll flexible hybrid electronics, and 3D multilayer circuits.
A logical follow-on from the discussion of AI infrastructure was a practical example of AI applications in a PCB manufacturing environment. Oliver Cleveley-Jones and his colleagues Patrick Brown and Sam Hair from Alpha Machines described the development and benefits of an AI-driven integrated digital-twin architecture, and what it looks like from the inside of a working factory.
Using an eight-layer job as the example, Cleveley-Jones asked, “How long does it take you to CAM, and how long to get the quote out of the door?” He suggested an AI-based, integrated process that completed in minutes rather than days and showed its reasoning on every line.
His interpretation of the reasons AI has barely touched PCB manufacturing revolved around every factory being different, with facilities, processes, capabilities and people varying enormously from shop to shop, so that an AI model trained on one factory does not transfer to the next. Processes are manual, with analog equipment, manual tooling, and rules checked by eye. Much of the data AI needs tends to exist only as judgment in somebody's head. Moreover, the machinery is siloed, with different machines from many vendors not talking to each other. Several of the most important steps emit no usable data at all.
What if every machine, recipe, panel and certificate were continuously synchronised, queryable in plain language, and predictive rather than merely reactive? A lot of the process data already exists, although most of it has never been looked at. The challenge is to find out what is already there on the line and in the file system, and to listen to the people who hold the rest.
As their working model, Alpha Machines chose Pragoboard in Prague, a high-mix, low volume operation serving defence, aerospace and high-reliability customers. From Alpha’s point of view, it presents plenty of opportunity to solve some quite tricky problems.
So, how to turn it into a usable data model? Brown acknowledged that off-the-shelf systems have many limitations and are generally built for low-mix, high-volume situations. But in fact, it has never been cheaper or quicker to start building your own. Alpha Machines decided to build their own systems from start to finish. “We own our licence, we own our roadmap, and we will own where we put our data,” he said. “It gives us total control over what we want to do. Furthermore, the system changes at factory speed and ramps with the product.”
Cleveley-Jones described the journey of a job through the factory, with one record from design package to delivered boards. The portal was built to overlap with how Pragoboard already quotes, orders, and releases work, not to replace it. The customer and the CAM engineer can both look at the same record, with immediate feedback.
Modelling has been applied at every stage using the data already there to find the bottleneck, model it, and devise the fix. Sam Hair explained some of the challenges of building a routing model based on the real routing of the factory.
The first job before starting modelling is to capture the implicit knowledge that lives in operators' heads by listening to them and learning about those decisions often made but not recorded anywhere, then putting ways in place to capture those moments as they happen. This results in a routing model built from real decisions, with the reasoning attached to each step. He cautioned that a model that is right nine times in 10 and silently wrong the 10th causes more friction than no model at all, slowing down the people it was meant to help. It is better to let them get on with the job until the model is right. He stressed that prediction is always preferable to trial and error.
Cleveley-Jones emphasised that Pragoboard is a proof point, not a boundary. His advice: “Start from what you have. The data is already on your line, in your file system and in your people. Every factory is different, and the model is built to be. The method is portable; the model is yours.”
Sustainabiliity and Circularity
Did you know that by 2034, the world will generate the weight of 1 million African elephants in PCB waste every year, and that most PCBs cannot be recycled?
Ashok Sridhar, CEO of TracXon in Eindhoven, described innovations and advancements in flexible hybrid electronics. These are ultra-thin electronic circuits that can be produced anywhere, at any scale, with zero waste.
Originating from a Holst Centre programme to develop technologies and applications for hybrid printed electronics, TracXon was founded in 2022 as an independent spin-off from TNO and the Holst Centre, with the mission of driving the sustainable industrialisation of flexible electronics, from design to high speed roll-to-roll manufacturing solutions.
Sridhar gave an overview of TracXon's history, technological developments, and future collaboration opportunities.
From the commissioning of its pilot factory in 2023, its quick transition from prototypes to large-scale production and its future scalability plans, TracXon has maintained its focus on environmentally friendly processes. He explained that their core technology involves roll-to-roll printing of multi-layered circuitry and SMD assembly, supported by proprietary machines and ongoing development, including AI integration.
Sridhar admitted that the best conductivity that they could achieve with silver or copper pastes was only about 20% of that of bulk copper, so medium and high-power applications were not realistic. Substrate is typically polyester film, with polycarbonate or stretchable thermoplastic polyurethane as alternatives, and the imaging is achieved by screen printing, at speeds between 3 and 10 metres/minute.
Components can be added by pick-and-place techniques, and conductive adhesives are typically used in place of solder, although low-temperature solders could be used in some applications. Certain sensors can be printed directly onto the substrate. Currently, assembly is carried out on 2-metre cut lengths of printed film, but a roll-to-roll pick and place machine is in development.
An interesting innovation is TracXon's proprietary method of roll-to-roll via printing. With the base film covered by a protective film, via holes are laser drilled and filled with paste by a high-speed dispenser, then semi-cured and the protective film removed to leave a clean surface with the filled vias accessible to the pattern-printing operation.
The company has already produced wearable health sensors, IoT tags, and artificial skin devices in commercial quantities and was working to develop “smart skin” sensors for cobots, humanoids, and prosthetics, all of which are highly scalable through roll-to-roll processing.
Their current business model offers foundry services to prove feasibility and scaling of flexible hybrid electronics for wearables and physical AI devices. Their ongoing aim is to sell patented equipment, machines and process knowledge, encouraging partnerships in scalable electronics manufacturing.
Dr. Andy Birch, Senior Research Engineer in the Intelligent Robotics Team at the Materials Technology Center in Coventry, gave an overview of how innovation, advanced manufacturing, and technology development can support the evolving needs of the electronics and PCB sector.
He explained that MTC harnesses engineering expertise to support various market sectors including energy, defence, built environment, and mobility with the aim of bridging the “Valley of Death”—the gap between research, technology development and industry implementation through a structured TRL/MRL framework. MTC’s experience helps transfer knowledge across sectors to address complex manufacturing challenges.
It specialises in advanced materials processing, including additive and subtractive manufacturing methods for high-integrity components, enabling sustainable innovation with materials tailored for power electronics and electronics assembly. Additionally, it offers comprehensive materials analysis, validation, and testing capabilities to ensure quality.
A specific project he chose to discuss was 3D multilayer electronics, nonplanar rigid electronics capable of complex curvature not achievable through folding. His example consisted of functional conductor layers separated by dielectric insulation layers, connected by vias, and assembled with 0402 surface-mount devices. The performance objective was driven by standard industrial materials: conductor performance similar to 35 µm copper, dielectric performance similar to FR-4 epoxy resin, and electrical connections similar to SAC305 solder.
Perceived benefits are improved conformity to complex shapes, reduced size and weight, better use of internal volume allowing increased packaging efficiency, improved reliability and assembly with fewer cables and connectors, enhanced performance capability through greater sensor density, and increased function integration.
Clearly there are significant challenges to overcome, and there are no industry standards for 3D circuits. Design involves complex geometries, and validation requires advanced non-destructive metrology and testing methods. Much innovative thinking is required and many non-standard additive and subtractive manufacturing approaches have been explored.
Additive methods include 3D printing and chemical vapor deposition. Subtractive techniques include CNC machining and laser etching. Material compatibility and thermal management are critical factors requiring ongoing research.
Assembly has its own challenges in the deposition of pastes and adhesives, component placement, and reflow processes. New equipment, such as a 5-axis assembly system, is necessary for accurate manufacturing of 3D electronics.
Birch concluded that although the realization of 3D multi-layer PCBs offers significant performance and size advantages, it requires an end-to-end rethink of the process. Equipment development and supply chain adaptation are ongoing in collaboration with industry partners, and MTC aims to advance these technologies through active workstreams and partnerships.
In his closing remarks, ICT Vice Chair Leigh Allinson acknowledged the challenges currently being faced by the UK PCB industry and declared his confidence that we could overcome them. The Institute is in the safe hands of Steve Driver and Alun Morgan, who are committed to guiding it forward positively.
He thanked the speakers for sharing their specialist knowledge, and all who had attended, especially the new faces, and offered a special thanks to Carol Pelzers for her professional organisation of the event. He reminded everyone of the ICT seminar that will be held on Nov. 24 at Puckrup Hall in Tewkesbury. Finally, he invited suggestions of any other service that the Institute could provide to benefit the membership: contact himself or any member of the Council.
My thanks to Alun Morgan for sharing his photographs.
About ICT
Founded in the 1970’s, the Institute of Circuit Technology (ICT) is a UK-based, non-profit professional body serving the printed circuit board industry. Its purpose is to promote electronic circuit design, PCB manufacturing technology and high professional standards, and pursues these aims through knowledge exchange, education and professional recognition through its technical seminars, annual symposium and a quarterly technical journal.
