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1/2021 | E Powered by • Know-how • Inside Rutronik • Application • System Technology • Automotive • Latest Components
Editorial Editorial Alled herefro Portolionse K i dis Andreas et aspitatibus aut fugitem fugitatidf vel Mangler, Director StrategicEt iligendae. Marketing and Communication ipiti optat ut eium rerorit aqui- bus et veribus, ese eiciis adionsequi conse- runt, tempos moloritas autat di sitis non coreptis est Between “America First” pos ut voloribusNam endemqui omnimilit, ini and “Made in China 2025” Liquae ped quas con eatur? Lore coressi dolore pa doluptaquam ilit dis am, ut qui ut que et fugit unt quis as ab int event litae dolupta ssimint veligendi Dear Readers, omnisque necus autenemqui ommodias aut et ut quam que qui dolest officiis rem et in conet pla dolo- While one part re of officaerorum the world hasraalready sit lam,got sapiet et autatem its economy backconsequi up and running again, ipittoeum the rest continue quas aut alternate backomnim doluptati and forth aut pligend between lockdown estias and loosening re- strictions. Thisrehasn’t cumquiatgone vellist unnoticedrem in quasthe qua m ut voluptatem electronics industry. We are experi- XXX encing XXX cuson allocation saeces magnisi temqui an unprecedented scalead ineumOffictotas both the Consumer excea and Industrial soloreped segments, something thatexevenexplab the ilianducia nis di reprehent. major automotive giants are not being spared. 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That asi aditatem cum intsaid, desthe Europeancus, aliquodion Unionnobisseems eaquid to have heard the alarm bells ringing, and for itsEt qui doldfuptae. part is now autem putting around 150 billion euros on the quat. table to secure local semiconductor production. Dus, non porersp errundandit exces et dolores equiber Better late thaniatusa never,volecae and hopefully ratqui rem in time fuga.to secure Beriti ditaEurope’s et ped quofuture as a center of innovation. beri The restiis numerous quis sitiati businessessciatqu resident amenisinetthe fuga. EUItatiis- and in particular in Germany needtiis reliable aribusdam local partners quis evenduntto remainas sapitibus competitive, aboriaandnisneed to be able to produce the quam productsvenithey develop doluptas exerowithout eum having to spend doluptatiam months waiting for sundunt allocations of the components officte maxim eosto they ipsundi need. Especially in thissim tations equatur light, hit there is benefit to be found involupta collaborations tiptat. between these European businesses and European distributors that are geared not just towards short-term gains but also the strategic importance of the Ebishome iscimus market. magnat quae ommoluptas sum landige n aliberu ptasimus perecusciat unt deliqui dissit fac- As the third-largest distributoretur est doluptiant in Europe, molor sit, Rutronik corem etcontributes inveles es its sin-expertise to sup- port the programs venisofexpellam, the German government qui vendae consed and the EU, quam, because as a German voluptat.it, company, we care deeply volupta culliquam about the sitfuture lat fugiaof our cus home event. industries and of European industry. Being active globally and ensuring the independence of local businesses are not mutuallyNimusap exclusive—quite errore cum the hitatatuItae. opposite. FairMagaliberu competitionptasi-for the best innova- tions and the most musefficient perecusciat technologies unt deliqui is ultimately andam sa beneficial cus, cor alici to us all. vellant lignis eic te senditaest quam fugiaspis restias Sincerely, aut parum exerum harum adis voles dolorem volupta Andreas Mangler XXX@markt-technik.de www.rutronik.com Committed to Excellence 3 3
Contents Editorial 3 Automotive Automotive MOSFETs: • Know-how A package deal that’s worth it 36 Ambient lighting: Light: the new chrome 38 Development trends with ceramic capacitors: Current measurement in the drive unit of Hi, we‘re the new guys! 5 electric vehicles: More compact inverters require NOR flash: Safety for automotive and more precise shunts 40 industrial innovations 8 Haptic feedback systems for touchscreens: Circuits for miniature loudspeakers: Using touch applications without visual contact 42 Small speakers, big sound 10 • Application Drive technology: Pre-charging capacitors using pulse-withstanding resistors 12 Current sensing solutions: Concepts for measuring direct current 44 • Inside Rutronik Si vs. SiC MOSFETs: Exchange technology–but correctly! 48 An interview with Rutronik CMO Markus Krieg: A comparison of electromechanical and MOSFET “We’ve overcome the crisis well” 14 relays: Analog technology in the digital age 50 Logistics: CO2 sensors based on new measurement principle: More efficient procurement of C-parts 18 Time to clear the air 52 FAE support: Reference designs, dev kits, and more: Field application engineers without the field 20 Off-the-shelf is fine, but nothing beats customization 54 • System technology Text to speech: Look who’s talking! 56 5G campus networks: Private cellular networks for the smart factory 22 Alternatives for ToF applications: How VCSELs can be best put to use 25 Machine learning: Components for machine learning on the edge 28 • Service Publishing details 58 5G and TSN: For the industrial automation of the future 32 List of advertisers 58 4 1/2021 Powered by Committed to Excellence www.rutronik.com
Know-how Development trends with ceramic capacitors Hi, we’re the new guys! There are many demands placed on ceramic capacitors: smaller construction, large temperature ranges, higher efficiency, stricter tolerances, optimized functions, and higher frequencies, not to mention the desire for application-specific versions. The manufacturers do a lot to satisfy all these requests. I n order to continue optimizing their ce- Figure: Murata ramic capacitors, manufacturers develop By Jürgen Geier, Technical Support, new materials and mixtures as well as and Pascal Kundelius, Product Sales new approaches to the construction, engi- Manager Ceramic Capacitors, neering, and interior structure (i.e. the forms both at Rutronik of the electrode surfaces). They also deliber- ately make use of certain properties such as the widely negatively viewed effect of DC bias. This effect occurs in ferromagnetic ce- ramic materials such as barium titanate, which is currently the material most com- monly used for MLCCs (multilayer ceramic capacitors). Alongside the more widely known designs Figure 2: Substitute circuit diagram for variable such as high-frequency, HiQ, RF, microwave, capacitors. low-inductance, and low-loss capacitors, a range of specific and novel ceramic capaci- tors has recently started appearing on the electrodes, so they could also be referred to market that are still broadly unknown—given as VACs—voltage adjustable capacitors. These the current deluge of new developments, this electrically trimmable capacitors are available is hardly a surprise. We introduce some of with capacitance ratings of 33 pF to 200 pF the most important features here. for control voltages of up to 3 or 5 V DC, al- lowing them to be adjusted to up to 50% of their base capacitance. Compared to regular Variable capacity trimmer capacitors, this provides them with thanks to DC bias unimagined opportunities—especially given that they can not only be set to fixed values, “Variable capacitors” do just as the name sug- but also used to form control loops. gests—they offer variable capacitance. Using their DC bias reduces the effective capacities They are available in construction sizes of when a DC current is applied to their control 0.6 mm × 0.6 mm and 1.3 mm × 0.9 mm for working voltages of 10 V pp and 30 V pp. Ap- plications for which these are especially ideal Figure: Murata include NFC antenna circuits (13.56 MHz band), such as those used in smartphones and check cards, because the variable capacitors here enable frequency adjustments to be per- formed by simply applying the appropriate voltage in conjunction with the NFC ICs. They also compensate for variance in the antenna’s L value, making f0 adjustment easier, and also facilitate debugging during certification test- Figure 1: “Variable capacitors” offer adjustable capacitance by using DC bias. ing and simplify deviation adjustments during installation in the housing. www.rutronik.com Committed to Excellence Powered by 1/2021 5
Know-how Figure: Murata range. This is enabled by their lead (lantha- num) zirconate titanate (P(L)ZT) construction, referred to as a “ceramic.” Thanks to their extremely low ESL and ESR, CeraLink capacitors support higher switching frequencies and currents. This allows for the use of cheaper, more robust semiconductors, for example high-speed IGBTs instead of MOSFETs. This method often enables the val- ue of the capacitor, the space on the board, the magnetic components and the heatsink to be reduced, thus also reducing the total cost. As snubbers, CeraLink capacitors are a superb solution to reduce the risk of semiconductors Figure 3: The 3D structure enables miniaturization by a factor of 100. being damaged by voltage spikes. Thanks to their construction and thicknesses CeraLink capacitors are based on chips Silicon in the third dimension of just 50 to 400 µm, they are available not (7.85 mm × 6.84 mm × 2.65 mm) from which just in soldered versions, but also as bonded the manufacturer assembles a variety of con- For “high-density silicon” or “3D silicon” ca- versions and for embedded installation. This nection options and combinations (Figure 6). pacitors, manufacturers use the third dimen- means that there are ideal designs available sion to significantly enlarge the capacitor sur- for automotive, medical, RFID, high-frequen- Rechargeable solid-state face—and with it the capacitance—without cy, and broadband applications, categorized SMD battery increasing the base surface area of the ca- as standard, high-reliability, high-tempera- with MLCC construction pacitor. This is how capacitance values are ture, and high-frequency models. achieved that would require around 80 layers in MLCCs with a component thickness of The world’s first rechargeable solid-state SMD Capacitors with antiferromagnetic 100 µm. battery might not be a capacitor, but the ba- properties sic principles of its engineering design, con- The Murata SiCap, for example, offers a whole structed as an MLCC, are consistent with one. 100 nF with a size of 0402 and a thickness of If ceramic capacitors are used as snubber or “CeraCharge” batteries offer capacitance just 100 μm—equivalent to ten Class 1 dielec- DC link capacitors in a range of around 500 V around one thousand times that of MLCCs of tric C0Gs of size 0603 and 400 μm thickness. to 900 V for working frequencies of several comparable physical size. In other words, they Thinner versions are also available from Mu- hundred kHz up to 1 MHz, MLCCs made of have a comparably high energy density with rata on request. Capacitance values range X7R ceramics (i.e. those that use the ferro- a minimal volume. Then there are the benefits from several pF to a few µF, and voltages magnetic barium titanate as their base mate- of ceramic multilayer components, namely ro- range from 5 to 450 V. rial) are frequently pushed to the limits of us- bust safety and large-scale serial production. ability. Due to their pronounced negative DC The use of a solid ceramic electrolyte elimi- Their material and construction properties bias behavior, the necessary effective capaci- nates the risks of fire and explosion, and of make these high-density silicon capacitors es- tance values in particular are almost impos- electrolyte leakage. pecially well-suited to high-frequency appli- sible to achieve. cations from 10 up to 110 GHz. Their electrical CeraCharge supports a very large temperature characteristics are similar to the known “ce- Antiferromagnetic properties are provided by range of –20°C to +80°C and is therefore suit- ramic” type NP0 (= C0G). Unlike the C0G the “CeraLink” capacitors from TDK. This able for outdoor use. MLCCs, however, they can already be used as means that they exhibit an increase in capac- standard versions up to 150°C, and as high- itance with the applied voltage, which enables The properties open up new opportunities for temperature versions up to as high as 250°C. much higher currents within the operating CeraCharge, in particular for IoT applications, Figure: TDK Figure: Murata Figure 5: The compact CeraLink capacitors from TDK are suitable both for use as snubber capacitors and as Figure 4: A SiCap from Murata offers the capacitance values of ten C0G capacitors with 100 nF. DC link capacitors. 6 1/2021 Powered by Committed to Excellence www.rutronik.com
real-time clock syncing, and energy harvest- Figure: TDK ing. If higher currents and/or voltages are re- quired, these can be provided using parallel and/or serial circuits. The CeraCharge is currently available in the size defined by EIA 1812 (approx. 4.5 mm × 3.2 mm × 1.1 mm) and offers a rated capaci- tance of 100 µAh and a nominal voltage of 1.5 V. Figure 6: CeraLink capacitors are available in many different designs. Conclusion Figure: TDK Even if there are many other optimized ceramic capacitors alongside the types listed here, among them MLCCs with internal copper electrodes, MLCCs with end termina- tion for conductive adhesives, or “X2Y” ver- sions, those illustrated here show that it is worthwhile to be a little more adventurous on occasion when there are particular re- quirements. This is useful for you to remain aware of your options when development is being performed at a hurried pace, and even to set new trends with product and device Figure 7: The construction of a CeraCharge battery is based on the design of an MLCC. designs. ■ Advertisement NEW G6QE PCB POWER RELAY– HIGH SWITCHING CAPACITY OF 36A IN A SMALL SIZE The new miniature and low height single-pole power relay achieved 10-kV impulse withstand voltage and a reduced power consumption of 12% compared to rated coil consumption. The G6QE has been designed to conform with cULus, EN and CQC standards. At a size of just 30.5 x 16 x 20.5mm the G6QE Power Relay is not only miniature but also is incredibly versatile and can be used in a wide variety of applications including industrial, home appliances, building automations and commercial applications such as power supply and inverters. • Small size of 30.5 x 16 x 20.5mm • High performance of 36A switching capacity • Energy saving • Low heat generation Scan the QR code to find a distributor www.components.omron.eu
Know-how NOR flash Safety for automotive and industrial innovations With the advancement of artificial intelligence, machines are being entrusted to take on more and more tasks. Especially in automotive and industrial applications, sensors monitor the environment, and algorithms draw conclusions based on the compiled sensor data. These systems need to not only work correctly to ensure safety, but also need to make the right decisions—every time, all the time. Modern NOR flash memory can help achieve this. S teering, acceleration, braking and lar controllability, or the ability of a driver or parking assistance systems, lane de- other traffic participants to prevent damage By Adrian Elms, Senior Marketing parture warning systems—there are or an accident in a given scenario. Manager at Rutronik, and Stephan Wegstein, more and more systems that help us to drive Senior Manager Product Marketing our cars. They offer greater performance, NOR flash in safety-critical systems at Infineon Technologies greater comfort, and greater safety. But in the latter case, they themselves need to satisfy strict functional safety standards. These are In numerous advanced driver-assistance sys- defined in two standards. tems (ADAS), NOR flash memory plays a key role as part of a safety-critical system, be- IEC 61508 declares four safety integrity levels cause this non-volatile, programmable mem- (SILs) for industrial control systems (see table). ory is robust, reliable and fast. The host pro- ISO 26262, on the other hand, applies to safe- cessor can execute code directly from the ty-critical electrical/electronic (E/E) systems flash memory without having to copy it to in automotive vehicles. It defines the safety external DRAM first. This makes NOR flash levels ASIL A to ASIL D, where ASIL A repre- memory ideal for code execution, not just in sents the lowest risk potential, and ASIL D the car but also in industrial robots and other represents the highest. The level is determined IoT machinery and devices. Another advantage on the basis of frequency, controllability and is its large temperature range, allowing it to severity of the accident and/or damage. be used in a wide variety of environments and applications in the vehicle. ISO 26262 is based on IEC 61508, but specif- ically accommodates concerns specific to the Common uses for NOR flash memory in auto- automotive industry. These include in particu- motive and industrial applications include: Figure: Infineon The architecture of the Semper NOR flash memory combines an ARM Cortex-M0 with numerous safety functions. 8 1/2021 Powered by Committed to Excellence www.rutronik.com
• permanent storage of code, data and im- Integrity Level Random Failure Rate Integrity Level Random Failure Rate ages for use during start-up, SIL 4 ≥10–9 to
Know-how Circuits for miniature loudspeakers Small speakers, big sound “Rrrring, Rrrring”—when every telephone still had a cable, that was exactly how a phone call would sound. “Ding-dong” was how the doorbell would herald the arrival of house visitors. Today, users have a choice of countless songs, sounds, and natural noises. Miniature loudspeakers with wide frequency ranges make this possible. By Jochen Neller, Technical Support, and Anne Santhakumar, Product Sales Manager Acoustic Components & Timing Devices, both at Rutronik Figure: PUI Audio A udible communication in the form of oscillate. These oscillations create the acous- speech or music is becoming increas- tic signals perceived by the human ear. ingly important in human-machine in- terfaces (HMI), and this is also true of indus- The physics of this type of loudspeaker—in trial applications. In this field, audible signals particular sound pressure levels (SPL)—require or announcements can supplement visual in- a certain geometry. This often makes the loud- dications, especially when information needs speaker a limiting factor that prevents the to be conveyed despite a lack of visual con- device from being thinner. tact with the device. There is a selection of several loudspeaker types for a wide variety Piezoelectric speakers of applications. Traditional structure of a ceramic loudspeaker. A conventional loudspeaker, also known as a Piezoelectric speakers, on the other hand, are dynamic or magnetic loudspeaker, basically available in thin forms. They do not require a any surface into a loudspeaker, be it a display, consists of a permanent magnet mounted on voice coil to generate sound—instead, they a table, a mirror, or the plastic housing of an a voice coil. These in turn are connected at use the piezoelectric effect, whereby the tried application. The PiezoListen generates a high multiple points. This structure is surrounded and true piezoelectric ceramic material is sound level pressure even at low voltages of by a loudspeaker frame, which supports a taut usually bonded to a brass or nickel plate and 24 V p-p or less. diaphragm made of paper, fabric, or plastic. made to vibrate by supplying it with a volt- age. Unlike dynamic loudspeakers, which Multilayer piezo loudspeakers are triggered Electrical signals (DC) create a magnetic field measure at least four millimeters in height, and controlled in exactly the same way as a in the coil, which causes the diaphragm to these are a single millimeter tall at most. dynamic loudspeaker with an IC amplifier. Construction of a dynamic Another design is that of the multilayer piezo Amplifier circuits loudspeaker. loudspeaker. They are constructed not just from one ceramic element, but multiple layers, with each layer filtering dif- Amplifier circuits for loudspeakers need to ferent frequency spectrums. This al- consider three factors in particular: the short- lows them to generate superior au- term power, the impedance, and the frequen- dio. cy range. The PiezoListen from TDK is among the The short-term power—the load that a loud- thinnest speakers in the world. Measuring speaker can briefly withstand from an ampli- Figure: PUI Audio just 0.49 mm in height, it can be glued easily fier signal without being damaged—can range to smooth surfaces, which are then made to from several 100 mW to several watts in min- oscillate. This is how it transforms practically iature speakers. 10 1/2021 Powered by Committed to Excellence www.rutronik.com
The impedance of magnetic speakers is usu- A push-pull amplifier consisting of transistors ally 4, 8, or 16 Ω. It therefore has a significant is a suitable amplifier stage for the audio am- impact on music output and also plays a ma- plifier. A small high-efficiency speaker only jor role in the amplifier circuit—if a speaker needs simple standard transistors and elec- Figure: TDK with a higher impedance than is recommend- trolytic capacitors to achieve an acceptable ed is connected to the amplifier, its output volume level. may be reduced (i.e. the sound becomes qui- eter). On the other hand, if the impedance is The BCP5616 and BCP5316 complementary too low, the quality of the sound may be im- transistors from Diodes are well-suited for paired, or the amplifier may even shut down medium-level output, while something like TDK’s PiezoListen can use its multilayer technology due to overload. the EEEFK1V101XP from Panasonic is ideal as to transform anything into a loudspeaker. an electrolytic capacitor. While magnetic speakers are an inductive loudspeakers complete with housings provide load, ceramic speakers are a capacitive one. a convenient alternative. Integrated circuits This means that they have a much higher im- pedance, which diminishes with increasing There is often little space available for the frequency. The amplifier therefore needs to Often, however, it is more effective to use in- loudspeaker, in which case it is important to supply much greater currents and cannot lim- tegrated circuits to create simple amplifier make optimum use of the available volume to it the current while maintaining the same circuits. These audio amplifier ICs control and achieve good audio quality with optimum voltage if the loudspeaker is expected to re- boost the audio signal, providing a louder, sound pressure. This can be achieved with a ceive signals with high-frequency content. cleaner, and higher-quality sound. They are housing that is as rectangular or cubic as pos- available in small packages and are found in sible, matching the speaker diameter to the The frequency range is divided into higher many applications such as televisions, com- front and rear. A horn or funnel also serves to power classes, so that the signal is sent to a puters, or home audio systems as digital am- amplify sound. tweeter speaker, mid-range speaker, and bass plifier or operational amplifier types with speaker. For low power levels, a single wide- mono or stereo audio. Most audio amplifier General rules for the housing structure: range speaker is used to eliminate the need ICs are specifically designed for dynamic loud- for audio crossovers. speakers (e.g. NJU8759 from JRC), although • The loudspeaker diaphragm must not hit the models are also available for piezoelectric front plate at its maximum excursion. Dynamic speakers have a relatively low effi- speakers with integrated charge pumps (e.g. ciency level. Their voice coil can be seen as a NJW1280 from JRC). • Vibrations can be avoided using foam be- permanent resistor connected in series with a tween the speaker chassis and housing. This high inductance. It produces ohmic losses also prevents the sound from spreading Loudspeaker with much of the active power being dissi- from the back to the front. housing pated in the form of heat. The amplifier must therefore provide more power—which is a dis- • A cavity of maximum size behind the speak- advantage in the case of battery-powered ap- Once the amplified audio signal is at the voice er provides greater volume and superior plications in particular. coil or the piezo element, sound pressure sound quality. It is often worth having a waves are generated. When the diaphragm well-designed construction to this end. In ceramic speakers, their capacitive nature moves forward, a slight positive pressure de- means that the reactive power plays the velops on the front side of the diaphragm, Conclusion greater role, generating little in the way of while a negative pressure develops on the rear heat. However, the amplifier circuit in the out- side, and vice versa. put stage requires a large amount of active The choice of speaker type, the amplifier cir- power, which dictates efficiency here. Instead To avoid cancellations and thus to increase cuit, and the housing can all affect the size of conventional Class AB amplifiers, other to- the sound level significantly, the front and and audio quality of the speaker. But nowa- pologies such as Class G or D amplifiers are rear sides of the speaker should be acousti- days, there are solutions available for practi- recommended nowadays to achieve higher ef- cally insulated, for which the housing must be cally all requirements and construction size ficiency. designed accordingly. Ready-to-use miniature limitations. ■ Advantages and disadvantages of various speaker designs. Ceramic piezo loudspeaker Dynamic loudspeaker Multilayer piezo loudspeaker Advantage Disadvantage Advantage Disadvantage Advantage Disadvantage High efficiency High driver voltage Tried and true, low-cost Poor efficiency No holes are required for Costly technology technology audio output Reproducible production Capacitive behavior Consistent frequency Deep construction Suitable for IP67 case process behavior Thin construction Poor handling of bass Ultra-thin construction tones www.rutronik.com Committed to Excellence Powered by 1/2021 11
Know-how Drive technology Pre-charging capacitors using pulse-withstanding resistors Electric motors are usually controlled using converters. Electrolytic capacitors are frequently used to stabilize and buffer the DC voltage in the DC link. There are a number of issues to consider with switching these capacitors in and out of the circuit. W hen a capacitor is charged through • the internal resistance of the voltage source a resistor, the increase in voltage estimated at around 20 mΩ By Bert Weiss, Technical Support follows a curve in the form of a at Rutronik, and Roger Renfordt, natural exponential function (Figure 1, blue • the transfer resistance of the connecting Key Account Manager at Krah line). The relevant charging current of the ca- terminals, switching contacts, etc. of max. pacitor (green) on the other hand takes the 5 mΩ form of a decaying exponential function. This means that a realistic total resistance The maximum current flows right at the start would be around 50 mΩ. With this, there is of the charging process, at which point it is still a peak current of over 2,000 A 100 V/50 Ω = 2 A. After around 1.5 seconds (100 V/0.05 Ω = 2,000 A). the capacitor reaches a voltage of close to 100 V, while the current is close to 0 A. While this very high current would only be flowing for a very brief moment, you can still Let’s say this capacitor is charged without us- imagine what impact these current surges can ing a resistor, so that when the voltage is have on other components—certainly so, when “hard switched,” there is only a very low spe- you remember that DC voltages of 800 V are cific resistance in the supply line—estimated commonplace in DC link solutions for convert- to be 10 mΩ—in which case there is theoret- ers nowadays. ically a current of up to 10,000 A at the first moment of charging! Switch-on processes in consideration of wire inductance However, in reality, in addition to the ohmic resistance of the connecting wire, there are other elements providing resistance: If we consider not only the capacitance but also any wire inductance, we observe behav- • the ohmic resistance of the capacitor esti- ior such as that seen in Figure 3. mated at around 25 mΩ Figures: Krah Figure 1: The voltage and charging current of a capacitor follow opposing natural Figure 2: Charging a capacitor at 5,000 µF to a voltage exponential functions. of 100 V through a resistor of 50 Ω. 12 1/2021 Powered by Committed to Excellence www.rutronik.com
Figure 4: Charging a capacitor at 5,000 µF to a voltage of 100 V with a resistance of 7 mΩ and a wire inductance of 7 µH. Figure 3: Behavior of a capacitor during charging, taking wire inductance into account. Without going into detail, the graph shows clearly that the voltage (blue curve) is no lon- Pulse-withstanding pre-charge resistors ger a natural exponential function, instead oscillating towards a value of around 100 V. A very simple and cost-effective approach is Briefly, it will reach a value of up to 170 V, provided here by pulse-withstanding charge around 70% higher than the externally ap- resistors, which can be connected in series plied output voltage! with the capacitor for a certain time. All that is needed here is a pre-charge branch con- The current (green curve) also peaks at around nected in parallel to the main switch. This 2,100 A just after switch-on due to the addi- branch needs to fulfill the following require- tional inductance. In other words, the current ments: reaches very high values and overvoltages with voltage surges of up to double the ex- • Use of the current-limiting effect of the re- Figure 5: BR, HPRF, and VHPR series pulse- ternally applied voltage possibly occurring sistor withstanding pre-charge resistors from Krah. even if all ohmic resistors, inductors, and ca- pacitors to be charged in the charging circuit • Two-step switch-on process: are accounted for. 1. The pulse-withstanding resistor is used to pre-charge the capacitor until it has al- A wide range of pre-charge resistors is offered This is why hard-switching a capacitor should most entirely reached the externally applied by Krah, the world market leader in power re- always be avoided. Pre-charging a capacitor voltage level sistors. These include cement-coated wire re- allows the aforementioned behavior to be al- 2. The capacitor is directly connected by sistors from 3 to 18 W and high-load resistors most entirely prevented. bridging the pre-charge branch connected with aluminum housing from 60 to 560 W. in parallel with the main switch Krah also offers customized solutions for spe- Similar behavior occurs when discharging a cial requirements. For example, increased capacitor, which is why it is also recommend- • A mechanical or electrical lock-out mecha- voltage requirements, special geometric ed to provide a resistor for the discharging nism that prevents switch-on without a forms, and also enhanced cooling solutions process. pre-charge can be implemented. ■ Advertisement Unbenannt-1 1 16.04.2021 09:38:02 www.rutronik.com Committed to Excellence Powered by 1/2021 13
Inside Rutronik An interview with Rutronik CMO Markus Krieg “We’ve overcome the crisis well” The pandemic has raged for more than a year now, but hopes are rising of an end to it. Chief Marketing Officer Markus Krieg explains in an interview how Rutronik has performed through the ups and downs, and how the electronics markets will look in 2021. Despite the ongoing vaccinations, CO- The lack of opportunities for face-to-face en- VID-19 will be a part of our lives for gagement and the need to resort to video con- a long time yet. How well is Rutronik ferencing instead have shown that there are currently coming through the crisis? areas where digital communication is much How are store inventories and orders more efficient. This is true not only of cus- faring? tomer visits—when it comes to digital trade Comparing the situation to March of the pre- events, we’ve found that leads are qualita- vious year when the pandemic was beginning, tively and quantitatively on the same level as it’s fair to say that we’ve overcome the crisis at a live fair. And, last but not least, other well—both financially and as a workforce. forms of communication are becoming in- There were few infections and no cases with creasingly important, such as social media, severe symptoms. This shows how effective which are a much bigger focus now. We are the measures within the company have been— adapting to this and are much more active in for example, with our installation measures this field than before. None of this, of course, and home working. This is the most important means that we’ll be neglecting personal visits, thing. physical trade events, or traditional forms of marketing. I think a hybrid form will begin to But we’re also performing well in terms of take shape from all of this. sales. 2020 was a challenging year in terms of sales and order receipts, because many in- The other side is the digitalization of current- dustries had dialed back their capacities due day applications—we definitely see a shift in to COVID-19. We noticed a recovery as early this direction. Remote maintenance is playing Markus Krieg, as the third quarter—incoming orders grew so an increasingly large role, because, of course, CMO of Rutronik quickly in October and November that we re- I can’t always send technicians to every cor- ally struggled to meet demand. In fact, No- ner of the globe at a moment’s notice. In “ We are taking our own vember 2020 dropped an all-time record in terms of products, we are seeing strong „ terms of incoming orders into our laps—and growth in communication ICs—they are basi- patent to all of the major OEMs, we were pleased to note that this trend con- cally a factor in every application and offer one that is of particular interest tinued in January and February. enormous growth potential, which in turn for hybrid vehicles. means a massive push towards digitalization. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the process of digitalization in many ar- How can Rutronik help to overcome the eas—including industry. How persistent COVID-19 crisis in the current situation, will this shift be, and what does this outside of its core business? mean for Rutronik’s business model? We are, naturally, studying the current situa- It’s important to see this as two different tion and examining how we can help. With trends. Firstly, there’s the digitalization in per- our excellent contacts with Asia and the lo- sonal communication, and secondly, we have gistics capabilities that this entails, we can digitalization in the development of applica- help to bring rapid tests and FFP2 masks to tions. Europe, for example, and in this way help the 14 1/2021 Powered by Committed to Excellence www.rutronik.com
government to achieve their targets of more BMW to Audi. But if I do that, my supply chain frequent testing. In Pforzheim, we are also us- ends up sitting on its products—and without ing our logistics capacities to support the much warning. This means masses of cancel- large-scale testing center—the goal here be- lations and delays—at one point, Rutronik had ing the “Tübingen Model,” which aims to re- to manage and process up to 200,000 order store public life to a relative state of normal- item changes in a day. When the market re- ity with a large number of rapid tests. We are gained pace, they were surprised that the sup- also assisting in the development of an app ply chain had distributed the semiconductors that is another element of this concept. elsewhere and the capacities were no longer available. I can’t bring myself to point fingers Europe’s share of the demand for global at the supply chain or component producers H High-Current igh h-Cur electronic components is dropping to here because the automotive industry did a C Contact onntact E Elements around 8 percent—which basically cov- poor job of resource management in this case. ers Apple’s or Samsung’s needs alone. Right now, this has given rise to the problem This will have consequences for the sup- of our being unable to purchase components ply chain, in which European businesses as quickly as the customers are ordering them. risk falling behind in the medium and We’ve been able to manage so far, or at least long term. How can Europe gain an ad- our customers haven’t suffered a line stop just vantage here, and how can distributors yet. To this end, we communicate closely with help? OEMs and Tier One and Tier Two representa- To put it bluntly, the European Union has tives. We hope to be able to meet demand spent years blissfully asleep at the wheel, and normally again by the end of Q3 or early Q4. versatile application possibilities never noticed that they are becoming tech- Until then, though, we have two quarters with in compact control units and nologically extremely dependent on Asia and a lot of backlog management to handle. Our on-board charging modules the USA. The remaining European semicon- analyses have shown that the incoming orders ductor manufacturers that essentially matter to date are basically what wasn’t ordered last have developed their own production capaci- year—in other words, we started at a very low ties in Asia or have turned to third-party pro- backlog level, and the incoming orders are fill- ducers. The consequence of this has been that, ing our books to the level that we would have even if we develop the IP and the associated expected without COVID-19 in 2020. mating with contact tab, technology in Europe, it doesn’t mean that we can get the production capacity for the rele- Are there other component groups where top or bottom entry vant chips in Asia. The EU and the German allocation is to be expected? And how government have now finally woken up and well is Rutronik prepared for this? set up a scheme to boost Europe’s own semi- In light of the circumstances described above, conductor production—for which 150 billion we basically have shortages in every area. Is- euros are on the table. As the third-largest sues with logistics and transport capacities distributor in Europe, Rutronik is on hand with exacerbate the matter. The markets have re- for SMT soldering its expertise—we are in talks with top-level covered with a time delay—China resumed representatives of the EU and the German producing earlier and has exported a lot to or welding government. But bringing production capaci- Europe and America. This has shifted contain- ties back to Europe is not the end of the sto- er capacities to these regions, and these ca- ry—we need to ensure that European distribu- pacities are now lacking elsewhere. The few tion channels make use of these production available containers are currently being rent- capacities, and that they can distribute the ed for three times the normal price, mainly production output to customers in Europe. We from the US, meaning that we in Europe have aim to ensure that Vishay, Infineon, and the very little in the way of transport capacity. smaller manufacturers that are still in Europe This makes it difficult to quickly respond to are compelled to focus on Europe with their shortages. distribution channels. Specifically, this affects products such as dis- Rutronik generates just under half of plays and wireless modules. We try to keep its sales from the automotive sector. production running by ensuring daily commu- And car manufacturers and their suppli- nication between customers and suppliers. from 65 A ers are also starting to feel the pinch of With passive components, we occasionally ex- up to 80 A component allocation. How is security of perience shortages of electrolytic capacitors, supply looking for Rutronik’s automo- which is due to the massive development of tive customers? the 5G network, which requires a very large It’s worth looking at the wider picture here. number of capacitors. The shortages are also In April/May 2020, the OEMs started massive- being exacerbated by the rapid development ly dialing back their production, from VW to of electromobility, which is expanding faster www.lumberg.com www.rutronik.com Powered by 1/2021 15
Inside Rutronik than expected. This increases the demand for The catch lies elsewhere, namely in legal and ment. So a comparison isn’t quite that simple. electrolytic capacitors, coils, and inductors— ethical matters—questions of “do I really want Higher margins are important for us because but even with electromechanical components, to hand decisions of how to react in a dan- we have a high cost of ownership due to our there are still occasional shortages, for ex- gerous situation to a machine?” and “What’s passive and commodity portfolio. There are ample plug connectors for electric or hybrid the position of insurers on this?” three key strategic points. Firstly, we must vehicles, although not to the extent seen in show manufacturers that they benefit from 2018. Delivery times have also increased for How is the market performing in America our business model, because we provide them ceramic capacitors and automotive-certified and Asia, and what are the differences to with access to an additional customer group products, although there’s no talk of compo- Europe? by delivering commodities to them. Secondly, nent allocation just yet. Our Asian business is performing wonderfully. we prepare our product marketing, sales, and Asia in general, and in particular China, over- FAEs even more effectively with training mea- came the crisis much sooner, which has had sures. And thirdly, we establish a very broad, “ a positive impact on our overall net income. balanced customer basis. Especially in the When it comes to digital trade The first three months of this year were very mid-range segment, there are entirely differ- „ events, we’ve found that leads are qua- encouraging—not just in China, but in South- ent opportunities to generate margins com- East Asia, too. The situation in the US is rath- pared to the Tier One and Automotive seg- litatively and quantitatively on the same er more challenging, and we’ve had to cut jobs ments. level as at a live fair. in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, so we’re rather thin on the ground staff-wise Finally, let us take that ever-dreaded there. We also don’t yet have the resources on look into the crystal ball. How will 2021 the ground that we wanted available at the develop for Rutronik and for the elec- What is your take on the situation of US headquarters. This makes it difficult to de- tronics industry as a whole? German OEMs and suppliers given the velop the business in a way that allows us to I believe that two things will be important for upheaval caused by electromobility? achieve reasonable profitability. Mexico has the rest of the year. The first is availability— How is Rutronik supporting its custom- also been severely hit by the coronavirus, and for responding quickly to changes, for man- ers with this? this is why our customers’ factories were aging existing backlogs, and thus to generate For us as a component distributor, electrifica- closed for weeks, if not months. as much business as possible. The other is the tion is, of course, a positive thing, because we matter of the impact of COVID-19—right now, participate in it. The share of components in How is Rutronik Analytics performing? many hope that the vaccines will enable us to the vehicle will increase in electrically pow- We’re very happy with it. The analyses that make great strides towards normality in Q4. ered vehicles than is already the case today, we have performed using the tool to date have I’m a little more skeptical about that, not least especially in terms of semiconductors for been very successful. We have set up a dedi- because of the mutations and the different high-performance drives and power electron- cated team to offer the services offered by effectiveness levels of the vaccines. We have ics. We engage with our customers closely in Rutronik Analytics now to customers as well. a close eye on developments so that we can this regard and introduce them to innovations We are also continuously evolving on a tech- be prepared for all eventualities. If things are to enable them to keep pace with non-Euro- nological level and are trying to become less looking up, we will, of course, be pleased and pean competitors. dependent on a single service provider, to de- will help where we can. But even if things take velop in-house software development re- a turn for the worse, we have learned from Another area relates to batteries. We are tak- sources, and to further improve our analysis the past and are prepared to take the neces- ing our own patent to all of the major OEMs, IP. sary steps as a company. one that is of particular interest for hybrid vehicles. It allows the same distance to be We managed to get through the crisis in 2020 covered with fewer batteries than was previ- without cutting working hours. This proves “ „ ously possible, which in turn helps save costs. Our analyses have shown that the that the measures we took were the right We expect the first cars using our patent to ones—including from a financial perspective. be on the road in two years. But we’re not fo- incoming orders to date are the result of We have created a foundation that enables us cusing solely on e-mobility—we also have what wasn’t ordered last year. to respond appropriately to all situations. We faith in fuel cells, and we have customers must never forget that to profit from strong we’re supporting in this field as well. growth in business, you need the financial re- sources to adjust to it. We have prepared our And what about autonomous vehicles? Distributors’ margins have been falling business accordingly. ■ As far as autonomous driving is concerned, we for years. How has COVID-19 affected can see with Google or Tesla that it is already this? Are there new developments in the broadly possible today. The 5G network pro- market or within Rutronik? vides the requisite communication infrastruc- To begin with, falling margins are a psycho- ture, not only for autonomous driving but also logical problem. If I’m worried about losing a for car-to-car communication. This is a mas- contract in adverse times, I can’t go into ne- sive opportunity for us, not only in relation to gotiations with the self-confidence I need. communication semiconductors, but also in This is why we had a drop in margins in 2020— power suppliers for transmission towers—the although 2019 was itself a year that suffered demand here is enormous. partially from allocation in the passive seg- 16 1/2021 Powered by Committed to Excellence www.rutronik.com
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Inside Rutronik Logistics More efficient procurement of C-parts Customers ordered over 71 billion commodities from Rutronik in 2020. For the majority of these components, it is important to view the huge volumes in the context of their prices, which are often just a few cents or even fractions of a cent—these are referred to as C-parts. To generate savings potential here, it is therefore more beneficial to examine the order processes than the price of the goods themselves. L et’s say a business needs 40,000 chip price adjustments through annual price ne- resistors each month. To keep store in- gotiations. By Roman Wolf, Project Manager ventory low, an order of 10,000 resis- Supply Chain Solutions, and Patrick Krätz, Head of Supply Chain tors is sent each week. This means that four Potential for optimization Solutions, both at Rutronik times a month a worker has to unpack the goods, check the delivery note, enter the de- livery note into the inventory control system, To reduce process costs, delivery volumes and and then shelve the goods. So as we see, com- packaging units are effective tools for opti- ponents that are themselves worth just a few mization. Many commodities are available in euros cause process costs that are at least packages of 5,000 to 50,000 units, usually on equally as high—if not higher—than the prod- a reel. The rule to consider is this: the bigger uct’s actual worth. The potential to cut costs the selected unit, the lower the process costs. is therefore much higher in this area than with If the company in the above example were to Figure: nordroden/stock.adobe.com 18 1/2021 Powered by Committed to Excellence www.rutronik.com
order 40,000 chip resistors once a month in- Figure: Rutronik stead of 10,000 units four times a month, the required expense and effort would be reduced to just a quarter. While this increases store inventory, the low value of the C-parts means that this is not usually a relevant factor. With optimizations such as these, Rutronik has been able to drastically reduce the num- ber of delivery note items for numerous cus- tomers whose annual order volumes number in the billions of units (see image), or has managed to keep these items consistent while volumes rise. And each item removed from the delivery note represents process costs saved. Security of supply with low storage costs Optimized procurement allows for drastic cuts in the number of delivery note items—and with these, a reduction in the effort and expense required for the receipt of incoming goods. If the main concern is a low stock value, a consignment store is a good way to keep this tomers as possible to benefit from electronic common, whether due to adverse weather value low. The goods are stored near to the data interchange and, with it, the ability to conditions in regions with large numbers of company’s production facilities, ready to be automate procurement processes. This results production sites, the impact of the COVID-19 collected as needed. They are only billed when in an improvement in data quality, basically pandemic, or demand surges resulting in al- collected. This is how a consignment store of- as a by-product. location, as was the case in 2018. fers not only low storage costs but also opti- mized management of goods flows, as well as This is true both of conventional procurement Logistics is much more than just ordering the security of supply. processes with order submissions and order right goods at the right time to be delivered confirmations as it is of dynamic delivery sys- to the right place. It is also an essential ele- To make procurement processes generally as tems involving rolling, long-term forecasts. ment of optimizing cost structure and of the efficient as possible, Rutronik had taken steps The latter in particular also contributes sig- performance of the company. For C-parts, ef- years ago to digitalize the entire process, from nificantly to security of supply, because the ficient delivery processes play an especially order to forecast to shipping notification to more familiar the distributor is with the long- important role in keeping logistics and pro- invoicing. In addition to standardized file for- term needs of its customers, the better they cessing costs as low as possible, even as vol- mats such as EDIFACT, VDA, or SAP IDOC, can take account of these needs in the event umes rise. This is why a customized, smart Rutronik can also handle other formats, such of sudden market changes in the manufac- delivery strategy makes more sense here than as Excel or text files, enabling as many cus- turer backlog—a situation that is extremely a just-in-time delivery system. ■ Advertisement www.rutronik.com Committed to Excellence Powered by 1/2021 19
Inside Rutronik FAE support Field application engineers without the field Sitting at a table with developers feels like a thing of the past. Design-in support is another thing that the coronavirus pandemic has largely relocated into the digital realm. What can still be achieved with it? And what form will it take in the post-corona era? Carsten Steiner, Director FAE/BDM Global at Rutronik, provides the answers. Mr. Steiner, what can be achieved with That’s not quite true. Sure, you might be able digital FAE support? to find a lot of information, but it can easily Carsten Steiner: I’ll start with what it can’t take hours to find what an FAE could answer achieve—it doesn’t let us test components in a few minutes. Not only that, but you need under real conditions with our customers. to be able to understand the context of the And the intuitive hands-on experience is also information, which takes knowledge and ex- lacking, especially with many electrome- perience. Each of our customers is an absolute chanical components. Displays are something expert in their field, no doubt about that! But Carsten Steiner, Director FAE/BDM Global at that you need to have seen in person before their core expertise is not in the continuous Rutronik “ you choose to buy them—even the glossiest and intensive observation of the component „ brochures, websites, and data sheets won’t market. This is a time-consuming task that our Ultimately, the goal is always suffice here. This is why we have a compre- FAEs perform by actively engaging with the to develop a competitive final hensive warehouse with demo products that component manufacturers and with the col- our customers can borrow and test in their laboration of our product and line managers. product. application. This is in part time-consuming because the And the personal aspect of face-to-face diversity of product models and the complex- meetings is also missing. Digital meet- ity of the components has massively increased for years, even though these components have ings are simply not a full-blooded sub- in recent years, while life cycles continue to since ceased to be technologically relevant or stitute for them. be ever shorter. It’s not enough to be familiar have ceased to represent a major cost factor. But everything else works just as well online— with the latest components—the manufactur- Others end up left unnoticed, with the same some of it even better, in fact. We keep dis- ers’ road maps are also important. Being un- components being used again and again, even covering that we are often able to answer our aware of these may result in a component though there is considerable optimization po- customers’ questions more quickly in Web being incorporated into a design, even though tential for the solution as a whole. With an meetings than we can during on-site appoint- it has already been discontinued when serial outside perspective and backed by a compre- ments. In this regard, our FAEs prepare for ev- production starts. Our FAEs always have an hensive product portfolio, our FAEs can take ery meeting even more intensively than they eye on this, and on delivery times. To avoid a holistic perspective of the solution and con- ever have. In the future, we aim to make use unpleasant surprises, they also recommend sider the total cost of ownership. of other communication methods and tools alternative components as a second source— such as messaging services, ticketing systems, and not just with focus components, either. And there’s another very important aspect: and virtual/augmented reality solutions. This C-parts are just as prone to causing produc- time to market. The points that I mentioned is how we aim to engage with our customers tion stoppages, as recent months have shown all help to ensure a rapid market launch. We on an even more individual level—a beginner time and time again. It is also important to be also support our customers with in-house- and a digital native simply has different ex- able to assess the opportunities and limits of developed development kits, demo boards, and pectations and preferences to a veteran with components, which takes experience, and also complete solutions, for example with an MCU decades of experience. knowledge of the latest technologies. These platform for AI-based edge applications. often enable entirely different solutions for If everything is done online anyway, certain requirements. You mentioned short development cy- can’t a developer or purchaser simply cles. Which product segments are see- use Google, search through an online You can’t just google all of this. And what’s ing the most dynamic performance? shop, or ask in forums? I mean, you can more, we often notice how component deci- I would say that everything in the Wireless find everything online these days. sions have focused on the same components segment is among them. The new wireless 20 1/2021 Powered by Committed to Excellence www.rutronik.com
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