DODUCO presents its comprehensive know-how for power electronics at the PCIM in Nuremberg

At the PCIM trade fair in Nuremberg from 14-16 May 2013, DODUCO showcases its entire range of competencies in technology, products and services for power electronics.

Power electronics has always been an important link between energy production and distribution as well as energy conversion to the consumers of electrical energy. With the new areas of application such as hybrid drives in automotive, photovoltaic solar systems, fuel cells, high-voltage direct-current transmission and wind turbine stations the power electronics is increasingly gaining in significance.

For power electronics DODUCO offers a broad product portfolio including bondable materials, precision stamped parts, hybrid frames and housings and surface technology. As development partner with its comprehensive technical engineering DODUCO also supports its customers from the development phase until to serial production.

The connection to the current paths of electronic circuits inside a power electronic assembly is mostly made by bonding. DODUCO is one of the largest European sources for AlSi1-cladded copper alloy strips the most reliable surface for aluminum wire bonding. Solutions for copper wire bonding are also available. With an additional electroplated coating on the strips with tin, silver or gold according to customer's requirements all interconnection applications can be achieved. 

DODUCO manufactures precision stamped parts from various materials and coatings for high power as well as signal connection applications. For the connection to PCBs the company offers precision stamped parts with EloPin flexible press-in zone.

Based on decades of experience DODUCO is a market leader in hybrid frames engineering especially for power electronics and automotive applications. For manufacturing all key technologies are employed, including contact material manufacturing, tooling, precision stamping, plastic molding, surface coating and precious metal recycling. Sourcing all these capabilities from a single supplier enables customized advanced technology solutions that maximize performance and cost-effectiveness.
DODUCO's experts work together with the design engineers of module suppliers in a close partnership to achieve cost benefits, fast design reviews and the best technical solution.

Coatings are required where wires are bonded and connections are made. DODUCO offers a wide variety of surfaces for low and high power applications as well as thermal management. Various coatings are used for example nickel plating for heat sinks made of AlSiC or silver plating and tin plating for connection elements made of copper materials. DCB-PCB's can also be plated with electroless nickel/gold-DODUCHEM® or electroless nickel/palladium/gold DODUBOND® processes.
DODUCO's R&D works closely with material science specialists to develop the surfaces required in future.

As a true cooperation partner with a comprehensive know-how DODUCO actively incorporate its knowledge and experience in the improvement, new development and prototyping of customer products.

 

April 2013

In August 2012, DODUCO, one of the world's leading manufacturers of electrical contacts with over 90 years' experience in the processing and recovery of precious metals, was included in the "Good Delivery List of Acceptable Refiners" of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) as an internationally certified refinery and manufacturer of silver bars. As from January 2013, DODUCO is now an Associated Member of this organization.

The company has fulfilled the many requirements for certification in terms of production and assaying capability, quality, annual output and financial status and is therefore accepted as a supplier of Good Delivery silver bars in the special purity of 99.99% at the London Bullion Market and on trading floors world wide.

This is a logical completion and considerable expansion of DODUCO's precious metal business. Unlike the LBMA standard bars with a silver content of 99.9%, the silver supplied to DODUCO's customers is available in the form of bars with a variety of weights, as well as grains, in the special purity of 99.99%.

DODUCO's CEO Ralf Maus emphasized the dedication and commitment of the employees in the refinery, analytical lab, melting, precious metals management and sales departments, all of whom were involved in the whole process of certification.

"This is a further milestone in the long history of DODUCO's precious metal refinery, which currently has an output of some 500 metric tons per year and a 7% share of the world's market and counts among the leading silver refining companies in Europe," commented Business Unit Manager Armin Nittel.

With a four-fold increase in the price of silver over the last few years, this raw material has become increasingly important as an investment product in a very volatile market. The "urban mining" of silver, i.e. secondary recovery from production scrap will continue to increase its market share in terms of procurement and supply. Currently, this accounts for about 25% of the market. Silver is used predominantly by industry and in the jewelry sector. In industrial applications, silver is often chosen for its high conductivity and resistance to corrosion. Silver is nowadays also used in large quantities in renewable energy installations such as solar modules and wind-powered generators. Because of the antibacterial properties of silver, applications in medical devices and textiles are also gaining in importance.

The innovative and environmentally friendly recovery facilities of DODUCO's precious metal refinery provides an efficient processing service for the precious metals silver, gold, palladium, platinum and rhodium and, in addition, copper. Experts in the key reprocessing technologies of melting, electrolysis and chemical processing, the company possesses comprehensive know-how in the recycling of all types of precious metal bearing scrap from the areas of electrical engineering and electronics, electroplating and the jewelry and dental industries. In recent years, DODUCO has invested specifically in the modernization and expansion of silver electrolysis facilities and above all in quality assurance and environmental technologies; one of the most significant changes was the increase in the purity of the recovered silver to over 99.99%.

This silver forms the basis of the wide range of DODUCO contact materials and also pure silver powders.
The precious metals refinery is certified in accordance with Quality Management System DIN EN ISO 9001, Environmental Management System ISO 14001:2004 and as an approved disposal facility pursuant to Article 52 of the German Closed Substance Cycle Waste Management Act (KrW-/AbfG).

Founded in 1922 as a precious metals refinery, the company today has over 1,300 employees at locations in Europe and Asia, 800 of which at the Pforzheim plant. Operating through a unique technology network, the company supplies contact materials, semi-finished products, contact parts, electro-mechanical components, products and processes for the surface and coating technology as well as a precious metals recycling service. This vast spectrum of products and services combined with the company's extensive expertise in the field of current carrying electrical connections makes DODUCO an internationally important partner for many companies in almost all industries and markets.

Business Unit ManagerArmin Nittel, CEO Ralf Maus and Authorized Officer Rudi-Werner Hartmann (from left to right) are delighted at the silver certification awarded by the LBMA.

DODUCO Tianjin attended "The 14th International Exhibition on Electric Power Equipment and Technology" (EP China 2012) from September 26 to 28, in Beijing, China. This show was organized by China Electricity Council with support by all major Power Group Corporations and Power Grid Corporations. This is the largest and the most reputable electric power exhibition in China.

There were more than 800 exhibitors from 22 countries / regions including Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, India, Israel, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, USA, China, Taiwan Province and Hong Kong SAR, etc. showed in the exhibition. The exhibition area was more than 28,000 m².

The number of visitors, which from 52 countries and regions, was 24,235.

In the exhibition, DODUCO had good communication with lots of exist and potential customers including most of medium and high voltage customers, as well as low voltage customers. DODUCO exchanged information, business cards and also brochures with potential customers. That would be helpful  to expand the market. And also had discussion with some of its key customers for the opportunities to develop new business in coming years.

There are some companies cancelled the booths this year due to the poor marketing situation these days. Though the market is not expected very good in coming year, the visitors in the industrial all forecast at least stable growth next year.

With annual rotation in Beijing and Shanghai in alternate years, EP Shanghai 2013 will be held again at Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center from October 30 to November 1, 2013 in Shanghai.

The 58th IEEE Holm Conference was held in September 2012 in Portland, OR, USA with over 140 attendees from around the world. This year's conference was sponsored by both, DODUCO and our sales partner for North America, NAECO LLC of Peachtree City, GA who both exhibited informative displays and products highlighting their new partnership and joint capabilities as well as the new edition of the DODUCO Data Book.
Over 140 attendees from mainly the USA and larger contingents from Europe as well as Japan and China participated in 14 sessions with 48 technical paper presentations ranging from connector contacts to electrical arcing phenomena as well as the latest trends in miniaturization including an invited lecture of Prof. J. Buehler of MIT on Computational Material Science as it applies to the field of electrical contacts.
For DODUCO Dr. Volker Behrens presented a paper on a new test set-up in the application laboratory for temperature rise of higher load contact materials and the contribution by Dr. Stephanie Kissling discussed coating processes for aluminum used increasingly as a replacement for copper in cables and busbar products.
The contributions from DODUCO are: "Effect of Ambient Temperature and Contact Force on Contact Resistance and Overtemperature Behavior for Power Engineering Contacts" by Dr. Behrens, Edgar Siegle, Jonas Schreiber, Thomas Honig, Michael Finkbeiner and "Electrochemically Deposited Coating Systems on Aluminum for Contact Applications" by Dr. Stephanie Kißling, Wolfgang Schmitt, Dr. Volker Behrens.
As in previous years the annual IEEE Holm Conference was a lively forum for the engineering and R&D community from industry and research organizations to exchange the latest developments in all technology aspects for electrical contacts. DODUCO's strong participation continues to demonstrate our commitment to these core business activities of our company.

 

At the 22nd Fakuma, the international trade fair for plastics processing, in Friedrichshafen from16 - 20 October, DODUCO will be showing its comprehensive range of plastic/metal composite technology in Hall A7, Stand A7-7102.


Plastic/metal composite components are becoming more and more important in the drive to make things "smaller, lighter and more compact". They are key components in switchgear, control and connectivity applications, in electromechanical and electronic systems of motor vehicles, in electrical devices and electronics, wind energy and solar technology as well as in hybrid vehicles.
Plastic/metal composite components from DODUCO consist of high-precision stamped electrical contacts for transmitting electrical information and/or electrical power.
These contacts are overmolded with high-tech polymers or mounted in complex free-fall ejected plastic parts. For this purpose, plastics such as LCP, PPS, PPA und high-quality PAs and PBTs are used. For the most part, the company uses electroplated or coated strips (AlSi1) of its own manufacture for the customer's bonding applications. In addition, electronic components can be incorporated into the component in order to achieve an even greater degree of product integration. The technology used to create the interface between the plastic/metal composite assembly and the electronic circuitry can either take the form of bonding to the AlSi1 surface, soldering to a tinned surface, welding or using a flexible press-in pin zone.
In the manufacture of overmolded contact assemblies and hybrid frames and housings, the company draws on its existing know-how and many years of experience in its specialized areas of expertise, namely electroplating, contact materials, stamping, aluminum plating, toolmaking, plastics technology and R & D.
This enables DODUCO to offer a flexible and coordinated portfolio of products and technologies.
By combining stamping technology with reel-to-reel overmolding, stamped contact parts can also be embedded in plastic as functional assemblies. In the case of complex stamped geometries, the lead frames must be individually inserted into the molding tool manually, semi-automatically or automatically prior to overmolding. For applications and materials which can not be made by overmolding, semi or fully automatic assembly processes can be used. A combination of different individual components such as circuit boards, stamped parts, contact parts and plastic housings together create new assemblies.
In all the manufacturing processes mentioned above, the required quality and functionality tests, e.g. for electrical properties, surface quality or geometrical tolerances, can be integrated into the production line.

DODUCO Databook on Electrical Contacts

The book contains data, properties, application guidelines and standards on electrical contact materials, semifinished products, contact parts, plastic-metal composite components, surface coatings, electroplating products and precious metal recycling. In addition environmental aspects and test procedures for electrical contacts are included.

The databook is authored by present and former DODUCO experts and remains a valuable working tool and comprehensive reference source for all engineering and other interested  personnel engaged in the broad field of electrical contacts and precious metals.

The original 3rd edition was published in 2009 under the previous corporate name
AMI DODUCO. Since 2010 the company has reorganized under the original DODUCO name and adapted a new corporate image. This was a good reason for us to again revise and update the content and the graphics for this latest version of the Databook. We are publishing it again under the well known and for decades highly respected DODUCO name. 

DODUCO GmbH: Databook on Electrical Contacts, Revised 3rd edition 2012, 388 pages
Ordering Information: Stieglitz-Verlag, www.stieglitz-verlag.de, Euro 32.90, ISBN: 978-3-7987-0411-4.


June 2012

A single source for electrical contact manufacturing technologies

"Your Partner for Premium Contact Technology" is the slogan of DODUCO GmbH at Stanztec 2012 exhibition. The Pforzheim-based company will be presenting its broad know how and unique expertise in the development and manufacture of precious metal containing electrical contacts. DODUCO has a great tradition in joining contact materials with all conventional substrates and is able to offer the whole range of semi-finished products, tool engineering, precision parts production, plastic/metal composite technology, coating and plating technologies and precious metal recycling from a single source.
Preserve natural resources by recycling precious metal waste, DODUCO is significantly contributing to sustainability and cost-effective use of precious metals. The latter is even more important in times of rising precious metal prices.
DODUCO, the expert for electrical contacts, has access to a huge variety of in-house technologies ranging from the welding on contact wires or multilayer contact profiles of the company's own mill production, the riveting of own contact rivets or cut wire lengths, inlay or toplay claddings, seamwelding, reel-to-reel plating, electroplating of parts, physical vapor deposition or the manufacture of bondable surfaces.
Quality assurance is of particular importance at DODUCO. In the company's own labs, the inspection of cross sections and SEM-analysis are carried out just as routinely as the electrical testing of the interaction between switchgear and newly developed contact materials.
Through its unique scope of technologies the company, which besides its factories in Germany also operates production facilities in Spain and China, offers premium-quality, tailor-made and economically efficient solutions. The benefits for the customers are as follows. In a very early stage of a project already, customers are given detailed technical advice in order to bring the required electrical contact functionality in line with design and cost. Not to forget that the entire responsibility for quality rests with a single supplier. The product manager responsible at DODUCO coordinates each individual process thus avoiding susceptible interfaces to third-party suppliers or additional transport routes. This goal-oriented cooperation reduces throughput times to a minimum.



June 2012

DODUCO at O & S, Stuttgart
12 - 14 June 2012, Hall 9, Stand A 56


DODUCO presents a development partnership for innovative functional coatings at the O & S trade fair in Stuttgart and exhibits new electroplating products

DODUCO, the precious metals specialist, has a long track record in research and development in the area of precious metal coatings. This work has led to numerous patents and innovative products. Based on this expertise, the company is well-positioned as a development partner for precious metal plating projects. "To assure the best solution in terms of technology and cost-effectiveness we seek to enter into a partnership with our customers at the earliest possible stage in the product development process. The objective is to employ professional project management techniques to arrive at a coating system which does justice to all requirements placed by the customer product and which ensures a workability and environmentally friendly product," is how Manfred Irschik, divisional sales manager in the precious metal coating technologies division at DODUCO, describes the new strategy.

DODUCO offers an exceptionally wide range of products and services for the deposition of technical components, strip, circuit boards and ceramic substrates. The commonly used electroless and electrolytic deposition processes as well as PVD techniques are  applied.

The focus this year is on surfaces for the growing market of power electronics. In particular, coatings for difficult-to-deposit substrates such as aluminum or AlSiC, used as heat sinks in power electronics, are in demand in this market segment.

The company's plating services are based on the electroplating products developed in-house and sold worldwide. One of the new deposition techniques is the DODUBOND®, an electroless Ni/Pd/Au process technology specially developed for gold wire bonding and available in three different versions. With this innovative technology, DODUCO provides manufacturers of PCBs and ceramic substrates with a universal final coating for all applications. A further new development is ARGOL® CF, a cyanide-free fine silver bath for environmentally friendly electroplating. The process can be used in rack and barrel plating units and for strip plating. For the cadmium-free low-carat electroplating of jewelry and decorative items, the company offers the gold-copper electrolyte DODUPLAT® 18. For reducing insertion and withdrawal forces of silver layers, DODUCO has developed SILVERTON RI. This is a new inorganic coating for silver which can easily be used in any type of plating unit.

DODUCO's precious metal recycling service offers customers a closed precious metal cycle in which used precious metal baths, resins and filters as well as plated metal scrap can be reclaimed. In recent years, capacity in this sector has been expanded, especially in the area of silver recovery which totals 500 metric tons of silver per year. This makes the company one of the largest silver refineries in Europe.

DODUCO is pleased to announce a new alliance designed to help us better serve our valued North American Customers. We realized that many customers in the USA, Mexico and the Caribbean would benefit from having a local team to contact - one who "speaks your language" with regard to Electrical Contacts, and is nearby to help with service, support and logistics. We are pleased to announce that DODUCO and NAECO (USA) have formed such an alliance with you in mind.

NAECO (located near Atlanta, Georgia USA) is now our official sales partner for the North American market. NAECO was founded in 1999 and is dedicated to the supply of Electrical Contact Materials and Assemblies. In their 13 years of operations, they have earned an excellent reputation for service, an innovative "can-do" attitude and knowledge of contact materials and applications. Based on the long years of experience in their business David Bergmann, President, and Steve Jones, Sales Director, are well familiar with the specific demands and high requirements of the industries we are serving.

NAECO is in a position to act as a local source for solutions and services including stocking programs, whatever is requested from customer's side. However, when direct contact to our factories in Europe and Asia is preferred by our customers this remains still as an option.

 

DODUCO presents Technical Paper at the 26th International Conference on Electrical Contacts ICEC 2012 in Beijing, May 14 -17

DODUCO presents at the ICEC 2012 a paper entitled "Influence of Attachment Quality on the Performance of Arcing Electrical Contacts". The paper was co-authored by An Guojian, Engineering Manager of DODUCO (Tianjin) Company, Ltd. of Tianjin, China, and Guenther Horn, ElConMat Consulting Associates of Richmond, VA, USA.

In this presentation DODUCO demonstrates their expertise in the manufacture of electrical contact assemblies and the state of the art technological advances to ensure that their products meet today's high requirements on quality and reliability as demanded by the global customers. Examples and results presented are based on studies conducted at DODUCO's technical departments in Tianjin, China and Pforzheim, Germany. As a sponsor of this year's conference DODUCO will also showcase its products and services at the conference venue. Technical and marketing personnel from both China and Germany will be present to answer questions from attendees.

The International Conference on Electrical Contacts is held every two years and this year's meeting is held in China for the first time. The Chinese organizers expect an attendance of over 250 technical experts from around the world for the presentation of about 100 papers in various sessions covering the whole field of electrical contact technology.

DODUCO GmbH Pforzheim will present its whole range of competence in stamping engineering at the fair  "BLECHEXPO" in Stuttgart, the international trade fair for sheet metal processing which is being held from June 6 to 9, 2011. A leading manufacturer of electric contacts, the company produces high-precision stamped parts for various industries such as the electric, electronic and automotive as well as medical engineering. These high-precision stamped parts can be processed by welding or soldering, equipped with rivets, galvanically coated, plated, assembled or covered with plastic material by spray-molding. They are supplied as individual parts, on a strip, in a ridge or in a blister belt, according to the wishes of the customer.

Especially in the technology of welding the contacts from our in-house manufacturing department to carrier strips, the company has outstanding know-how.  As a new development in this field, DODUCO will present the welding of contacts to the front edge. In comparison with a plating process, a high amount of precious metal can be saved by using this process, which also allows for selection from a wide range of materials.

DODUCO has comprehensive competence and has at its disposal the whole range of equipment required for the production of high-grade tools. The high-precision tools manufactured by DODUCO provide a high integration potential such as multiple welding, multiple thread-molding, multiple riveting and the assembly of stamped parts on a strip. Additionally, the company offers the option of functional integration of different manufacturing steps in one production line. Cost-efficient integral solutions can thus be implemented at the highest level.
Intense technical consulting of customers and support in development projects are the important component of a good partnership from the very beginning. The experts of DODUCO will inform you about the optimum design of the electric contact for the application in question, and how the customer can benefit from DODUCO's know- how in the optimization of his process chain.

The company provides an unequaled technology network for the manufacturing of electric contacts. In the technology, of joining contact materials with all customary matrix materials. DODUCO, the Pforzheim-based company with its long-standing tradition, can fall back on its high competence and experience from many decades in the development and manufacturing of contact materials containing precious metals. With the concentrated know-how in the manufacturing of semi-finished parts, tool-making engineering, manufacturing of high-precision parts, metal-plastic bond technology, coating technologies and the recycling of precious metals, DODUCO is your partner in the total  range of competences throughout the whole production cycle.

We became DODUCO

We are pleased to announce that the sales process to Tinicum Capital Partners II and JP Asia is closed now with official entry into commercial register.
The transfer of ownership announced for beginning of September is completed.

As visible sign of this new stage of our company history we are glad to establish our new company name and logo.
In future we will operate under DODUCO GmbH in Germany, DODUCO ESPAÑA S. L. in Spain and DODUCO (Tianjin) Co. Ltd. in China with same addresses like in the past.

Concerning the E-Mail address of your direct contact persons at DODUCO please substitute the ending @amidoduco.com by @doduco.net only.
For a certain period both variants will work and find their addressee.

The address of our homepage is http://www.doduco.net and its on-line appearance will change mid-term, too.

Together with the transfer of ownership the members of our management board have changed.
It consists now of Marc H. Turpin (Chairman) and Dr. Franz Kaspar (Executive Vice President Manufacturing & Technology) as well as Hajo Kufahl (Executive Vice President Customers & Markets).

We are looking forward to the future alongside our new strong partners.

Sale of AMI DODUCO - New investor will focus on further business growth

Technitrol Inc. announced yesterday that it has agreed to sell its interest in AMI DODUCO to Tinicum Capital Partners II (Tinicum), JP Asia Capital Partners and affiliates. The sale includes AMI DODUCO's factories in Pforzheim, Germany; Sinsheim, Germany; Madrid, Spain; Tianjin, China and Mexico City, Mexico. After completion of this transaction, Technitrol will no longer have an interest in the electrical contacts business. The transaction is subject to normal review by anti-trust authorities and is expected to be completed by the beginning of September 2010.

Tinicum Capital Partners II is a New York-based private equity group, which, together with its affiliated funds, has committed capital of $1.325 billion. Its investors are solely individuals and families. Tinicum is focused on acquiring controlling equity stakes in companies or minority stakes in public or private companies. It has a long history (dating back to the 1950s) of investing in industrial businesses, including electrical equipment manufacturers.

JP Asia Capital Partners is based in Singapore and is focused on acquiring equity stakes in high-growth, technology-enabled companies. JP Asia's principals have a successful track record in building strong business franchises, combined with an extensive network of industrial and financial contacts.

Tinicum's investment in AMI DODUCO will center on increasing value in the European business through a further focus on technical leadership, development of new products and materials, revenue growth, optimized use of working capital and lean manufacturing processes. In Asia, Tinicum and JP Asia expect to significantly expand AMI DODUCO's sales through an increased focus on high-growth domestic customers, expansion into a larger modern facility and broadening AMI DODUCO's Asian product offering by introducing additional products from its European portfolio.

"Our customers, suppliers and employees will benefit from Tinicum and JP Asia's wealth of experience in industrial manufacturing and a global network of experienced professionals. These factors, combined with strong financial backing, provide a solid basis for AMI DODUCO's future. Customers will continue to benefit from AMI DODUCO's excellent technical competence, highest quality standards and commitment to superior service. As well as continuing to offer a full range of electrical contact materials and parts, coatings, components and refining services in Europe and Asia, we expect to introduce new materials and processes into the market to even better satisfy our customers' needs. We also look forward to expanding our presence in emerging markets throughout Asia", said Marc H. Turpin, President and COO of AMI DODUCO.

The investors expect to continue AMI DODUCO's current operations in all European and Asian locations. "We believe that a healthy and vibrant business offers the best opportunities and security for employees. The new owners bring that vitality to the business through its financial strength and a clear strategy for expanding the business and increasing its value", Turpin said.