SINGULUS
TECHNOLOGIES
ISSUE XIX
:
DEZEMBER 2001, NEWS MAGAZINE FOR OUR BUSINESS FRIENDS
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Smart Solutions to Drive the Future
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES
Becomes Full Line Supplier for
Optical Disc Replication Equipment
Effective on October 1, 2001, SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES has acquired all
shares of e-mould GmbH, and effective on Januar 1, 2002, also all shares of
Optical Measuring-equipment & Projekts BV(OMP) in The Netherlands.
The acquisition of both companies will enable SINGULUS to secure control
over two very important process steps in optical disc production:
Injection Moulding and Mastering.
With e-mould, SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES will own another core
competence. Expertise in injection moulding will provide an opportunity
SINGULUS e-mould GmbH,
Aachen/Würselen, Germany
to independently advance the technology for complete replication systems.
Due to the obvious technical superiority of electromechanical injection moulding machines over the hydraulic design the EMOULD Roboshot has been the
preferred acquisition target.
With OMP, SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES combines the previous business
field with the preceding mastering process step.The completion of the entire
value-added chain will thus offer a significant strategic competitive advantage
for all current and future disc formats versus all competitors.
Both companies will in future operate as associated companies of SINGULUS
TECHNOLOGIES. With the background of the SINGULUS group, better
SINGULUS OMP BV, Best,The Netherlands
world wide support and technological synergy will lead to more benefits for
our customers. More proprietary technologies will secure SINGULUS the
long-term leadership throughout the world.
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SINGULUS e-mould - the Pioneer in
Electromechanical Injection Moulding
The technical superiority of electromechanical injection moulding machines
over the hydraulic design, coupled with
the leading technology of SINGULUS
replication lines, provides a significant
strategic competitive advantage for all
current and future optical disc formats.
Karl-Heinz Schoppe
Managing Director
Sales & Operations
Arnd Bohle
Managing Director
Production &
Finance
The injection moulding machine known
by the brand name "EMOULD Roboshot"
is built on a base machine manufactured
by FANUC, the global leader in electromechanical injection moulding machines.
The Japanese company FANUC has
exclusively transferred the long-term
world-wide use of its machines for optical
media to e-mould.
e-mould has been supplying SINGULUS
TECHNOLOGIES with all-electric injection
moulding machines since the beginning of
2001. The EMOULD machines have since
been certified for all existing optical disc
formats as well as new formats such as
DVD-RW. SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES
is convinced that e-mould's product performance and quality have surpassed the
benchmark established among competitors.
SINGULUS e-mould will continue its efforts
to supply other end users or OEM partners
(especially integrators of optical disc
manufacturing lines) and integrate the
EMOULD Roboshot into any system
according to customer requirements.
Applying the background of the SINGULUS
group, SINGULUS e-mould is able to offer
better worldwide support and technological
synergy which will lead to increased benefits
for our customers.The strong market
position of EMOULD in Europe and Asia
in combination with SINGULUS' strategic
position will offer new possibilities for
further growth.
Range of Products
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EMOULD Roboshot CD
EMOULD Roboshot CD-Card
EMOULD Roboshot CD-R
EMOULD Roboshot DVD
EMOULD Roboshot DVD-R
EMOULD Roboshot Microdisc
Main Characteristics
l The EMOULD Roboshot is very clean
and extremely quiet in operation
l The EMOULD Roboshot is ten times
more precise than comparable hydraulic
machines
l The EMOULD Roboshot is saving about
65% of electrical energy versus hydraulic
machines
l The EMOULD Roboshot electric
moulding machine is almost maintenancefree
l The EMOULD Roboshot features
injection compression
l The EMOULD Roboshot proved to be
the most productive moulding machine
for the optical disc industry for all formats. During its five years track record
as optical disc machine the Roboshot has
been optimized so that the overall performance of the machine is unsurpassed
EMOULD Roboshot Electricalmechanical Moulding
Maschine for DVD
SINGULUS OMP
Broad Experience from the
Development of the Optical Disc
Effective on January 1, 2002, SINGULUS
TECHNOLOGIES AG has acquired all
shares of Optical Measuring-equipment &
Projects (OMP), Best/The Netherlands.
Kees van Nimwegen,
Managing Director
Singulus OMP
With the acquisition of OMP, SINGULUS
TECHNOLOGIES combines its existing
business of optical disc replication systems
with the very important preceding mastering process.The completion of the entire
value-added chain will offer a significant
strategic competitive advantage for all
current and future disc formats versus all
competitors.
The background and foundation of OMP
originated from broad experience in the
research and development of optical media
mastering and production equipment.The
development of optical media was initiated
in the 1970s by the principal inventors of
the Compact Disc at PHILIPS Research
Laboratories in Eindhoven,The Netherlands.
At that time, OMP management was directly
involved in significant developments in the
emerging optical media industry.
This development resulted in the DMS
8000, which represents a breakthrough in
various aspects such as initial investment,
size, ease of use, reliability and durability,
maintenance and operational costs. Based
on these advances and backed up by the
experience of users around the world, the
DMS 8000 is now state-of-the-art in optical
disc mastering systems.
In 1994, OMP decided to apply its in-depth
mastering know-how and experience to the
development and manufacture of a completely new generation of photoresist-based
CD and DVD mastering systems based on
the latest technologies.
Mr. Roland Lacher and
Mr. Kees van Nimwegen
DMS 8000 Glass Mastering System
SUNLINE
The new Replication System fo
The Final Stone...
Six years after the companies foundation,
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES now is
putting the final stone to complete the
product portfolio. After a two year
development period SUNLINE is launched
to the optical disc industry. The machine
will manufacture all of the various
rewritable optical disc formats CD-RW,
DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM.
These phase change discs will replace the
diskette for data storage and the VHS
cassette for home video recording in the
near future. By this move SINGULUS now
can provide production equipment for all
CD and DVD formats.
The Range of Disc Products
No other SINGULUS machine can and
has to produce so many optical disc
formats as SUNLINE, since in the DVD
world no standard recording format is
established yet.
All three DVD formats have 4.7 GB per side
and can hold 120 minutes of high resolution
video. However they differ in the substrate
structure, the addressing information for the
player laser beam and have different data
transfer rates. Accordingly a different
stamper is required for each format.
DVD-RW and DVD+RW both allow 1000
time overwriting and have similar layer stacks,
however require different target materials.
Therefore they can be produced on the
same equipment. DVD-RAM uses more
layers and different materials for achieving
even 100.000 overwrite cycles. Accordingly
a DVD-RAM disc needs a larger number of
process stations for sputter deposition. For
data storage purposes DVD-RAM has some
advantages, nevertheless all three formats are
equally suitable for video recording.
CD-RW
There is a 1-4x and a 4-10x version currently. Higher recording speeds are
expected for 2002.
DVD-RW Video recording disc from PIONEER. Approved by the DVD Forum and
equipped with copy protection features. Currently 1x recording speed,
new versions expected for 2002.
DVD+RW Video recording disc from PHILIPS and created outside the DVD Forum.
No copy protection on the recorded disc but reject of copy protected discs.
Up to 2.4x recording speed when writing with constant angular velocity.
DVD-RAM Video recording and data storage disc from PANASONIC. Approved by
the DVD Forum and equipped with copy protection features, however
incompatible with existing DVD players. Currently 2x recording speed.
New Features
Sputtering is the key production step for
all rewritable optical disc formats.
Accordingly the MODULUS played also
the dominant role in the design of the
manufacturing line. For high production
yield, clean substrates are needed for
sputtering and bonding.Therefore a twin
cleaning station has been implemented,
where discs are cleaned before they
enter and after they leave the sputtering
machine. This will remove dust from sprue
cutting after moulding and remove particles
possibly generated in the sputtering system.
Since deposition rates and profiles vary over
the lifetime of a sputter target, it is necessary
to change the sputtering para-meters
accordingly.This can be done by using a data
base with standard curves or automatically
by a closed loop control system. For the
latter purpose a layer stack monitor is part
SUNLINE - Replication System for all Rewritable Discs
of the system, which can individually measure
the thickness of the most important sputtering layers. This is the equivalent function to
the TMD in the SPACELINE.
The tough price competition for blank media
like CD-RW requires cost efficient mass
production. To maximize uptime for moulding
and sputtering, a disc in/out buffer has been
integrated, which can be used for storage of
moulded discs (e.g. during a service of the
sputtering machine) or for feeding in discs
from spindle (e.g. when working on the
moulding machine).This buffer will also
strongly support the in-house process development, since different types of mouldings
(e.g. with modified groove geometry etc.) can
be fed into the stream of discs during a
production run.
r all Rewritable Formats
operation and flexibility in disc outer
dimensions. Even though the machine has an
entirely new face, it is clearly standing in the
tradition of the SINGULUS mechanical
engineering.
Well prepared for the Future
The rewritable optical disc formats have a
slow start so far, nevertheless there is
common agreement on their important role
in the future. Over the coming years we will
see that they find their way into every
computer and living room. With the
SUNLINE SINGULUS provides a production
system to its customers, which can handle
whatever format and future recording speed
version.This makes the investment a safe
decision even when the format world is
changing. The SUNLINE functionality, speed
and design to cost set a new benchmark for
the manufacturing equipment market. We
are happy to provide more information.
Main Module of the SUNLINE System
Field proven Components
Of course we took the opportunity to pick
components from the SPACELINE as the
market benchmark for DVD manufacturing.
The entire bonding system is based on this
machine. Moreover, the SINGULUS bonding
wizards contributed even some improvements, which then became part of the
SUNLINE. For instance the bonding arm has
received a tight position control by a gear
coupling to the servo motor and the UV
lamp is modified for better edge curing and
to allow some tilt control. Of course the
many improvements to the dosing system
of the past are completely transferred.
Wherever possible gripper fingers have been
employed and the disc is handled in the
center.This will care for most reliable
PIONEER Field Report:
MODULUS RW-Metallizer accepted!
Since September 10,2001, a 13MODULUS is
running in Kofu, Japan at the Optical Disc
Technology Center of PIONEER. During the
DVD-RW cooperation work with SINGULUS
TECHNOLOGIES, the PIONEER engineers
have learned to appreciate the quality of the
submitted sample discs, particularly the
achieved layer uniformity of the SMART
CATHODE and a low substrate tilt due to
disc cooling (no potato chips).
During several visits to Kahl, Germany Takishita
San and his team have verified the good
sputtering results and ease of operation.
Accordingly they decided to employ the
machine for their own development projects in
Kofu.The machine has a special configuration
to support work on DVD-RW future versions
as well as the development of the next
generation DVR-blue discs. PIONEER as one of
the world leading competence centers will play
a prominent role in the creation of this new
13Modulus at the Optical Disc Technology Center of PIONEER.
The machine is already accepted from Pioneer
high density format.The primary application
will be video recording in the upcoming
HDTV broadcasting generation, where
20+ GB storage capacities will be required.
"Over the last 12 months we have developed
a very good working relationship with the
SINGULUS R&D engineers and learned to
trust and respect each other." says T. Takishita,
manager of the PIONEER disc development
project. "Their sputtering hardware expertise
and our process know-how make up for a
perfect match.We experienced a smooth
machine installation and comprehensive
training on site. We are now in full operation
and have quickly been able to implement our
DVD-RW process. We are close to
demonstrate the next DVD-RW recording
speed version and a lot more is coming up.
We got the right machine for our program!"
Mr. Kuriyama, General Manager Optical
Technology Center, R & D Group,
PIONEER, and Dr. Hans Ebinger, Product
Manager RW
"I am not completely satisfied." says Dr. Hans
Ebinger, SINGULUS product manager. "We
had a soccer match scheduled for one of the
weekends, which was surprisingly cancelled
from the PIONEER side. We have to figure
this out one day! Regarding the machine
installation everything was working to our
expectation and after a few days we were in
operation. I am sure that Takishita San´s team
will do a great job in creating new rewritable
processes on our MODULUS.
The SINGULUS customers running DVD-RW
will strongly benefit from this, since a smooth
process transfer is assured by employing the
same machine for development and
production. We believe that the work we have
conducted jointly during the last 12 months
was only the start of a longtime partnership."
DVD-R Seminar in Hong Kong
DVD-R, the write-once medium of the
DVD family, is predicted to have the biggest
growth rate and market share of all
recordable DVD formats.Having installed
already two inline DVD-R production
systems STREAMLINE Duplex in Europe
and experiencing a huge demand for DVDR machines in Asia, SINGULUS invited
customers from different Asian countries
to a DVD-R TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR,
held on Dec. 7 and 8 in the facilities of our
representative VIKA International Ltd.
in Hong Kong.
Keeping up with the keen progress
in the field of recordable media
the SINGULUS STREAMLINE
can offer both:
High quality DVD-R or
2.7s fast CD-R
production - the
choice is yours.
Main subjects of interest were the newly
designed machine components as well as
the process technology necessary to manufacture high quality DVD-Rs. Besides the
proven dye coaters and inline bonding station the STREAMLINE Duplex incorporates
two additional outstanding features to ensure the highest quality. Both the unique
spin-cooling station right after moulding and
the straight principle to keep all substrates
under equal thermal influence throughout
the production line are essential to end up
with optimum shaped finished discs.
In addition to those technical prerequisites,
the customers’ interest was highly attracted
by the fact that SINGULUS is in the position to offer the transfer of own DVD-R
process know-how for different dye
systems.Last but not least it was well appreciated that a complete DVD-R inline system
STREAMLINE Duplex can be turned into
CD-R production with only minor changes.
DVD-R Seminar,
Hong Kong
New Locations in US and Asia!
US West Coast Office moves to
Los Angeles
Asia Training Centre moves from
Malaysia to Singapore
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES, Inc. is pleased
to announce that as of January 1, 2002, our
West Coast office will be relocated just north
of Los Angeles to Westlake Village. While
service engineers will continue to be resident in
both the northern and southern areas of the
state, our new office location will be in closer
proximity to our major customer base which
has substantially grown particularly by our
DVD-business in recent years.The new facility
will allow for expansion of our spare parts inventory and customer support capabilities.
Due to the overwhelming success and
increasing demands for SINGULUS product
and process training, a decision was made
to relocate the facility from its present
Malaysian location to a larger purpose
designed location in Singapore.
SINGULUS Highlights
Two orders of SUNLINE Replication
Systems for RW Formats received from
European Costumers
First STREAMLINE Duplex systems for
DVD-R installed
Firal acceptance of a MODULUS multi
cathode metallizer for DVD-RW and
DV-R development
This consolidation of our resources in
Singapore will enable SINGULUS to
increase the frequency of courses and
allow a larger number of attendees to
participate.
JMI, Korea, order SPACELINE No. 4
First SKYLINE Duplex delivered to Egypt
The office will be staffed by Rick Nuffer, Vice The new expanded Singapore facility will
include the SKYLINE DUPLEX and the
President/General Manager; Chris van Dijk,
SPACELINE System. As before all equipSales Manager; Dio Almazan,Technical Manager; Tom Conant, Service Manager and Joyce ment will be fully functional and operate in a
simulated factory environment. We will
Pritchard, Office Administrator/Spare Parts
Specialist. Florin Drancea and Ibsen Lourenco include the new e-mould equipment and
will continue to provide technical support in provision will also be made to conduct basic
Southern California while Tony Aguinaldo and OMP training for mastering.
Jeff Turpin will remain in Northern California.
SINGULUS Singapore is very excited
about this development, as we feel that
The new office is located at:
it again confirms the growing strength
2815 Townsgate Road, Suite #115,
of SINGULUS as a company and it
Westlake Village, CA 91361.
demonstrates our total commitment to
For information please contact us:
our customers and the optical disc industry
Tel.: 805 - 373-6216, Fax: 805 - 230-3073.
in Aisa.
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SINGULUS
TECHNOLOGIES
5.5/12-2001-MetaCom Printed in Germany, Technical alterations reserved
Headquarters:
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES AG
Hanauer Landstrasse 103, D-63796 Kahl
Tel.: +49 - 61 88 - 440 - 0
Fax: +49 - 61 88 - 440 - 110
e-mail: [email protected]
Internet: http://www.SINGULUS.de
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Exhibitions in 2002
● 13.-15.03.02
Replication Expo, New Delhi
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10.-12.04.02
Diskon, Tokyo
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06.-08.05.02
Media-Tech Expo 2002, Frankfurt
●
26.-28.08.02
Replication EXPO, Shanghai
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September 2002
Media-Tech Conference, US
e
Subsidiaries:
Representatives:
GERMANY: SINGULUS e-mould GmbH
Phone: +49 - 24 05 60 19 13, Fax: +49 - 24 05 60 19 99
e-mail: [email protected]
Australia: Opticraft Media Technologies, E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +61-3-9588 1711
Fax: +61-3-9588 1311
Benelux: Vacuum OnLine N.V. ,
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +32-2-725-3007
Fax: +32-2-725- 5111
China:SINGULUS VIKA China
Phone: +852-2406-7112
Fax: +852-2407-2021
Samlink Technology Co.,
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +86-512-8259-293
Fax: +86-512-86051-768
Czech Republic: Battenfeld Smid a spol., s.r.o. Zastoupeni CR
Phone: +420-311-670253
Fax: +420-311-670795
Greece: Kefalonitis S.A., E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +30 1 6981503
Fax: +30 1 691 3419
Hong Kong: Vika International Ltd. , E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 852-2406-7753
Fax: +852-2896-0347
India: Optical Disc Technologies, E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +91-22-430 76 14
Fax: +91-22-4300373
Japan: Mediken Inc., E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +81-3-5470-9801
Fax: +81-3-5470-9377
Korea: Daejoo Industrial Company, E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +82-2-555-4017
Fax: +82-2-553-6076
Poland: Tadeusz Pupek,
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +49-8104 352
Fax: +49-8104 352
Russia: Masterbatch SV Ltd.,
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 07 095 -947 20 08
Fax: 007 095 -947 20 34
Taiwan: Aceway Metrotec Co., Ltd., E-mail:[email protected]
Phone: +886-2-2716-9178
Fax: +886-2-2716-9014
Thailand: Datron Thai Co., Ltd.,
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +66-2-392-0224-6
Fax: +66-2381-2971
Turkey: Meltem, Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret Ltd. Sti., E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +90 212 552 2361
Fax: +90 212 552 9670
FRANCE: SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES FRANCE
Phone: +33 - 47 58 - 6 09 54, Fax: +33 - 47 58 - 6 09 55
e-mail: [email protected]
GREAT BRITAIN: SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES UK LTD
Phone: +44 - 17 93 - 78 42 00, Fax: +44 - 17 93 - 78 42 22
e-mail: [email protected]
ITALY: SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Italia s.r.l.
Phone: +39 - 07 17 93 03 12, Fax: +39 - 07 17 93 08 21
e-mail: [email protected]
LATIN AMERICA: SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Ltda.
Latin America
Phone: +55 - 11 36 41 01 13, Fax: +55 - 11 36 41 14 46
e-mail: [email protected]
NETHERLANDS: SINGULUS OMP BV
Phone: +31 499 33 81 81, Fax: +31 499 33 81 80
e-mail: [email protected]
SINGAPORE: SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Asia Pacific5
Phone: +65 - 7 41 19 12, Fax: +65 - 7 41 12 13
e-mail: [email protected]
SPAIN: SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Iberica
Phone: +34 - 9 36 75 00 25, Fax : +34 - 9 35 90 64 26
e-Mail: [email protected]
UNITED STATES AND CANADA:
SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES Inc.
Phone: +1 - 860 - 683 - 80 00, Fax: +1 - 860 - 683 - 80 10
e-mail: [email protected]
West-Coast Office:
Phone: +1 - 805 - 373-6216, Fax: +1 - 805 230-3073
e-mail: [email protected]