ERS electronic, the industry leader of thermal management solutions for semiconductor manufacturing, today announced its fully automated panel-level packaging (PLP) system for 310×310 mm substrates. The machine integrates temporary carrier bonding, debonding, and detaping into a single automated platform at 13 panels per hour, eliminating inter-tool transfers across three thermally critical process steps. The first unit has been delivered to a leading semiconductor manufacturer for integration into its panel production line.
The machine is developed and manufactured at the company’s Advanced Packaging facility in Barbing, Germany. The facility combines ERS's 55 years of thermal management expertise with more than 30 years of in-house machine-building capability, following ERS's 2024 integration of a semiconductor specialist equipment engineering team.
ERS is considered an early adopter of panel-level packaging, as it shipped its first commercial panel-level tool to Fraunhofer IZM in Berlin in 2018. The 310×310 mm panel format is gaining traction across the industry because it improves substrate area utilisation significantly compared to 300 mm circular wafers. The panel-level packaging segment is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of over 40% over the next five years, according to Yole Group (1). As dual-carrier bonding and debonding workflows become increasingly important for backside processing in 3D IC, HBM and 2.5D IC packaging, ERS's integrated platform addresses these requirements in a single automated system.
In dual-carrier processes, bonding and debonding typically requires separate machines, often located at different points on the fab floor. Moving panels between them introduces handling steps, transit time, and the risk of substrate damage. ERS’s machine consolidates all three process steps within one platform, so panels move between process modules rather than between machines, thereby reducing handling time and risk without changes to the surrounding fab layout.
"Our new machine reflects our commitment to solving real manufacturing challenges. By integrating three process steps that have traditionally required separate tools into one automated platform, we're enabling customers to streamline production, improve process consistency, and achieve higher yield and throughput,” says Laurent Giai-Miniet, CEO of ERS electronic GmbH.
1 Source: Panel-Level Packaging 2026, Yole Group, 2026.
About ERS:
ERS electronic GmbH, based in the Munich suburb of Germering, has been providing innovative thermal management solutions to the semiconductor industry for more than 50 years. The company has gained an outstanding reputation, notably with its fast and accurate air cooling-based thermal chuck systems for wafer probing. In 2008, ERS extended its expertise to the Advanced Packaging market. Today, their fully automatic and manual debonding and warpage correction systems can be found on the production floors of most semiconductor manufacturers and OSATs worldwide.
SMC is the industry’s premier event focused on the materials innovations enabling semiconductor growth. The 2026 program will explore how materials advances are supporting scalable AI systems, advanced packaging, quantum computing, and emerging devices, and the industrialization of next-generation manufacturing technologies amid evolving market, geopolitical and supply chain dynamics.
“Dresden is reinforcing its position as one of Europe’s leading semiconductor hubs, and a central pillar driven by the European Chips Act and major investments from TSMC, Infineon, Bosch, and GlobalFoundries,” said Laith Altimime, President of SEMI Europe. “These investments are aimed at accelerating manufacturing of the next-generation semiconductor innovations in Europe advancing Europe's competitiveness, technological sovereignty, and supply chain resilience. As heterogeneous integration becomes a foundation for the future of our industry, collaboration across the value chain will be critical to ensuring Europe remains at the forefront of global innovation.” 