For 30 years, Dyconex has been a world leader in its sector, providing a competitive edge to its clients using its high-end interconnect expertise.

Switzerland-based Dyconex AG is one of the world’s leading providers of miniaturised, highly complex and highly reliable solutions in the area of interconnect technology.

The company has its roots in a division within Oerlikon-Contraves that was founded in 1964 and became an independent business in 1991 as a result of a management buy-out. Today, Dyconex is part of the MST Group, a provider of innovative components and services for technologically advanced industries that demand miniaturisation, with operations in USA, Germany, Switzerland & Singapore.

Dyconex was one of the true circuit board pioneers and the inventor of several outstanding manufacturing and substrate technologies, boasting a well-earned reputation as a technology leader, providing leading-edge solutions in flex, rigid-flex and rigid ultra-HDI/microvia circuit boards, LCP and chip packaging solutions – tailor-made to specific customer requirements.

The company is an expert in ultra-fine structures, ultra-thin base materials, thin-film technology, stacked and filled holes, biocompatible materials, embedded components, as well as the latest high-performance base materials. Its main market is the medical sector where it supplies substrates for pacemakers and defibrillators, neurostimulation and modulation devices as well as hearing aids; its solutions are also applied in a range of other industries as well.

As the company specialises in a very high-end product, customer support throughout the product life cycle is part of the package. From the early R&D phase until the product phase-out, this close cooperation ensures the best PCB solution: technically as well as financially.

Three decades of success

Managing Director Dr Hubert Zimmermann summarises the company’s current position: “We are the world’s leading manufacturer of highly reliable, high quality and flexible PCBs for the medical industry, especially for medical implants and medical imaging – mainly unltrasound. However, our additional focus today is also on the packaging and bio-compatible substrates. It is important to emphasise that technology innovation is key for us, a factor that drives our market leadership.”

In 2021, the company achieved a significant milestone – 30 years of successful operations and growth. Over the three decades, Dyconex has continuously been at the forefront of developments in printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing and has repeatedly set important technological milestones, beginning with the introduction of high-reliability rigid-flex multilayer boards (DYCOflex®), and today including bio-compatible interconnect solutions.

“The continuous innovation process is part of the company’s DNA and is both the driver and the guarantor of the ongoing global competitiveness of the company,” says Dr Zimmermann.

“In addition to all the technical developments, we are very proud of our employees, who permanently ensure enduring improvements. Our enormous investment efforts in the latest technologies and the ongoing outstanding commitment of our employees in the process and product development allow us to maintain our role as the forerunner in technology that we have been over the last three decades.”

Unhindered by the pandemic

Employing some 200 people, Dyconex operates from a single facility in Bassersdorf near Zurich, with a total floor space of more than 6,000 m2, of which 600 m2 is a Class 10,000 cleanroom.

From its Swiss headquarters, the company supplies customers on all continents, from Europe to North America and Australia. Dr Zimmermann explains that business growth has continued during the pandemic, albeit not as significantly as had been expected.

“Uncertainty is the biggest challenge now; it is hard to drive the business forward without knowing what is coming in the next months and years. Also, as our products are highly customised, we have suffered from the impossibility of meeting new clients face-to-face, which is a necessity in our field of business. As a result, our customer base has not been expanded by any new clients over the last two years.”

He explains that as a high-end PCB contract manufacturer, Dyconex works with each customer on an individual basis, and the product is developed in close cooperation with the customer’s engineers. This of course was hard to achieve during the lockdowns and with the various travel restrictions.

Continued commitment

Despite the current challenges, Dyconex is set to grow from its base near Zurich, says Dr Zimmermann. “We need to have good access to talent and ours is a good location. Of course, it is not easy to get the right people, but we have good relationships with the university and technical institute, so we are fortunate in this respect.”

Since its establishment as an independent company 30 years ago, Dyconex has come a long way, becoming the top-selling Swiss printed circuit board manufacturer and the global market leader in the field of highly reliable flexible substrates for the MedTech industry. “We would certainly expand the business in terms of increased production capacities in the event that we won a large customer who would push for larger volumes,” affirms Dr Zimmermann.

Speaking about the recent anniversary, he affirms that Dyconex is proud of its 30-year history and its consistent development of leading-edge innovations. “We will further develop our base here in Switzerland, and would be ready to increase capacity in the event of winning a customer who would push for larger volumes.”

“The commitment to be the world’s leading provider of complex, ultra-dense and highly reliable interconnect solutions will remain and will carry us into the future,” he affirms in conclusion.