The products in the Green Line series include fluxes for wave and selective soldering. All water-based fluxes can be used on the production systems known on the market. The soldering results correspond to those achieved with alcohol-based fluxes. A switch to ecological, alcohol-independent, water-based fluxes is therefore easily possible, as the supply situation for alcohol-based fluxes is still very serious. "As there is virtually no artificial alcohol left on the market, production volumes are decreasing while demand is increasing. We expect this trend to continue in the coming weeks," says Markus Geßner, Head of Marketing and Sales at Emil Otto GmbH.
Sometimes extraordinary situations occur on the phone, where buyers want to stock up on quantities that are no longer available in Emil Otto's warehouse. "Supplies are simply not possible, as the majority of alcohol-based fluxes have been sold in the past few days and new production is only possible with a massive price increase, as the prices we are now paying for alcohol in purchasing are extremely high," says Geßner.
Geßner therefore advises his customers to switch to Green Line fluxes. The first electronics manufacturers are taking this step and are being actively supported by Geßner and his team in converting the soldering process. In many cases, companies had planned to switch to water-based fluxes but had not yet done so. In the current situation, some contract manufacturers therefore seem to have finalised this step. "We are seeing an increased willingness to switch and are well prepared for this. The demand for Green Line products is increasing. We don't have any bottlenecks with water-based fluxes and can also produce more at any time," explains Geßner.