News
Vectron Inc. (San Diego, CA), a provider of automated optical inspection (AOI) for semiconductor and electronics assembly, has announced the appointment of Joe Vilella, president and chief executive officer, as co-chairman of the IPC 7-32 Automated Inspection Technologies committee.
The industry subcommittee was formed to help surface-mount technology manufacturers deal with the present and future challenges posed by the continued trend of miniaturization in this industry through the proper application of state-of-the-art inspection technologies.
Vilella is responsible for the efforts to create up-to-date industry standards for the proper evaluation and implementation of AOI, automated x-ray inspection (AXI) and automated paste inspection (API) technologies to the surface-mount process. Amit Verma, who co-chairs the 7-32 subcommittee with Vilella, is responsible for the efforts to translate IPC-A-610 solder joint acceptance criteria into a language that is directly measurable by automated inspection machines through the correlation of data from AOI/AXI inspection methods to the reliability of lead-free solder joints via thermo-cycling. Both Vilella and Verma report to John Perry, who is the IPC staff liaison responsible for the oversight of this as well as several other committees related to the improvement of surface-mount methodologies and processes.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
Meriton Networks Inc. (Ottawa, Canada), a provider of carrier-class wavelength networking systems, announced that it has selected Sanmina-SCI (San Jose, CA), an electronics manufacturing services (EMS) company, to be its engineering and manufacturing partner. Under the terms of the partnership, Sanmina-SCI will provide end-to-end services from optical design engineering to fabrication, assembly and chassis integration and test for Meriton Networks.
The formation of the alliance signals Meriton's transformation from an early stage to a mid-stage, commercial organization. With its High- Speed Metro (HSM) Services Architecture and strong customer traction, Meriton Networks hopes the agreement will fortify its position in next-generation metro WDM solutions.
Additionally, Meriton Networks announced the appointment of Robert K. Webster as chief financial officer.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
NACOM Corp. (Griffin, GA), a manufacturer of automotive electronics and junction block components, is adopting computer-aided manufacturing using XML (CAMX), an exchange framework that will allow all of its equipment and applications to speak the same language. NACOM had announced that any equipment or software it purchases in the future must be CAMX compliant.
NACOM has partnered with several of its suppliers and the Georgia Institute of Technology's Manufacturing Research Center (Georgia Tech's MARC, Atlanta, GA) to develop a CAMX application program interface (API).
"We are essentially writing a piece of software that will speak CAMX," said Andrew Dugenske, manager of research services at MARC. "Companies will then be able to embed this software into their equipment and applications and become CAMX compliant at a much lower cost and with much less risk than going it alone."
The participants in the CAMX API project include Agilent, BTU International, DEK Printing Machines, IPTE, Orbotech, Panasonic, Pillarhouse International, Universal Instruments and Visiprise.
At the heart of CAMX is a framework with an intermediary-a message broker-that handles information exchange and complies with IPC-approved, internationally accepted standards. Dugenske likens it to a mail server. "If you send me an e-mail, you don't connect your computer directly to mine," said Dugenske. "You send it to a server and I retrieve it when I want."
With the CAMX system, the factory's equipment and applications all communicate directly only with the message broker. When people or equipment need information, they get it from the broker-in real-time and in the correct format. Terms and codes are all standardized so there is no chance for misinterpretation. The factory manager will have access to information such as work in progress, throughput and equipment utilization.
One of the major strengths of CAMX is its plug-and-play characteristic. CAMX allows any piece of equipment on the floor to plug into a common framework and begin to exchange information with little effort.
NACOM is working with Georgia Tech to make CAMX more accessible to its vendors. The interface will be IPC-2501, IPC-2541, IPC-2546 and IPC-2547 compliant.
NACOM has reviewed several data formats and various vendors in the electronic manufacturing industry in its quest to establish an open source standard's based solution. Since none existed, IPC is actively working on the IPC 25XX series, of which CAMX is a part.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
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