WATERLOO, ONTARIO — DarwinAI, an innovative Industry 4.0 company that is transforming manufacturing by instilling trust in Artificial Intelligence (AI), today announced a $6M USD investment round led by BDC Capital’s Deep Tech Venture Fund with participation from new and existing investors. The investment extends the capital raised through previous investment rounds led by Honeywell Ventures, Obvious Ventures and Inovia Capital.

Located in Ontario, Canada, with organic connections to the University of Waterloo, the company is leveraging its foundational AI to transform the $75B global PCB industry.

DarwinAI’s initial focus is to disrupt the electronics manufacturing industry by improving the efficiency of Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) production through their ground-breaking technology. PCBs, which are ubiquitous and embedded in everything from microwaves to cameras, are notoriously difficult to visually inspect due different board sizes and complicated geometries. What’s more, qualified workers are hard to find and retain.

“DarwinAI’s ongoing mission and differentiated approach to disrupt manufacturing using AI speaks to the company’s ambition and technical prowess. We are proud that this great Canadian company, led by top tier AI technical and research team, has commercialized its technology in such a formidable manner, and are thrilled to lead this funding round” said Thomas Park, Lead Partner, Deep Tech Venture Fund at BDC Capital.

DarwinAI differentiates itself in numerous areas. First, there is the company’s foundational IP – the by-product of years of scholarship from its academic team – that enables robust, more accurate, and trustworthy performance as well as quicker time-to-market. Second, is the development of proprietary optics and custom hardware, which are key elements in bringing a full-fledged offering to the Enterprise. Third, is the company’s private and proprietary PCB dataset - one of the largest in the world - which DarwinAI has leveraged to accelerate delivery for its many clients.

As Sheldon Fernandez, DarwinAI’s CEO explains: “The global shortage of semiconductors and PCBs, exemplified by the recent CHIPS act, has given rise to circumstances that favor disruption. While we were not the first to take note of this fact, it occurred to us that no one was building a product that combined Artificial Intelligence, hardware, and software into a system that was easy to integrate into the electronics manufacturing process. This is what intrigued us: by making it straightforward to deploy inspection units and analyze data, clients can install them in novel locations and enable completely new capabilities such as returned product verification, process auditing and retrospective quality inspection.”

Visual inspection powered by Artificial Intelligence is a key driver of Industry 4.0 and the growing need for manufacturers to ‘digitize’ their production processes. By collecting and harnessing data at multiple inspection points, organizations can unearth inefficiencies, perform root cause analysis, and improve their supply chain in a holistic and systematic manner.

Digitization is a key part of DarwinAI’s roadmap and its VQI product. The new funding will enable the company to make the system more robust for mass market deployment and ramp up hardware production, as they anticipate serving more customers in 2023.

Fernandez added: “We are extremely excited by this capital injection led by BDC Capital and their commitment to deep tech in Canada. This funding enables us to continue building advanced features for our enterprise clients as they deploy our technology throughout their North American facilities. In addition to baseline quality improvements, the widespread adoption of our solution and the resulting digitization provides greater traceability and will serve as a launching point for broader Industry 4.0 efforts. The transformation is just beginning.”

CHANDLER, AZ — When it comes to ERP systems, C. E. Precision Assemblies, (CEPA) knew what they wanted. They wanted an ERP system that was going to give them accurate data and unparalleled implementation support. They wanted an ERP with depth of capability and flexibility proven to handle the unique requirements of the cable assembly industry. CEPA found what they were looking for with Cetec ERP!

C.E. Precision Assemblies, Inc. is a Woman-owned Small Business that got started in 1986. They manufacture custom RF cable assemblies and wire harnesses for Defense and Aerospace applications. CEPA had an ERP system for over 13 years, but it wasn’t fully functional. There were a lot of data problems, frequently incorrect reports, and an extremely limited support team.

With a growing company, CEPA was looking for something that would still support company expansion at a reasonable price range. CEPA liked that Cetec ERP was originally developed for the cable assembly/wire harness industry and could understand their specific needs. They also liked that Cetec ERP offered both onsite and cloud options.

“As an AS9100/IS9001 certified company, we have written processes and procedures for everything we do,” said Kathy Kennard, Contracts Administrator for CEPA. “Working with Cetec ERP has given us the opportunity to revisit and refine some of our processes. And it’s something that is ongoing.”

During implementation of the Cetec ERP software, a personal transition team from Cetec headquarters assisted in mapping CEPA’s data from the old system to Cetec ERP. CEPA employees found all of the how-to videos and reference material on the Cetec ERP support site invaluable implementation tools.

In January, CEPA had their first full week of “Go Live” with co-owner Brent Barton in person on-site. Kennard says that was incredibly helpful in contrast to their previous ERP system who sent CEPA a several 100-page manual and said, “figure it out!” Having someone on site who could actually look at data and convert it into Cetec ERP’s processing system made a big difference to the company’s transition.

CEPA says they still have some things that they’re working through to fully implement the system, but Kennard says overall they’ve been pleased with the amount of support they’ve received from Cetec ERP, both virtual and in person. CEPA appreciates the routine updates made to the system, including those updates made from customer suggestions. Kennard says she would absolutely recommend Cetec ERP to any type of manufacturing company.

“Everybody here feels that Cetec ERP was a very good choice for us. It’s not so much the processes because our processes are established. It’s the continuity and the data integrity. When we get a report, we know it’s going to be right.” -Kathy Kennard, Contracts Administrator of C.E. Precision Assemblies

HARROGATE, UK — There has always been a special relationship between the USA and the UK, and Robotas have been supporting their US customers for the past 25 years. However, to further improve their special relationship with the USA electronics market, Robotas has decided to invest in a new facility in Dayton, Ohio.

Having this facility will give the ability to offer its customers a USA based technical support and training location. Robotas spare parts and demo equipment will also be available on USA home soil. Customers will now also have the option of collecting their Robotas systems directly from the Dayton facility, rather than having to collect them from the UK.

Nick Walters, MD Robotas Technologies Ltd said: “The global market is changing, and we feel it is the right time to invest in the USA. The increasing number of projects we are seeing across the different states has meant that we needed a Robotas base in the USA to provide the best value to our customers, to support them both commercially and technically.

See more about Robotas’ Products here: https://www.robotas.com/apex-2023-clinch/

MUNICH — Würth Elektronik is relocating its Munich site from Garching to Freiham. With the Hightech Innovation Center Munich (HIC), a state-of-the-art building with a working and test field landscape, has been created in the west side of the metropolis. The new facility offers the latest new-work approaches and space for 250 employees in the first construction phase. True to the company’s motto “more than you expect,” the HIC is not only an investment in the future of the company, but also in Munich as a location. With the new facilities, there will be no limits to the engineers and scientists working on exciting topics such as wireless connectivity, sensor technology, power modules, IoT, cloud & software services, and Big Data. Within the next few years, an additional building with another 250 workstations will be built. This will provide sufficient space for growth and development.

At the Garching site, the focus was largely on research and product development. In addition, valuable partnerships had been established due to the close proximity to various semiconductor manufacturers and universities. However, despite several expansions, the premises were still too small for the tech company. The HIC opens up completely new possibilities for the now 140-strong team to drive forward its own innovations “Made in Germany”. A special highlight is the large test field, including two EMC test chambers, in which electromagnetic compatibility is tested. The test field accounts for around a quarter of the total area.

“Our Hightech Innovation Center is another milestone in the success story of Würth Elektronik. After the intensive construction phase, we are moving into the new premises today together with our employees. We can literally feel the dawn of a new phase as an electronics manufacturer. Innovations now also have the space they need in Bavaria – from the idea to the finished product,” says Oliver Opitz, Site Manager at the Hightech Innovation Center.

Würth Elektronik sees itself not only as a manufacturer, but also as a committed partner to industry with the mission of “Creating Together.” At the heart of its actions is a service philosophy characterized by partnership-based advice and support for customers throughout the entire product life cycle.

“Only together can we solve the challenges we face as an industry, but also as a society. With the HIC, we have created further conditions for our employees to tackle this complex task,” says Thomas Schrott, CEO of Würth Elektronik eiSos and Head of Business Unit of the Würth Group. “We are convinced that the investment in the HIC will quickly pay off and are personally very grateful to Prof. Würth for this investment. At last, we will be able to pool our development expertise, network specialist areas and develop future technologies together. We are looking forward to everything that lies ahead.”