Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Current

Press Releases

^{Santa Clara,} CA – APCT, a leading name in the PCB and electronics industry, is delighted to announce the appointment of Peter Austin as its President and CEO, effective September 1. Peter takes the reins from former CEO, Steve Robinson, who has retired after years of dedicated service to the company.

Peter Austin joins APCT with a rich history in the semiconductor and electronics sector, spanning over 25 years. Most recently, Peter served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at PEI Genesis, a global leader in the distribution, manufacturing, and integration of electronic connectors and cable assembly solutions. Recognized for his forward-thinking approach, exceptional drive, and strategic C-suite leadership, Peter Austin is poised to lead APCT into a new era of growth and innovation. In his role as President and CEO, he will oversee all of APCT's facilities, with corporate responsibilities extending to Engineering, Manufacturing, Finance, Sales & Marketing, and Business Development across all divisions.

Commenting on his appointment, Peter Austin said, "I am honored to join APCT, a company with a strong legacy of excellence and innovation in the PCB and electronics industry. I look forward to working alongside our dedicated team to drive growth, deliver exceptional value to our customers, and lead APCT to new heights."

Peter Austin expressed his commitment to the company's future, saying, "I firmly believe that we possess the talent, technology, and passion to continue to substantially grow APCT in the coming years. My goal is to grow our revenue, profitability, and global footprint. In line with this vision, APCT will be placing a strong emphasis on becoming a customer-centric company, with a unified sales organization and selling approach."

The APCT team is confident that Peter Austin's wealth of experience and leadership will play a pivotal role in advancing the company's mission and ensuring continued success.

FREMONT, CA – Hyve Solutions Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of TD SYNNEX Corporation (NYSE: SNX) and a leading provider of hyperscale digital infrastructures, today announced the launch of new Surface Mount Technology (SMT) lines that expand its US manufacturing capabilities. This expansion bolsters Hyve’s ongoing commitment in providing customers with a Secure Supply Chain through locally-optimized efficiencies and lead time reductions.

US manufacturing of secure root of trust (RoT) cards, security modules and other Trusted Platform devices, including main system boards, have become a strategic priority for the United States and its allies. Ensuring the security of the supply chain is critical for the public cloud and those who use it, particularly Federal Defense and Intelligence agencies and companies that require a high degree of supply chain security.

The new SMT lines are equipped with the latest automated technologies and inspection processes, allowing Hyve to produce custom-built, high-quality motherboards in the US while simultaneously reducing lead times associated with complex system boards. The combination of the newest, most efficient equipment coupled with the latest robotic and inspection automation results in increased PCBA capacity and reduced manufacturing cycle times, while maintaining a highly cost-competitive solution.

“Expanding our in-country manufacturing capabilities underscores our commitment to better serve our customers,” said Steve Ichinaga, President, Hyve Solutions. “This investment leads to increased production capacity and streamlined operations with a focus on secure supply chain, increasing our ability to respond more quickly to changing market and customer demands.”

As a fully vertical integrated partner, the new US-based SMT operation is just the latest in a series of investments made by Hyve, reinforcing its dedication to providing the best-in-class design to worldwide deployment of custom-built data centers.

“The opening of this SMT operation bolsters our Secure Supply Chain strategy,” said Sarah Lin, VP of Supply Chain, Hyve Solutions. “This investment in US-based fully automated lines tightens the supply chain and cuts lead times while providing best-in-class secure supply chain benefits to our customers.”

HALFMOON, NY – PVA, a global supplier of automated dispensing and coating equipment, is pleased to announce its participation in the 11th annual ASSEMBLY Show, scheduled to take place Oct. 24-26, 2023 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL. PVA will introduce its latest innovation, the PathMaster X software at Booth 443.

PathMaster X: Revolutionizing Programming for PVA's Direct Series Delta Line

Attendees of the ASSEMBLY Show will have the exclusive opportunity to experience PathMaster X for the first time at PVA's Booth 443. The live demonstrations will showcase the software's capabilities and how it can revolutionize the programming landscape.

PVA's Cutting-Edge Equipment on Display

In addition to PathMaster X, PVA will also be presenting a range of its innovative equipment during live demonstrations at the show. Visitors can experience the following equipment in action:

Delta 8, 3-axis coating machine with fiducial camera and needle calibration, along with the new PathMaster X software
Delta 8 Tool Changer with FC100, FCS300-ES, 30 CC syringe with stopcock, and FCM100
Delta 8, 4-axis coating machine with FC100-CF, FCS300-ES, FCM100, continuous film calibration, and the new PathMaster X software
Delta 8 Two-Part TIM/Potting Machine with PDP150
Valve Kiosk Stand

PVA's Delta 8 Selective Conformal Coating machine, a hallmark of the company's expertise, will be a central highlight of the showcase. With a strong focus on precision, efficiency and versatility, the Delta 8 aims to meet the diverse needs of manufacturers seeking superior results in dispensing and coating applications.

For more information about PVA, please contact PVA at info@pva.net or (518) 371-2684.

OXFORD, CT – MIRTEC, the ‘Global Leader in 3D Inspection Technology’ is pleased to announce that Robert Horowitz has been promoted to the position of National Sales Manager for MIRTEC’s North American Sales and Service Division. In his new role, Rob will oversee MIRTEC’s Elite Team of Manufacturer’s Sales Representatives with a mandate on continued increase of market share and brand recognition throughout North America.

“Rob has had significant experience and success in driving sales and leading sales teams throughout his career, and we are excited to have him lead the Sales Team at MIRTEC,” said Brian D’Amico, President of MIRTEC’s North American Sales and Service Division. “Rob joined our company in October 2004 as Regional Sales Manager and has been instrumental in the continued success of MIRTEC. This promotion is further confirmation of Rob’s outstanding track record with our organization, and I am confident that this new expanded role will ensure our future growth and success.”

“With more than 17,000 systems installed throughout the world and having received a total of 45 Industry awards for our products and services thus far, MIRTEC has earned a solid reputation as one of the most progressive and dynamic suppliers of automated optical Inspection equipment to the electronics manufacturing industry,” continued D’Amico. “MIRTEC is committed to continuous improvement through innovation and strong quality leadership. Ours is a business of precision and accuracy, reproducibility and specificity, timeliness and trust. These are the real products and services that we provide to our valued customers.”

“I am honored to be awarded the position of MIRTEC’s National Sales Manager,” stated Horowitz. I am excited to be part of the continued growth of this organization and committed to working together with our outstanding team of sales professionals to increase our brand awareness and market share by helping electronics manufacturers achieve the highest levels of quality, efficiency, and profitability with our award-winning inspection technology.”

SALEM, NH ― Emerald EMS, an innovative solutions provider, has inaugurated its second New Product Introduction (NPI) Center, this time in San Jose, CA. Situated within the heart of Silicon Valley, this cutting-edge NPI Center reflects Emerald’s unwavering commitment to product development excellence and innovation. Alongside its existing NPI Center in Salem, NH, the San Jose facility is strategically positioned to foster rapid innovation and collaboration with tech companies in the region.

The center’s launch event, held on September 15, 2023, witnessed an esteemed guest list, including customers, suppliers, city officials, key partners, and employees. Speeches by David Wahl, Emerald’s San Jose Site President, Hartmut Liebel, Emerald’s CEO, and David Cohen, City of San Jose Councilmember, highlighted the significance of this milestone.

As Cohen noted, “San Jose is the home to many tech companies that continually innovate. Having an NPI center in their backyard allows this innovation to occur more rapidly, allowing them to continue producing cutting-edge technologies.” This expansion fortifies Emerald EMS's position as an industry leader, offering unparalleled prototyping capabilities, compliance certifications, and advanced equipment additions to drive innovation in the Aerospace/Defense, Industrial Controls, Medical, Power and Infrastructure, Semiconductor, and Telecommunications sectors.

Emerald’s NPI Centers redefine the path to innovation, offering prototyping capabilities coupled with an unwavering dedication to speed, flexibility, quality, and customer satisfaction. With compliance certifications like ISO 9001, ISO 13485, and ITAR, Emerald EMS ensures the highest industry standards in its operations.

Hartmut Liebel, CEO of Emerald EMS, shared his vision for the NPI Center: “We aim to make our NPI services more accessible by expanding our geographical presence. The combination of speed, flexibility, and quality execution empowers our valued customers to bring their products to market faster and more cost-effectively.”

Emerald EMS continues to strengthen its position as an industry leader, with equipment additions like ERSA Selective Solder, SPEA Flying Probe, and Aqueous Batch Wash enhancing its capabilities. These additions align with the company’s focus on high-reliability electronic assemblies serving many industries.

The San Jose NPI Center’s modular design and advanced equipment signify Emerald EMS’s unwavering commitment to ushering in a new era of innovation and customer-centric product development.

To learn more, please visit www.emeraldems.com

PENANG, MALAYSIA – ViTrox, which aims to be the world’s most trusted technology company, is thrilled to announce its participation in NEPCON Asia 2023 after six years, at Booth #5D40 in Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center (深圳国际会展中心 - 宝安新馆）from 11th to 13th October 2023.

NEPCON Asia provides the perfect platform for ViTrox to unveil its latest advancements in inspection solutions in the Southern region of China, ranging from V310i Advanced 3D Solder Paste Inspection (SPI) Solution, V510i Advanced 3D Optical Inspection (AOI) Solution, V810i Advanced 3D X-Ray Inspection (AXI) Solution, V9i Advanced Robotic Vision (ARV) Solution, and of course, our Industry 4.0 Manufacturing Intelligence Solutions - V-ONE.

The V310i 3D SPI is the key to ensuring SMT product quality, providing effortless programming while achieving effortless programming and accurate inspection results. Equipped with Ultra Smart Programming, users can instantly start inspection without manual parameter setup, making it user-friendly even for inexperienced operators. The V310i 3D SPI also enables precise solder bump and extended height measurements using shadow-free fringe pattern technology, enhancing the maximum 3D rendering capabilities from 450µm to 1500µm. Another great piece of news to share with you is that our SPIs have successfully qualified for the IPC- CFX-2591 Qualified Products Listing (QPL). Read more about our V310i 3D SPI Solution.

Next in our line-up will be the V510i 3D AOI solution, which is well-implemented with in-depth Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) Smart Technologies. With A.I. Smart Programming, our AOI can reduce human dependency, rapidly improve the programming speed, and guarantee quality, accuracy, and consistency during inspections. Therefore, users will enjoy up to 80% programming time reduction, ultimately achieving a higher yield. Another significant A.I. technology is the A.I. Assisted Defect Review (A.I. VVTS), designed to automate buy-off processes in repair stations and guarantee over 90% judgement accuracy. Besides, A.I. VVTS can achieve ~ 60% labour reduction, which furthermore reduces 70% of human error and cost. Our V510i 3D AOI has also successfully qualified for the IPC-CFX-2591 Qualified Products Listing (QPL) and has received the mandatory IPC-CFX messages for classification. Read more about our V510i 3D AOI Solution.

The third solution will be our V810i S3 AXI Solution, innovated with an ergonomic design that saves production floor space, while boosting inspection speed by up to 30% with new machine geometry and scanning methods. ViTrox offers a new unique imaging and reconstruction method (H-reconstruction) to address challenging inspections of very heavily shaded components and non-uniformly shaded components, ensuring sharper X-ray imaging for complex components. Equipped with A.I. integration, our AXI solutions offer effortless programming with highly accurate inspection capabilities for challenging joint inspection, such as IGBT and HiP. Plus our 3D AXI Solution has also achieved IPC-CFX-2591 QPL validation. Explore the groundbreaking V810i S3 AXI Solution today.

We will also be showcasing our award-winning V9i ARV Solution, revolutionising flexible inspections for conformal coating and final assembly inspections. Featuring a unique 6-axis COBOT design, it enables adjustable angle inspections up to 90°, guaranteeing convenience. With its Advanced Smart Learning Algorithm, V9i ARV detects various conformal coating defects. Moreover, our V9i ARV is also capable of performing thorough inspections for screw, cosmetic, connector, and label defects in final assembly, all achieved seamlessly without requiring CAD information. Our V9i ARV solution is built with multi-focal vision, allowing inspection ranging from 5mm to 200mm, thus resulting in high-resolution images as clear as 14µm/px for small defect inspection. The V9i ARV solution ensures complete inspection coverage and always delivers reliable and consistent results. Users can connect the V9i ARV solution to their production in inline mode using SMEMA connections, enhancing traceability in the back-end assembly process compared to manual inspection. Alternatively, they can place the system for offline mode discussion with the existing conveyor. Read more about our V9i ARV Solution’s capabilities in conformal coating inspection and final inspection.

Last but not least, the unveiling of our cutting-edge Industry 4.0 Manufacturing Intelligence Solutions - V-ONE, a Smart Manufacturing necessity that ensures connectivity within the production line, accurate visualisation of data analytics and adept reactivity in Machine-2- Machine (M2M) production. Among the powerful features housed in our V-ONE will be the A.I. VVTS, ONE View, and our Intelligent Control Tower. The A.I. VVTS tool seamlessly integrates with ViTrox's AOI and AXI systems, achieving over 90% A.I. coverage and high accuracy in defect detection, reducing the need for manual labour in inspections. ONE View connects data from various inspection equipment, enabling real-time cross-referencing for enhanced production process oversight and quality assurance. The Intelligent Control Tower facilitates real-time data analysis across multiple production lines, offering customised production impact assessments to fine-tune critical production issues, ensuring optimised performance. With V- ONE, anyone can monitor the production status anytime, anywhere. Read more about the unique features available in our V-ONE: A.I. VVTS, ONE View, and Intelligent Control Tower.

Take advantage of this grand opportunity to meet and network with us at NEPCON Asia 2023! ViTrox’s on-site experts will ensure that all your questions are answered and that you will have a fantastic visitation experience at our booth. Please fill up your preferred appointment schedule via the registration link to meet up with our field experts in person!

For more information, contact us via enquiry@vitrox.com. We hope to see you soon!