Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Current

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LOS ANGELES – iNEMI today announced its 2007 iNEMI Roadmap will be available to industry next month. The latest edition of the biennial document charts electronics manufacturing’s technology and infrastructure needs through 2017. It also discusses market convergence, miniaturization, harmonization of environmental requirements, migration of manufacturing and R&D, reliability, printed electronics and more.

LOS ANGELES -- Traffic was up somewhat on the second day of the IPC Apex show, to the relief of exhibitors who were beginning to show some frustration with the downtown Los Angeles site.

Purchasers take note: Cookson’s Steve Corbett and Henkel’s Pat Trippel separately stressed that the precious metals markets are running wild. “The tin market situation is scary,” noted Corbett, noting the shutdowns in Indonesia and market uncertainty in Bolivia – two primary suppliers.

LOS ANGELES -- Placement, placement, placement. It’s the most expensive machine on the line, and at Apex the OEMs showed once again why that’s the case.

vPlan is an enterprise-level, electronics assembly process engineering software tool. The new tool synchronizes process engineering in an easy-to-use package, from CAD to the machine level (SMT, PTH, and manual assembly) in three steps.

The tool defines the product, creating a normalized and validated virtual PCA using a lean data model that enables quick-change management, DFx analysis, and an optimized assembly processes. Next, it defines production resources. Virtual machine lines can be easily defined and machine library data can be auto-generated for all machine configurations with the help of Valor’s VPL service. This step is said to practically eliminates machine library management. Finally, vPlan generates manufacturing process definitions, which contain optimized output and documentation for assembly machines and manual work cells, matched to available resources and the product model.

Valor Computerized Systems, www.valor.com

BROMONT, CANADA – Panasonic Factory Solutions Co. of America and Cogiscan have collaborated on an RFID smart feeder kit for Panasonic's IPAC machine.

In a statement, Panasonic engineering manager Gene Dunn said that customers have sought to include automatic feeder tracking and closed loop slot verification. He said the integration of Cogiscan's RFID smart feeder system with Panasonic's verification and traceability software is a first major step in that direction.

The kit is offered on new machines and can be retrofitted on existing machines.

Cogiscan's RFID smart feeder reportedly tracks, traces and controls feeders on and off the assembly line, without human intervention. The companies said tape feeders of any model and year can be upgraded into intelligent feeders by attaching a low cost RFID tag.

LOS ANGELES – UP Media Group Inc. on Monday announced the winners of its 2007 Service Excellence Awards for EMS providers and electronics assembly equipment, materials and software suppliers. Circuits Assembly magazine recognized the companies that received the highest customer service ratings, as judged by their own customers, during a ceremony at the Apex trade show in Los Angeles.

In the EMS category, the overall winners were Integrated Microelectronics Inc. (revenues greater than $100 million) and Key Electronics (revenues less than $100 million).