09.19.2019 – Boca Raton – “Having worked in the electronics manufacturing industry since graduating from University of Maryland in 1980 with a BSEE, it’s truly puzzling to me that sophisticated machines capturing so much data have not been used to their full potential”, says Frank Mascetti, Owner of Technical Resources Corporation (TRC). For decades, he has witnessed this with respect to semiconductor test systems to In-Circuit Test to assembly and inspection machines alike. When he transitioned from electrical engineering into his sales profession many years ago, he listened to “spinmeisters” who worked very hard on creating a story with sales collateral. The companies acted like “it’s simply magic” and we can “plug all these boxes into one another.” In short, “Industry 4.0 will solve everything.”

However, speaking from his experience, that is not the case. “Having worked with Koh Young America for 15 years now, I have witnessed “first-hand” how a company can become expert at such closed loop technologies,” said Frank. Koh Young brought their revolutionary True 3D solder paste inspection (SPI) systems to the Americas market in 2004. “After they [Koh Young] captured business from many of the largest OEMs and EMS companies in the business, the “solder paste guys” wanted to better understand these technologies that were being deployed. They learned the same customers were asking them hard questions when it came to maintaining printers, stencil cleaning technologies, solder pastes, printer tooling, cleaning fabric, and so forth.” With a growing leadership position, many of the leading companies that supplied solder paste materials or screen printers to the industry, began to invest in their “own” 3D SPI machines from Koh Young. With expert scientists from various domains collaborating with each other, closed loop technologies connecting screen printers to SPI soon followed. “In Florida, for example, we have been installing closed loop systems since 2012, well before the Hermes and CFX standards were finalized in 2019,” emphasized Frank.

To help reinforce this position, a collection of technical articles written by Koh Young, plus panel discussions with Koh Young about a smart factory are readily available online with a quick search. A sample of links are below:

Industry 4.0:  Maximizing Productivity with Smart, Data-Driven Analytics
Demonstrating Smart Factory Solutions Powered by AI
Award-winning Koh Young Process Optimizer (KPO)
Koh Young named a Top 10 Smart Factory Solutions Provider
Artificial Intelligence and its Effects on Manufacturing

In closing, Frank stated, “Koh Young is the only company in the electronics assembly and inspection market that can tout the fact that they have a team of over 30 artificial intelligence (AI) engineers based here in San Diego...and that’s “no spin”! I guess the moral of my brief story is that you have two choices here as an inspection systems’ supplier to the electronic manufacturers: you can either talk about it or you can do it and prove it.”

Koh Young is leading the effort to harness the power of connectivity and create a smart facto ry. For instance, its Koh Young Process Optimizer (KPO), which is using AI-powered machine learning, includes interlinking software modules that exercise complex algorithms to develop closed-loop process recommendations. Additionally, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) connectivity drives the smart factory vision one step further by enabling automatic SMT line adjustments. Finally, working with its printer and mounter partners, Koh Young has developed the connectivity tools to connect with multiple suppliers and simplify communication across the entire PCBA line. In fact, Koh Young was named one of the 10 Most Innovative Smart Factory Solution Providers to Watch in 2019 and earned a position in “Headlines 500”, an annual list of the fastest-growing U.S. companies. As the recognized leader in electronics measurement and inspection, Koh Young continues to expand its capabilities to solve industry challenges and improve the measurement industry.

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