News
FEINFOCUS (Stamford, CT), a manufacturer of x-ray inspection systems and tubes, and GOEPEL electronic (Jena, Germany), a vendor of electronic and optical test and inspection systems, have combined their 30 years of test and inspection experience with a recent technology partnership.
The new cooperation and development project has resulted in the launch of the OptiCon X-Line inspection system, which was unveiled at Productronica 2003. The new system combines automated optical inspection (AOI) and x-ray inspection technology for the automated analysis of hidden solder joints.
The system, based on the OptiCon series from GOEPEL, provides automatic recognition of shorts and solder bridges, as well as missing solder balls on ball grid array (BGA) and microBGA devices. FEINFOCUS contributed to the development of the system with x-ray tube technology that was implemented according to GOEPEL's specifications. The companies will publish joint technical papers and application findings through the use of the combined technologies.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
Three-Five Systems Inc. (TFS, Tempe, AZ), has hired key employees and acquired the customer base of Integrex Inc. (Bothell, WA), a privately-held electronics manufacturing services (EMS) company. TFS will immediately begin working with customers to transfer existing programs from Bothell to the Redmond facility; the process is expected to take approximately six weeks.
The agreement is the second EMS transaction by TFS in the Northwest in the past 15 months. TFS acquired the EMS company ETMA (Redmond, WA) in December 2002 and maintains operations in the Redmond location.
Integrex was founded in 1999 as a full-service EMS company providing turnkey manufacturing services, including design, new product introduction (NPI), printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), system integration, test and after-market support. Primary investors included Benaroya Capital, Fluke Venture Partners and Sunrise Capital. Representatives for the investor group indicated that several companies competed to obtain the Integrex business and TFS was selected because of its existing presence within the Northwest regional customer community, combined with strong offshore manufacturing capability and a solid balance sheet.
Jack Saltich, chief executive officer of TFS, said, "Integrex has penetrated certain market segments, including military applications, that represent target growth areas for TFS. We believe we can expand upon this business by leveraging our manufacturing quality in Redmond with our high volume efficiencies at our Asian manufacturing locations and thereby continue our initiative to become a dominant EMS provider in the Northwest."
TFS is buying the raw material inventory of Integrex as needed to begin manufacturing products for its new customers and is providing Integrex with an up-front, one-time payment to offset customer transfer costs. TFS is not acquiring Integrex's manufacturing facility in Bothell, and it is not expected that the transaction will generate a goodwill asset for TFS.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
The Surface-Mount Technology Association (SMTA, Minneapolis, MN) has announced the formation of the SMTA International (SMTAI) technical committee for 2004. The SMTA will again co-locate its SMTAI conference on Sept. 26-30 with Assembly Tech Expo (ATExpo) in Chicago, IL, at the Donald Stephens Convention Center.
The 2004 team of industry professionals includes Gerry Adams; Donald Banks; Dr. Srinivas Chada; Dr. John Evans; Gail Flower; Rich Freiberger; Dr. Reza Ghaffarian; Dr. Ken Gilleo; Steve Greathouse; Lisa Hamburg-Bastin; Jeff Kennedy; Andrew Mawer; Dr. Julian Partridge; Dr. Viswanadham Puligandla; Greg Reed; and Dr. Paul Vianco.
They will be led by veteran conference chair, RadiSys process engineering manager Rob Rowland. Rowland is the primary author of Applied Surface Mount Assembly, and he has conducted classes for the SMTA Academy and the SMTA annual conferences at SMI and SMTAI.
Tracks for this year's conference include Assembly, Business Issues, Components, Emerging Technologies, PCB Technology and Process Control. New topics for 2004 include Design for Success, Battery Interaction, Lean Manufacturing, Medical Electronics, Setup Reduction, Process Modeling and Supplier Engineering.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
IPC (Northbrook, IL) has announced the release of IPC-2581, Generic Requirements Printed Board Assembly Products Manufacturing Description Data and Transfer Methodology, and recognizes Valor Computerized Systems Ltd.'s (Yvane, Israel) commitment to this effort.
The IPC-2581 standard is the result of three years of industry effort, initially started by the National Electronic Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI) and then followed by IPC's standardization effort. The standard is in XML schema and was built on Valor's ODB++ format, with added data concepts from IPC's GenCAM standard (IPC-2511B). The committee effort, chaired by Dana Korf, Sanmina-SCI Corp., put the final touches on the IPC-2581 in February.
"By donating their ODB++ format to the IPC committee working on IPC-2581 and by providing volunteer committee support from their development group in Israel, Valor made tremendous contributions to the development of this new standard," said David Bergman, IPC's vice president of standards and technology. "The time and travel commitment to the two-year standard was significant on Valor's behalf, and IPC would like to recognize Valor's support of the industry."
Bergman added, "With the release of the new standard comes the need for implementation efforts. The goal has always been to develop more intelligent data transfer, and now verification vehicles need to be developed, as well as a large numbers of translators. With Valor's support, IPC has completed the format. Next, it's critical that the companies that set the direction for this effort to push for adoption and now commit themselves to use the new format."
IPC plans to include the development of golden boards of product in the IPC-2581 standard format. These examples will facilitate the industry's implementation of the new format. The National Institute of Science and Technology will then check the quality of the golden boards prior to release.
For more information, contact DavidBergman@ipc.org.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
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.
BTU International (North Billerica, MA) showcased the newest version of its Pyramax solder reflow oven for surface-mount processing, the Pyramax 150 X5, at APEX 2004.
The new machine features lead-free process, low cost of ownership and a closed loop convection control for unmatched process control and repeatability. The 10-zone air or nitrogen capability, combined with 350°C maximum temperature and 24-in. board processing, provides process flexibility and throughput for high volume, high mix applications.
With increased heating and cooling performance and repeatable process control, the oven ensures an easy transition to lead-free production.
Reduced power consumption and nitrogen consumption as low as 500CFH decreases the cost of ownership. In addition, the available self-contained on-board water supply eliminates the need for a facility water supply.
The oven also offers a closed loop convection process to offer continuous monitoring and feedback of heating and cooling convection rates, with adjustments being made automatically through the system's operating software. The process control will be critical for lead-free processing.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
Kester, a business unit of Northrop Grumman Corp., has been sold to American Capital Strategies Ltd. for an undisclosed amount.
At a press conference on Tuesday during APEX, Dave Torp, Kester's vice president of marketing and business development, announced that the company has just one announcement to make at the show this year--they have been acquired. The acquisition allows Kester to break from the defense arena and return to their roots of supplying to the assembly, component, electrical and industrial marketplace.
According to Torp, the acquisition allows Kester more freedom. "We have increased flexibility and agility within the marketplace, and can generate more buiness, especially in foreign entities," he siad. "With them [American Capital], we are free to market globally, manufacture and support customers, especially in China."
Kester was sold to American Capital "lock, stock and barrel," said Torp. He added that Kester's management team remains intact.
Torp also said that Kester comprises a large portion of American Capital's holding portfolio, allowing Kester to keep up with this constantly changing industry and new technologies. Kester also has implemented a "phase-gate system" which will allow them to accelerate new product development from years to months.
American Capital's investment takes the form of a revolving credit facility, senior term loans, senior and junior subordinated debt and preferred common equity. Post-closing, American Capital will own 84% of Kester on a fully diluted basis. The remaining ownership in the acquiring company represents amounts under the employee options program, as well as equity co-investors.
www.kester.com
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
Tyco Electronics (Willow Grove, PA), a business segment of Tyco International Ltd., is highlighting the Kanetic product line at the APEX show taking place Feb. 24-26 in Anaheim, CA.
Tyco Electronics signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Kanetic that resulted in Tyco assuming all responsibility for the manufacture, sales and support of the Kanetic product line. This agreement provides customers Kanetic's product offerings along with Tyco's financial strength and worldwide sales and service capability.
The product line features an adjustable length edge belt workstation, magazine unloader, an inline board destacker, inverter, and magazine loader. All products have adjustable length, dual speed adjustment, thin board capabilities, a control board and flow reversibility.
Tyco Electronics Automation Group (TEAG), a business unit of Tyco Electronics, is a supplier of automated equipment that is used in the manufacturing of printed circuit board assemblies and systems.
http://automation.tycoelectronics.com
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
Valor Computerized Systems (Yavne, Israel), a provider of software solutions for the electronics design and manufacturing industry, announced that the agreement with Denmark-based TraceXpert A/S, a provider of real-time production monitoring, machine-control and traceability solutions, has now been executed.
The completion of all legal and financial aspects of the agreement, first announced in December 2003, signals that Valor-Denmark is now fully open for business: to deliver the TraceXpert Manufacturing Execution System (MES) to the global electronics industry. The TraceXpert product delivers productivity-maximization, exact traceability and shop-floor parts-management solution. It includes real-time data-rich interfaces to surface-mount assembly lines from machine vendors such as Siemens, Universal and Fuji, and a major expansion program is to be implemented immediately, to substantially increase the machine-types coverage offered to the market.
Valor-Denmark A/S is a joint venture company, 50% owned by Valor and 50% owned by the shareholders of the predecessor-company, TraceXpert A/S. All intellectual property, management and employees of TraceXpert A/S will be transferred into Valor-Denmark, and Valor Ltd., Israel, will make a $4 million investment into the newly formed business in order to facilitate an immediate ramp-up in the rate of development of the TraceXpert solution. After 3 years of operations, Valor Ltd., Israel, will have first option to purchase all shares in Valor-Denmark.
Copyright 2004, UP Media Group. All rights reserved.
UP Media Group Inc. (Atlanta, GA) today announced the winners of the 2004 Service Excellence Awards (SEAs) for Electronics Manufacturing Services (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 APEX 2004 in Anaheim, CA.
Participating EMS companies' customers rated each company on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (superior) in five service categories: dependability/timely delivery; manufacturing quality; responsiveness to requests and changes; technology; and value for the price. Overall winners in the EMS category were Plexus Corp. (Neenah, WI) in the large-company category (revenues over $500 million); Sparton Electronics (Jackson, MI) in the medium-company category (revenues between $100 and $500 million); and Masstech EMS (Woburn, MA) in the small-company category (revenues less than $100 million).
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| The large, medium and small EMS company winners. |
Circuits Assembly also gave awards to the small and medium EMS companies with the highest scores in each of the five individual service categories. The overall EMS winners were excluded from winning individual categories. In the small-company category, Key Electronics (New Albany, IN) won for dependability/timely delivery and tied with Able Electronics (Hayward, CA) for responsiveness. Able Electronics also tied for the manufacturing quality award with Nu Visions Manufacturing LLC (Springfield, MA). Nu Visions Manufacturing won the value award and tied with Elcoteq—Dallas NPI (Dallas, TX) in the technology category. In the medium-company category, Creation Technologies (Burnaby, Canada) had the highest scores for dependability/timely delivery, manufacturing quality, responsiveness and technology, while Reptron Manufacturing Services (Tampa, FL) won in the value category.
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| Lisa Hamburg Bastin (right), Circuits Assembly, presents Gary Tanel (middle), Elcoteq—Dallas NPI, and Stephen Pudles (left), Nu Visions Manufacturing, awards for the highest technology ratings in the small EMS company category. |
For the equipment, materials and software suppliers awards, companies were rated on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (superior) in five service categories: dependability; ease of use; responsiveness; technology; and value for price. Aegis Industrial Software Corp. (Horsham, PA) received top honors in the manufacturing software category, and Agile Software Corp. (San Jose, CA) won the supply chain management software category.
Electronics assembly equipment award winners were: Asymtek (Carlsbad, CA) for dispensing; Assembléon (Eindhoven, The Netherlands) for pick-and-place; Petroferm Inc. (Fernandina Beach, FL) for cleaning; DEK (Flemington, NJ) for screen printing; and FEINFOCUS USA (Stamford, CT) for test and inspection. EFD Inc. (Lincoln, RI) won the electronics assembly materials suppliers award in the solder paste category.
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| The electronics assembly equipment, materials and software supplier winners gather with their awards. |
A donation of $5,000 was made on the participants' behalf to the Surface Mount Technology Association's (SMTA, Minneapolis, MN) Charles Hutchins Educational Grant. Part of each participant's entry fee was included in the donation.
This is the twelfth year for the awards program sponsored by Circuits Assembly.
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| JoAnn Stromberg (left), SMTA, accepts the Circuits Assembly donation of $5,000 for the Charles Hutchins educational grant from Lisa Hamburg Bastin (right). |
UP Media Group (UPMG) is a privately held company that specializes in magazine publishing and trade show and conference production. UPMG currently publishes two high-tech magazines: Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture (www.pcdandm.com) and Circuits Assembly. In addition, UPMG produces three annual conferences and trade shows for the design and manufacture industry—PCB Design Conference West (www.pcbwest.com) and HDI Expo (www.hdiexpo.com) in San Jose, CA, and PCB Design Conference East (www.pcbeast.com) in the Boston area. UPMG also hosts the PCB Design Conference Road Series (www.pcbshows.com) of courses in cities throughout the U.S.
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