SAN DIEGO – FEB. 14, 2017 – CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY and PRINTED CIRCUIT DESIGN AND FAB announced the winners of the 2017 New Product Introduction Awards for electronics assembly equipment, materials, software, and PCB fabrication.

The 10th annual NPI Awards recognizes leading new products during the past 12 months. An independent panel of practicing industry engineers selected the recipients.

The winners are:

Coatings/Encapsulants: Henkel Electronic Materials (Technomelt AS 8998)
Cleaning Materials: Kyzen (DS3522 DuoSolvent Cleaning Agent)
Component Placement – High Speed: Yamaha Motor Corp. (Z:TA-R/YSM40R Modular Surface Mounter)
Component Placement – Multi-function: Essemtec (Fox2 Compact Pick-and-Place Machine)
Component Storage: Juki Automation Systems (ISM UltraFlex 3600)
Device Programming: Data I/O (LumenX v1.2 integration with PSV5000)
Dispensing Equipment: DELO Industrial Adhesives (DELO-DOT PN3 Pneumatic Microdispensing Valve)
Process Control Tools: Kyzen (Kyzen Analyst Real-Time Concentration Monitoring & Reporting System)
Rework & Repair Tools: Kurtz Ersa (HR 550)
Screen/Stencil Printing Equipment: Speedprint Technology (S-Track Barcode Applicator)
Software – Management: Fuji America (Nexim Software Suite)
Software – Process Control: ASM (ASM ProcessExpert)
Software – Production: Cogiscan (Co-NECT)
Soldering Materials: Nihon Superior (SN100CV P506 D4 Lead-Free Solder Paste)
Soldering – Reflow: ITW EAE - Vitronics Soltec - Catalytic Thermal Oxidizer (Cathox)
Soldering – Selective: Kurtz Ersa (Versaflex-Ultra)
Soldering – Hand Tools: OK International/Metcal (CV-5200 Soldering and Rework Systems with Connection Validation)
Soldering – Other: EVS International (EVS 500LF)
Test & Inspection – AOI: Viscom (S3088 Ultra Gold AOI System)    
Test & Inspection – AXI: Dage Precision Industries (Quadra 7)
Test & Inspection – ICT: Test Research Inc. (TR5001 SII Series In-Circuit Test System)
First Article Inspection: Akrometrix (AXP 2.0 – Thermal Warpage Metrology System)
Functional Test: Datest (PCBA/PCBF Reverse Engineering Service)    
Flux: Kester (Select-10)
Laminates: Rogers Corp. (RO4730G3 UL 94 V-0)
Plating: Dow Chemical (Copper Gleam PPR-II Acid Copper)
Factory Automation Software: Cadence Design Systems (Allegro Pulse)
AOI Test: Orbotech (Precise 800)
Imaging: Orbotech (Nuvogo Fine)
Surface Treatment: Nordson March (ModVIA Plasma System)
X-Ray Verification Tools (Bare Board): Bowman Analytics (Bowman M Series Xray Optics System)        
    
The awards were presented during a ceremony at IPC Apex Expo in San Diego.

“If there was a theme to this year’s entries, it was novel yet practical solutions to everyday needs, such as cleaning the reflow oven or dedicated NPI equipment,” said Mike Buetow, editor-in-chief of CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY and PCD&F. “We were particularly pleased to see more entries from the fabrication side this year as well, which suggests to us that suppliers are spying new opportunities to market to the North American bare board industry.”