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Assembleon (Eindhoven, The Netherlands, a designer and manufacturer of surface-mount pick-and-place equipment for the global electronics industry, and Tecnomatix Technologies Ltd. (Herzlia, Israel), a provider of manufacturing process management (MPM), have announced an agreement to offer a replacement to the CIMbridge software tool with eM-Assembly Expert, from Tecnomatix Unicam, for all Assembleon customers.

Under the terms of the agreement, the software tool—a key component of the printed circuit board (PCB) assembly and test solution suite from Tecnomatix Unicam—will replace the platform currently being used by Assembleon customers. Since acquiring the CIMbridge business unit from Genrad in October 2002, Tecnomatix has been committed to a transition plan to upgrade CIMbridge users to a more advanced, integrated programming platform.

Assembleon customers will also benefit from eM-Document Expert, a subset of the software that automates the creation of method sheets and other documentation for electronic assembly operations.

The programming front-end will interface with Assembleon optimizers and line balancers for all Assembleon machines. Expansion of the platform to other MPM solutions is available directly from Tecnomatix.

www.tecnomatix.com

www.assembleon.com

Visiprise Inc. (Atlanta, GA), a provider of manufacturing execution systems for electronics, automotive, aerospace and defense industries, has been selected by Actia Group (Toulouse, France) to provide quality and production management control for its manufacturing plants in Tunis, Tunisia and Colomiers, France. Operating in 13 countries, Actia Group is a manufacturer of vehicle electronics and diagnostics for major automotive and aerospace original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Visiprise Manufacturing, the manufacturing execution software, links OEMs and electronics manufacturing services (EMS) suppliers and provides visibility during the manufacturing process, thereby accelerating new products to market and reducing overall manufacturing costs.

"Actia Group chose Visiprise Manufacturing to handle complex control, tracking and traceability requirements during the manufacturing process," said Robert Consoli, vice president of worldwide sales, Visiprise. "As a supplier to major automotive and aerospace OEMs, Visiprise provides Actia Group with the tools needed to control and to gain visibility of critical routing, repair loop and non-conformance information during the manufacturing process."

Visiprise is a provider of software solutions for real-time visibility and control of manufacturing operations for discrete manufacturers. Its flagship solution is a Web-based, collaborative manufacturing execution system (MES) that helps manage and track the entire production process. It is the industry's only independent platform technology for manufacturing execution.

www.visiprise.com

DEK (San Jose, CA), a high accuracy mass imaging solutions provider, has taken electroform stencils to the next level by incorporating an exclusive, sophisticated aperture height control method to their production of Eform stencils.

The stencils incorporate provide superior performance and ensure seal contact to the pad, pad paste deposit and a greater percentage volume of paste on pad. The reactive force created by the stencils provides for an even distribution of paste and allows for a more clean release of paste from the aperture. This technology also delivers ultimate control over stencil thickness and uniformity, ensuring paste volume consistency for fine pitch applications. The stencils also improve solder paste release for some of the more challenging lead-free solder paste formulations.

When the stencil process is combined with the new variable aperture height technology (VAHT), it becomes even more powerful.

Richard Tang, DEK global Eform manager, said, "Board co-planarity issues are a prevalent problem. The uneven resist layer causes a poor seal between the board and the stencil, which can result in printing problems. DEK has that problem solved. Our VAHT, an inherent characteristic of DEK's Eform stencils, adjusts for the variances in resist layer heights and provides a uniform seal across the entire board."

DEK's Eform process and inherent VAHT produce stencils that will enable technology for next-generation fine-pitch surface-mount and semiconductor packaging technologies. As the lines between complex surface-mount assembly and semiconductor packaging processes continue to blur, the need for advanced stencil technology becomes even more apparent.

www.dek.com

The International Microelectronics And Packaging Society (IMAPS, Washington, D.C.) has announced that Colonel Danny McKnight, whose heroic exploits as Commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment assigned to Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia, were chronicled in the book and movie "Black Hawk Down," will deliver the keynote address at an upcoming IMAPS Advanced Technology Workshop (ATW). The Military, Aerospace, Space and Homeland Security ATW will be held at the Renaissance Harbor Place Hotel, Baltimore, MD on March 28-30.

Col. McKnight recently retired after a distinguished and highly decorated career as a U.S. Army Ranger. His experience represents a lifetime of dedication to the defense of America.

In addition to his expertise in military matters, highlights of his management career include: providing direct financial management, guidance,and oversight of an annual operational budget of approximately $50 million; developing a strategic planning concept and a measurable results program to track its successful implementation for the integration of active and reserve component soldiers as part of the Army's training strategy for the year 2000 and beyond; and directing a staff of more than 300 to provide support for a field force of 10,000 people, who had to meet the training requirements for approximately 250,000 reserve component soldiers.

Col. McKnight's awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit with Two Oak Leaf Clusters; Bronze Star for Valor; Purple Heart; Meritorious Service Medal with Five Oak Leaf Clusters; Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster; Army Achievement Medal; National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with Arrowhead and Bronze Star; Combat Infantryman's Badge; Ranger Tab; Master Parachutist Badge with Bronze Star; and Pathfinder Badge.

Greg Caswell, General Chair of the Workshop, said, "We are extremely proud and honored that one of our country's most distinguished military heroes has agreed to take the time to come and speak at our Workshop."

For more information on the workshop, visit http://www.imaps.org/registration/military2004.htm.

YESTech (San Clemente, CA), a provider of yield enhancement solutions, has announced that it has won a contract to provide automated optical inspection (AOI) technology to Zentech Manufacturing Inc. (Baltimore, MD), a full-service contract electronics manufacturers in the mid-Atlantic region.

Zentech will use YESTech's YTV-2050 AOI system for automated inspection of its printed circuit boards (PCBs), which are used in both military and commercial applications. The system was implemented at Zentech's 42,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Baltimore.

"Our business is doubling in size each year, creating a challenge in terms of the high volume of PCBs that need to be inspected," said Dave Hughes, director of advanced operations engineering for Zentech Manufacturing. "After evaluating AOI systems, I selected YESTech because they are leading the market with innovations such as multi-camera technology and easily took care of 80% of our inspection needs. We assemble thousands of boards per day to IPC 610 class 2 and 3 standards, so our quality and workmanship is critical."

The AOI system provides Zentech with defect detection and repeatability, ease of use and value. Up to eight cameras feature proprietary color megapixel Thin Camera technology, which integrates color, normalized correlation and rule-based algorithms to provide high-speed PCB inspection with exceptional defect coverage and a low false failure rate.

www.yestechinc.com

www.zentechman.com

During the 2004 Apex tradeshow, Techspray (Amarillo, TX) presented Hisco (Houton, TX), an electronics distributor, with the 2003 Sales Growth Award. Hisco, a long-time distributor for Techspray, had 40% growth in calendar year 2003 over 2002. The growth is good news after several years of mainly bad news for the electronics industry.

The company also announced that they have hired Ken Caskey as the North American Sales Manager. Caskey has nineteen years of experience with the Premier Farnell organization including assignments for Newark Electronics in England and Chicago. He most recently served as vice-president of sales for MCM Electronics, an InOne company.

Techspray is a brand of precision cleaning technologies for the electronics industry. Techspray's Industrial product line includes cleaner/degreasers, defluxers, contact cleaners, lubricants, corrosion inhibitors, aerosol adhesives, desoldering braid, hand tools and solder tips.

www.techspray.com