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SANTA CLARA, CA – Absolute EMS, Inc., an award-winning EMS provider of turnkey and consignment manufacturing services, was honored to welcome winners from a Brazilian Robotics Team to their state-of-the-art facility in Silicon Valley. The team, consisting of three talented young women, was awarded a trip to Silicon Valley to view some of the most advanced high-tech facilities in the world, with Absolute EMS being one of them.

During their visit, the team was given a tour of Absolute EMS' cutting-edge facility, which features the latest in manufacturing technology and equipment. The young women were able to witness firsthand the precision and attention to detail that goes into the manufacturing of high-tech electronics. They also had the opportunity to speak with the team of experienced engineers and technicians who make up Absolute EMS' skilled workforce.

"We were thrilled to have the opportunity to host the winners of the Brazilian Robotics Team at our facility," said Jayne Carthy, VP Sales and Marketing. "We are committed to supporting the next generation of innovators and engineers, and we hope that this visit has inspired these talented young women to pursue their dreams in the field of robotics and technology."

After touring Absolute EMS’ facility, the team travelled to OLogic Inc, Silicon Valley’s premier engineering consulting company that specializes in robotics. At the OLogic office, the team spoke to CEO and Founder Ted Larson about the evolution of the robotic industry and how to bring products to market successfully.

The Brazilian Robotics Team is from the University of Brasilia in Brazil. The team traveled to California to participate in the RoboGames robotics competition. In this competition, they participated in the Balancer Race category where the objective was to create a robot that could balance itself and travel six meters and stop standing up at the end of the course. In the competition rules, the teams were given the freedom to choose how the robot would be controlled – either autonomously or not. The Brazilian Robotics Team was the only team in its category to produce an autonomous robot. The three young women who represented the team impressed judges with their innovative approach to robotics, and their determination to succeed in a male-dominated field.

Absolute EMS is committed to supporting the next generation of innovators and engineers, and this visit was just one example of the company's dedication to fostering a culture of innovation and excellence.

Absolute EMS is a leader in end-to-end electronic manufacturing services solutions that help its customers rapidly introduce innovative new technology by facilitating speed-to-market in their marketplace. Speed-to-market starts with engineering services, and extends into prototypes, pilots and then into production.

A long-time commitment to sustainability contributes to Absolute EMS leading the way for manufacturing operations among EMS organizations. For more information, visit www.absolute-ems.com

MESA, AZ – Mechnano has trademarked its proprietary process that eliminates clumped and roped carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and makes CNT dispersions discrete, dispersed, and functionalized, leading to increased electrical and mechanical performance in the company’s groundbreaking additive manufacturing (AM) masterbatches and materials.

“We are excited to bring D’Func to the AM industry,” said Mechnano President Bryce Keeler.

D’Func, which is represented by more than 130 issued patents, solves the problems caused by dispersions of “dirty tubes” (clumped CNTs) into materials. Dirty tube dispersions are mechanically inferior to their base formulas — resulting in broken parts or processes that need to be shut down as replacements are put in place. In contrast, D’Func dispersions improve mechanical properties of AM materials.

In ESD applications, dirty tubes leave insulative pockets that reject charges trying to dissipate to the ground, clump into ropes that create lightning rod effects that destroy electronics and leave residual metals from the CNT creation process that cause additional electrical and mechanical part failures.

“Mechnano’s D’Func dispersions are by nature clean and the answer for today’s increasingly stringent requirements for true static dissipation by AM fabricated parts from resins, powders, pellets, and beyond,” says Keeler. “D’Func provides Nano-Uniform ESD protection throughout the part, regardless of the process, which is why it is becoming the industry standard for AM providers who want consistent, reliable, Nano-Uniform ESD properties. Dirty tubes are less expensive, but they won’t protect sensitive electronics. When you need ESD in your AM materials, make sure you have D’Func.”

The term “D’Func” stems from the firm’s R&D lab, playfully named “Funkytown” for the work performed there to functionalize and disperse Mechnano’s discrete CNTs. While Mechnano scientists have fun with their naming conventions, Keeler says they are serious about developing new solutions that leverage Mechnano’s D’Func technology.

Trademarking D'Func helps clearly differentiate Mechnano’s intellectual property and R&D advances, which continue to keep the company at the leading edge of nano-engineered solutions for AM materials. Other providers cannot provide Nano-Uniformity without Mechnano’s patented discoveries. Contact Mechnano today to request a print of your part using the right D’Func materials for your application.

PCB East, the electronics industry trade show for the East Coast

Coming May 9-12, 2023 to the Boston suburbs!

Austin, TX (26 April 2023) - Cetec ERP has been recognized as a top cloud ERP provider for aerospace/defense distributors by Aerospace Export, a prominent online resource for the aerospace and defense industries.

The annual Aerospace Export report evaluates and ranks ERP providers based on a variety of criteria, including features and functionality, ease of use, customer support, and pricing. Cetec ERP was recognized for its robust feature set, intuitive user interface, and exceptional customer service and support.

For aerospace and defense companies, any process improvement effort that yields great results is worth it because global competition and market pressure are escalating. However, selecting an ERP software solution that follows industry-leading best practice protocols and ensures efficiency is no easy task, which is why Aerospace Export created a list of the top 20 best ERP software solutions for aerospace and defense.

Cetec ERP is a web-based manufacturing ERP platform used by several aerospace and defense companies with stringent regulatory requirements, from ISO 9001 to ITAR. The software mainly targets SMB growing manufacturing shops and distributors, and is the standard ERP option for small and medium-sized manufacturers. Cetec ERP has a fully native QMS (quality management system) that handles quality requirements, and uses real time features to record data and generate quality documents to reflect all actions and details on any given order.

Cetec ERP has exceptional traceability functionality that supports serialized inventory with date code and complete lot code traceability with a full integration from purchased material to in-production and final inspection into invoice and shipment Cetec ERP covers the scope of the manufacturing process, and also includes built in accounting and financial suites.

ABOUT CETEC ERP:

Cetec ERP is disrupting a stagnant, high dollar industry that has resisted change for decades. Since 2015, and without any major marketing initiatives or venture capital funding, Cetec ERP has independently migrated hundreds of companies off legacy technology platforms like Oracle and NetSuite, saving companies hundreds of thousands of dollars, onto a new generation of lower cost ERP technology.

PCB East, the electronics industry trade show for the East Coast

Coming May 9-12, 2023 to the Boston suburbs!

Advanced materials innovator Indium Corporation is pleased to announce that the company has joined the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA).

Through its involvement with the organization, Indium Corporation strengthens its commitment to the growth and development of the electronics manufacturing industry in India. Membership also positions the company to support the region's growing need for consumer and infrastructure electronics, such as EV manufacturing, mobile, 5G, and semiconductors, specifically with its facility located in Chennai, India.

“We are excited to work alongside IESA and the industry ecosystem to drive innovation and create value for our customers,” said Senior Country Sales Manager Damian Santhanasamy. “As a proud supporter of the Make in India campaign, we are committed to serving the Indian electronics market.”

IESA is the leading organization representing the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) and Intelligent Electronics industry in India. IESA acts as a trusted partner to the Central and State Governments, helping to craft policies and incentives to attract investment into the ESDM industry in India. Also, by bridging the gap between academia and industry, it aims to bring innovations to market in an expedited manner, thereby positively impacting the lives of 1.3 billion Indian citizens.

About Indium Corporation

Indium Corporation® is a premier materials refiner, smelter, manufacturer, and supplier to the global electronics, semiconductor, thin-film, and thermal management markets. Products include solders and fluxes; brazes; thermal interface materials; sputtering targets; indium, gallium, germanium, and tin metals and inorganic compounds; and NanoFoil®. Founded in 1934, the company has global technical support and factories located in China, Germany, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.

For more information about Indium Corporation, visit www.indium.com or email jhuang@indium.com. You can also follow our experts, From One Engineer To Another® (#FOETA), at www.linkedin.com/company/indium-corporation/ or @IndiumCorp.

PCB East, the electronics industry trade show for the East Coast

Coming May 9-12, 2023 to the Boston suburbs!

To support its growing customer base leading CEM, Custom Interconnect Ltd. (CIL), required innovative equipment that could meet the exacting specifications required to produce complex and critical applications. Through Altus, CIL has the best-in-class equipment, including vapour phase soldering systems and component counter technology to manufacture highly complex PCBAs.

CIL was looking to specialise in assembling power PCBA's soldered in a vacuum for near void-free assemblies, a critical requirement for GaN and SiC packages and power-related assemblies. This required innovative equipment to ensure solder joints had less than 3% void rate. Altus recommended ASSCON vapour phase soldering systems were installed because of their advanced technology and functionality, which sets them above many other providers.

Jiri Kucera, Altus Operations Director, said: “Today’s complex electronic assemblies require precision manufacturing. Voids in solder joints can reduce their reliability, so it is critical to use innovative equipment to prevent them. VP6000 from ASSCON is the ideal solution for CIL. The system combines the benefits of vapour phase technology with a vacuum chamber to reliably produce solder joints and prevent voids and is engineered for the soldering of small and middle-sized board series.

“Its capability ensures CIL meets the exacting requirements to manufacture advanced PCBAs from both NPI and production runs.”

Further investment to advance CIL’s SMT production processes included the Scienscope AXC-800 III X-ray component counter for booking all components in and out of their stores. Altus recommended this revolutionary system because it utilises state-of-the-art X-Ray technology to capture images of components inside the reels and uses an intelligent AI algorithm to count the quantities with an accuracy of 99.9% in less than two seconds per reel.

This intuitive system makes inventory management and component counting faster and more accurate and ensures automatic traceability, an essential requirement for CIL’s advanced electronic assemblies and its customer’s high standards.

CIL Managing Director John Boston said: “The equipment from Altus gives us the capability and capacity to enable both our existing customer base and to realise growth potential. It also positions CIL as a central enabler in the ‘Driving the Electric Revolution’ and ensures we continue to be a leader in electronic manufacturing. With the global component shortage still on-going, stock accuracy has never been more important than it is right now.”

TORRANCE, CA – For decades, the general wisdom in approaching manufacturing has been to rely on a “just in time” strategy to ensure component parts are available the moment they are needed rather than tying up capital to purchase and store inventory. However, with the recent supply chain disruptions that have been causing delays across industries, there is an argument to be made for holding “just in case” (JIC) inventory as well. This is especially important for “golden screws,” the one or two critical components that are needed to finish production and start generating revenue.

While the “just in time”(JIT) philosophy has been effective for over 30 years now, the recent disruptions that have been happening in the supply chain are unpredictable. In the past six years, these disruptions have been more severe and unanticipated, upsetting a relative stability that had existed for some time. Suddenly, parts are completely unavailable, a problem that has been increasingly troublesome over the last 18 months.

“When there is supply chain harmony, when everybody is delivering on time and there is plenty of inventory in distribution, “just in time” works really well, but that is not the current reality and as COVID taught us, you can never anticipate the next event,” says Mike Thomas, vice president and global general manager at Classic Components, a premier independent distributor based in Torrance, CA. “This makes the “just in case” inventory philosophy a crucial piece of the profitability puzzle moving forward.”

JIC is not a new concept, but it is a “now” concept given the instability in the past six years. It is an inventory management strategy where companies keep inventory on hand to anticipate and prepare for unpredictability of demand or the times. The strategy is typically employed in less industrialized countries where disruptions in the supply chain are more common and maintaining more inventory in case of emergency is critical to avoid production delays and other inefficiencies.

“Just in case” means having specific critical items in stock all the time so that when a situation arises like COVID, civil unrest, countries in conflict, or whatever else you can think of that disrupts the supply chain, we still have enough critical electronic components on hand to continue to manufacture our products. Even if it is not as profitable, you remain operational,” says Thomas.

Thomas believes in balancing “just in time” inventory, which helps businesses keep their inventory low and their capital high, with JIC, particularly of items that may be essential to the continued profitability of their business. A term that is gaining traction to describe such parts is the “golden screw,” an item that at times is difficult to procure but is essential to doing business.

“There are a lot of “golden screws” now that companies just couldn’t get their hands on and there were many products that couldn’t even be shipped. So, now they are meeting and shifting their strategies to ensure they always have the golden screws in the future,” Thomas notes.

Combining these two inventory strategies gives organizations the best of both worlds – the low inventory and available capital of JIT with the security of JIC – and Classic Components can offer its partners this type of balance when it comes to electronic components.

“With companies like ours, we invest our own money to purchase items for customers ahead of time. We keep a certain amount in buffer stock, and we ship it out when needed and then we get paid by the customer. In doing so, the customers achieve their goal of having only what they need, when they need it, which is basically “just in time” philosophy,” explains Thomas.

To accomplish this, the company invests its own capital to secure “golden screw” items for customers and hold them in inventory until they are needed, however long that might take. This is a unique offering within the independent channel and only the largest, most financially stable distributors are willing or able to do so.

However, customers need to be willing to shift their strategy to accommodate a JIC philosophy. Organizations must have the foresight and awareness to anticipate future orders not yet placed and be proactive about securing that inventory required to ensure there are no delays when the product is needed.

Thomas adds that the items that have been difficult to find are not always complicated parts. OEMs require simple electronic components to make products in the same way nails and screws are required to construct a house.

“It is important to adopt a “just in case” philosophy both for less sophisticated items along with higher end items as well, to cover all the bases,” says Thomas. “To extend the construction analogy, if a house is built with nails and screws, it will also require expensive fixtures to be completed.”

The distributor can help secure these items for the OEM without asking for money up front and assist with the logistics of transporting the items when needed. They do this by being flexible in their approach and shipping material, whether upstream or downstream, including to contract manufacturers, sister companies, and subsidiaries.

Not many companies are offering this type of service during shortages, including traditional distributors.

Although authorized distributors provide added value such as engineering support, contractual obligations dictate all materials must come directly from the factory. This makes sense when the supply chain is operating as expected, and there are no global pandemics or other supply chain constraints. The current disruptions, however, are creating lead times in the regular distribution space of up to 50 weeks for parts that used to be available in eight to 18 weeks, a massive disruption that independent distributors can work around more easily.

Regular authorized distributors may also struggle to get parts because the contractual agreement that these companies sign prevents them from sourcing products in the open market. Independent distributors like Classic Components can lock in prices and delivery dates using its vast network of supply chains and partners for many months at a time. This ensures that the inventory will be there when the customer needs it and not sold to someone else.

“It is a philosophical adjustment. Companies have to look in the mirror and say: we built our organization on “just in time” and that is how our shareholders measure us, but we need to secure the “golden screws” to protect against any possible future disruptions,” says Thomas.

For more information, contact Classic Components Corp. 23605 Telo Avenue, Torrance, CA 90505; www.classic-ic.com; 310.539.5500; info@class-ic.com.