Dynatech To Distribute Aegis Software With Samsung Equipment
Dynatech Technology Inc. (Horsham, PA), the North American
distributor for Samsung surface-mount technology equipment, has signed
a distribution agreement with Aegis Industrial Software Corp. (Horsham,
PA) to sell and install Aegis's CircuitCAM and CheckPoint software on
Samsung equipment.
"It's more than one-stop shopping for our customers," said Mike
Foster, director of sales for Dynatech. "With both companies located in
the same corporate campus, customers can get their training for the
equipment and the software on the same business trip. Customers will
benefit from having the training on each system essentially at the same
time, making it easier to retain the information and become more
productive more quickly when the systems are installed in their
plants."
In the market for small to medium electronics manufacturing services
(EMS) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) shops, the Samsung
Techwin line includes the newly introduced CP60L compact high-speed
chip shooter, CP45F full vision assembly system and a variety of
entry-level placement systems, plus machine-control software that can
tie into line manufacturing and enterprise information systems. As the
North American distributor, Dynatech Technology also provides 24/7
service with a guaranteed 30-minute call-back time.
Manufacturing and process engineers use CircuitCAM to convert CAD
design information into visual assembly documentation, reports and
optimized machine programs that include the generation and optimization
interfaces for the pick-and-place insertion process, inspection and
test machines. Users can operate the MS Office suite and programs such
as AutoCAD directly within the software environment, and they can
transfer documentation into programs such as Word and Excel. Data
stored by the software enters a relational database, such as Access,
which can be used in stand-alone mode. CheckPoint provides
bill-of-materials, revision control and management capabilities.
www.dynatechsmt.com
Universal Instruments, CyberOptics Sign Partnership Agreement
Universal Instruments Corp. (Binghamton, NY) and CyberOptics Corp.
(Minneapolis, MN) have signed an agreement to integrate the new
Embedded Process Verification (EPV) inspection technology from
CyberOptics into Universal's electronic component placement systems.
Universal will offer the EPV sensor system as a feature on its
recently released platform placement machines that incorporate its new
placement head. Introduction of the sensor is currently planned for the
second half of 2004.
Ian McEvoy, president of Universal, said, "To achieve the
challenging quality goal of less than 10 defects per million for
surface-mount circuit board assembly, you have to verify each component
placement. The CyberOptics' EPV is the first sensing system to enable
this within the placement machine."
Steven Case, CyberOptics' chairman and founder said, "Unlike
traditional inspection systems that are positioned after the placement
machine in an electronics assembly line, EPV puts the inspection
process right at the point of action, inside the pick-and-place
machine. Ultimately, defects detected by the EPV sensor may be
corrected while the circuit board is still within the placement
machine."
www.uic.com
www.cyberoptics.com
Kester Sold to American Capital
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
NEMI Kicks Off 2004 Roadmap
The National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI,
Herndon,VA), an industry-led consortium focused on strengthening the
global electronics manufacturing supply chain, will kick off its 2004
roadmap March 24-25. NEMI member Sun Microsystems will host the meeting
at their facility in Newark, CA.
"The kick-off meeting gives all of the committees and groups who are
developing individual chapters of the roadmap a chance to meet together
as a whole to discuss the ‘big picture' and coordinate on the issues
that affect all aspects of the roadmap," said Jim Arnold, fellow of the
technical staff for Motorola and NEMI's director of roadmapping. "It's
a very useful and productive session that catalyzes the six-month
process."
Every two years, NEMI maps the future manufacturing needs of the
global electronics industry in order to identify the key technology and
infrastructure developments required to assure leadership of the supply
chain over the next decade. It helps companies anticipate shifts in
product requirements and provides an early warning of changes in
technology or infrastructure.
2004 marks the tenth anniversary of this highly successful
initiative. The first roadmap was created in 1994 by the National
Electronics Manufacturing Framework Committee, a group of 200
individuals from industry, government and academia who came together to
study the challenges facing the nation in electronics manufacturing,
and to develop technology roadmaps and policy options with which to
address these challenges.
Since that time, the roadmap has served as the foundation of all
NEMI activities. NEMI uses the roadmap's forecasts to identify critical
technology and infrastructure gaps, prioritize R&D needs to meet
these gaps, and initiate activities to address industry needs.
NEMI is currently recruiting industry experts to participate in the
2004 roadmap (NEMI membership is not required for participation).
Anyone interested in getting involved with the NEMI roadmap should
contact Chuck Richardson, NEMI staff manager of roadmapping, (256)
880-0922; email: Chuck.Richardson@NEMI.org.
www.nemi.org
Tyco Electronics Brings the Kanetic Product Line to APEX
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
Nash Joins BTU Executive Team
BTU International Inc. (North Billerica, MA), a supplier of advanced
thermal processing equipment for semiconductor packaging, surface-mount
and advanced materials processing, has announced the appointment of Tom
Nash as vice president of marketing.
Nash joins the company as a member of the senior management team,
reporting directly to Mark R. Rosenzweig, president and chief executive
of BTU International. Nash will oversee all facets of corporate
marketing, working closely with the executive team on corporate
strategy as the company continues to expand its product and customer
base.
"We are extremely pleased that Tom has joined our team," said
Rosenzweig. "He brings a wealth of international business experience in
the electronics and process control industries as well as valuable
experience in strategic planning, acquisition analysis and new business
development. Tom will utilize his skills and experience to guide our
new product development program, implement strategies to increase our
global market share and support our worldwide sales organization."
Nash has previously held positions in general management, executive
sales and marketing management, as well as product development, during
his career at the Black & Decker Corp., Vitronics Corp. and most
recently as president of CIMCIS Ltd.
www.btu.com
Aegis, Cogiscan Offer Closed-Loop Mfg. Control
AEGIS Industrial Software Corp. (Horsham, PA) and Cogiscan Inc.
(Bromont, Quebec, Canada) have announced that they will demonstrate
integration between their products as the Cogiscan material tracking
and line control technology is integrated to Aegis' real-time machine
monitoring and data acquisition systems.
The combined solution offers control of business processes from the
preparation of design and bill of matrials data, to line setup
validation, execution and the gathering and analysis of process data.
It then yields traceability—effectively closing the informational loop.
The technical integration creates the first solution offering the Aegis
NPI and MES solutions with the materials and process control solutions
offered from Cogiscan.
"When Aegis and Cogiscan solutions combine to create closed loop
manufacturing control, it yields more than just an extended range of
functions," said Jason Spera, chief executive officer of Aegis, "It
delivers new depth of information management through the entire process
from end-to-end. It is a platform-independent solution free of
proprietary and machine-specific elements to make deployment and
scalability simple."
www.aiscorp.com
www.cogiscan.com
Juki Automation Systems Partners with Tecnomatix
Tecnomatix Technologies Ltd. (Herzlia, Israel), a provider of
manufacturing pocess mnagement (MPM), has partnered with Juki
Automation ystems Europe (Solothurn, Switzerland) to offer integrated
solutions for electronics manufacturing. Juki, a supplier of
surface-mount automated assembly equipment and systems, will deploy
several Tecnomatix eMPower for Electronics solutions along with their
own surface-mount machines.
The partnership, which includes deployment of eMPower eM-Assembly
Expert and eM-View Expert, will give Juki greater market impact in
Europe as well as complete machine and part library support for Juki
surface-mount machines. Juki customers will be able to integrate
eM-Assembly expert with other eMPower solutions for electronics.
Tecnomatix in turn will gain a stronger presence in the global
electronics market.
"Juki is pleased to be partnering with such an established leader in
MPM solutions," said Jurg Schupbach, president of Juki Automation
Systems Europe. "The Tecnomatix line offers both Juki and our customers
a fully comprehensive, integrated environment that will allow users the
flexibility to make better, more informed manufacturing decisions."
"Tecnomatix is committed to offering Juki and all of our partners an
MPM solution to help grow their businesses," said Israel Levy, chief
executive officer, Tecnomatix Unicam, a wholly owned subsidiary of
Tecnomatix Technologies Ltd. "Juki is able to leverage industry-leading
software from Tecnomatix for programming and managing assembly
machines, which provides their customers maximum business benefits and
the flexibility to choose the assembly equipment platforms that best
support their business strategy."
www.tecnomatix.com
www.jas-smt.com
Jabil to Implement Valor Software Worldwide
Valor Computerized Systems (Yvane, Israel), a provider of
productivity increasing engineering software solutions to the
electronics design and manufacturing industry, has reached an agreement
with Jabil Circuit Inc. (St. Petersburg, FL), a top-tier electronics
manufacturing services (EMS) provider. Trilogy 5000 will be implemented
at a majority of Jabil's manufacturing and service facilities located
in Asia, Europe and the Americas to increase efficiencies in new
product introduction (NPI), design for manufacturability (DFM) and
assembly process optimization. The deal marks the largest software
deployment in Valor's corporate history.
The engineering system selected by Jabil covers the full scope of
the assembly engineering solution for an integrated, efficient and
productive CAD to DFM to assembly process.
Chris Singleton, global director for manufacturing engineering at
Jabil said, "We will be able to accommodate customer ECN's easier and
faster as well as provide a higher level of DFM service for customers.
Jabil expects Trilogy tools to reduce the engineering process time for
new jobs. This is particularly important to our growing high-mix
business and will enable us to accelerate new product introductions."
www.valor.com
www.jabil.com
FEINFOCUS, GOEPEL Partner for AOI/AXI System
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.
www.feinfocus.com
www.goepel.com
Exhibitor Space Filling at electronica 2004
According to show organizers, electronica 2004 is quickly filling up
exhibitor space. The show, occurring November 9-12, in Munich, Germany,
is expected to attract more than 77,000 international visitors. The
trade show will cover more than 1.4 million square feet of exhibit
space at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre.
U.S. companies can receive an all-inclusive exhibition space within
the show's U.S.A. Pavilions. The space includes furniture, carpet,
graphics, shelving and unlimited use of the U.S. exhibitor lounge with
complete access to interpreters.
"U.S.A. Pavilions allow U.S. exhibitors the opportunity to stand out
from the crowd because of their size and visibility," stated Noel
Hoekstra, president and chief operating officer of Munich Trade Fairs
North America.
Exhibitors will be arranged into multiple halls organized by major
product categories, which helps visitors find the companies and
products most meaningful to their business. The halls are divided into:
- semiconductors: i ncludes transistors, power semiconductor components, logic circuits and processors for workstations and PCs
- embedded in Munich: includes microprocessors, microcontrollers, assemblies/modules and development tools hardware and software
- sensors
and microsystems: includes sensors for mechanical, climate, optical,
chemical and biological parameters and microsystems
- PCBs
and other circuit carriers and EMS: includes PCBs for backplanes/bus
systems, electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and prototyping
- interconnection
technology: includes connectors for telecommunications, specialized
connection/connecting components and sockets
- electronic design (ED/EDA): includes CAD/CAE tools, peripheral equipment, design and development systems
- assemblies
and subsystems: includes automotive electronic assemblies, assemblies
for measurement applications, DDI and other network-technology
components and electronics protection devices
- switches: includes switches for continuous connection, electrical keys, components and accessories for keyboards
- passive
components: includes inductors and accessories, microwave components,
Piezo electric components, magnetic and electronic ceramic products
- displays: includes monitors, plug-and-play, display elements and assemblies, signaling and illuminating elements
- power supplies: includes transformers, coil ware for specific applications, batteries and power management systems
- casing technology: includes system racks, special housings and thermal management
- servo-technology/drive elements: includes motors, gears and magnetic actuators
- test
and measurement: includes measuring/testing of geometric parameters,
environmental, chemical, optical and electrical parameters and software
tools for test systems.
Additional information about electronica 2004 may be found at www.munichtradefairs.com or www.global-electronics.net . Those interested in exhibiting may contact Jessica Mowrey at (312) 377-2656 or at jmowrey@mtfna.com .
Analog Devices Selects ESI's Thin-Film Laser Trimming System
Electro Scientific Industries Inc. (Portland, OR) has announced that
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI), a global provider of analog, mixed-signal
and digital signal processing (DSP) integrated circuits (ICs),
purchased ESI's new Model 2100 thin-film on silicon laser trimming
system. Using the modular system's approach to process integration, ADI
is expecting to benefit from the combined capabilities of this new
platform in trimming some of their high performance products.
ESI designed the trimming system to be the fastest and most flexible
laser processing solution on the market. The design includes the latest
solid-state laser technology allowing manufacturers to optimize their
process for today's linear, mixed signal and sensor trimming
requirements. The system features wavelength options, including a
patented 1.3 micron wavelength diode-pumped laser process, which
reduces or eliminates laser-induced opto-electric response and improves
trimmability of most analog circuits.
www.esi.com
DEK's Via Fill Process Wins Innovative Technology Award
The IPC Association (Northbrook, IL) recently commended DEK's
(Zurich, Switzerland) technological advances with its new via fill
process. Awarded a slot in the Innovative Technology Showcase at the
APEX exhibition in Anaheim, CA, DEK's 100% fill technology was
described by the judges as groundbreaking.
As part of the new and emerging technologies showcase, the process
delivers 100% fill of substrate vias with no voids and minimal surface
residue. This Pro-Flow-based process offers solutions to problems such
as insufficient fill, voiding, poor throughput and excessive handling
of product.
The fully enclosed head is used in conjunction with a dedicated
tooling fixture that ensures complete fill of vias in the minimum of
print passes (typically two), with a paste pressure of 2.5 bar and a
print speed of 25mm/s. In addition, the print material has been shown
to have a life of over three months in the transfer head.
Traditional manual or squeegee-based systems are less clean and
operator-friendly, and take multiple passes to push material into vias.
They can also use a vacuum table to pull material through, resulting in
both voids and inadequate deposition.
With results in throughput of over fives times faster than
traditional squeegee-based fill processes, the system is repeatable and
offers accuracy.
DEK is a global provider of advanced pre-placement manufacturing
solutions and innovative deposition technologies for a wide range of
electronic materials.
www.dek.com
Indium Corp., Motorola Receive Soldertec Global Awards
Soldertec Global has awarded its Lead-Free Solder Co-operation Award
to global solder materials manufacturer Indium Corp. (Utica, NY) and
their customer Motorola.
The award recognizes the high quality collaboration between the two
companies. Indium's vice president of technology, Ning-Cheng Lee and
Motorola's Dr. Edwin Bradley and Dr. Vahid Goudarzi have developed a
lead-free assembly process and solder paste that has been used to
assemble more than five million cellular phones worldwide. The team
then shared their process details with the electronics assembly
industry.
The Pb-Free Quickstart process offers practical benefits, including
a wide process window, component-friendly profiles and no requirement
for nitrogen reflow. Several hundred process, quality and production
engineers have been trained on the process.
The award, established in 1999, is awarded to industrial
consortiums, material suppliers and lead-free users from North America,
Europe and Asia.
www.indium.com
www.lead-free.org
Beta Testing Confirms Speedline's Tooling Reduces Set Up Time
Speedline Technologies Inc. (Franklin, MA) announced that its MPM
Gel-Flex conformal board support system reduced set up time by 50% in
customer beta testing. The system also demonstrated increased process
yields and reduced wiper frequencies when compared with other tooling
systems.
The beta testing revealed that customers liked the Gel-Flex system's
low maintenance requirements, ruggedness and durability. The solution
also was seen as being considerably less expensive to own and operate
compared to customized tooling options.
All of the participants in the test program noticed that the ystem
reduced board setup time and product changeover times by at least 50%
and by as much as 75% when compared to their existing board support
system. This translates to increased printer uptime and increased board
production.
Consisting of electrostatic discharge (ESD)-safe Polyurethane
Elastomer Gel enclosed within a durable membrane shell and mounted to a
magnetic base, the tooling is a conformal board-support system. The
system can conform to underside components while providing firm support
for the entire board surface.
www.speedlinetech.com
BP Microsystems Launches New Website
In association with BP Micro's corporate re-branding, which
introduced a new logo and color change late last year, BP Microsystems
(Houston, TX) has announced that it is introducing a new Website to the
electronics community. The site has refined features, an enhanced look
and improved navigation.
Designed for ease of use, navigating the site has never been
simpler. As you navigate through the site, you will see most of the
information is located on one page and wasted space has been
eliminated, reducing the need to scroll.
The information tabs have been reduced from eight to four
categories: Products, Software, Support and About BP Micro. Visible
below each tab are subcategories, which showcase BP Micro's most
searched and asked-about information.
The site still features searching functions for over 19,000
programmable semiconductor devices for which BP Microsystems supports
on its equipment.
www.bpmicro.com
Elqotec Standardizes with Ovation Tooling
Elcoteq Network Corp., one of Europe's largest providers of
electronics manufacturing services, has standardized on Grid-lok brand
printed circuit board (PCB) support tooling for surface-mount PCB
assembly at the Elcoteq Finland Oy, Vaasa facility. Grid-lok
tooling, by Ovation (Bethlehem, PA), is a global leader in compliant
automatic support tooling for PCB assembly.
"The addition of the Grid-lok tooling systems to our surface-mount
equipment was a large step toward improving our production efficiency,"
said Jarmo Kasari, Surface-Mount Technology Maintenance
Manager. "We typically run as many as six different products per
line in the course of one shift. We are constantly looking at
innovative ways to improve our process and reduce costly machine
downtime. Once installed, we immediately began to see to return on our
investment for these systems."
Grid-lok is the only support tooling to automatically set and reset
to the bottom-side topography of each consecutive PCB.
www.grid-lok.com
IPC Announces APEX/EXPO Best Paper Winners; Attendee Numbers
As attendance totals indicate, the first co-located IPC SMEMA
Council's APEX/IPC Printed Circuits Expo/IPC Designers Summit
exhibition and conference, held Feb. 24-26 in Anaheim, CA, proved to be
a wise investment for the show's exhibitors. IPC (Northbrook, IL)
announced today that the attendance increased 8% over last year, from a
combined exhibition total of 5,300 in 2003 to 5,700 attendees this
year. Additionally, the co-location increased traffic at both shows,
with 60% of attendees indicating they would take part in the offerings
of both the APEX and Expo events.
The three-day event attracted 10,200 total visitors (attendees and
exhibitors) to the Anaheim Convention Center, which featured 480
companies covering more than 154,350 sq. ft. of exhibit space. The
professional development courses welcomed nearly 1,300 participants and
1,100 people attended the technical conference. Also, this year's
Interconnect Manufacturing Services (IMS) / Printed Circuit Board (PCB)
Presidents Management and Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS)
Management Council meetings continued to draw strong numbers, with a
total of 105 senior level managers in attendance.
Wendy Stallman, corporate communications manager at Electro
Scientific Industries, concurred with McGuirk, "The quality of
attendance at this year's event shows that the market is turning
around. It is refreshing to see that people are beginning to make
purchases again for existing equipment and that they are beginning to
embrace new process technologies, such as embedded passives."
Attendee Mark Basich, manufacturing manager at Rauland Borg, siad,
"The show was highly informative this year. It was well organized and
having the shows at the same time allowed us to reduce the amount of
time and energy we spent in previous years to meet and greet others in
the industry."
Next year's co-located show will take place Feb. 22-24, 2005 in the same location.
IPC also recognized this year's best U.S. and international papers
at its co-located exhibition and conference. Each winning paper
received a $1,000 honorarium and a commemorative plaque from IPC.
"Tin Whisker Growth—Substrate Effect Understanding CTE Mismatch and
IMC Formation" received the Best U.S. Paper award. Cookson Electronics'
Dr. Yun Zhang, Chonglun Fan, Dr. Chen Xu, Oscar Khaselev and Dr. Joseph
Abys co-authored the winning paper.
In addition, IPC recognized the following papers as Honorable
Mentions: "Mechanical Bending Technique for Determining CSP Design and
Assembly Weaknesses," by Mark R. Larsen and Dr. Ian R. Harvey from the
University of Utah, David Turner of Inovar, Inc., Brent Porter of
Bourns Electronics and James Ortowski from EDO Ceramics; and "Design of
Experiment in Micro-Via Thermal Fatigue Test," by Dr. Tse Eric Wong,
Harold S. Fenger and Dr. Isaac C. Chen of Raytheon Electronic Systems.
The Martin L. Barton Best International Paper Award, named for
former APEX Technical Conference Director Martin Barton, was awarded to
"Phosphorus in Electroless Nickel Layers—Curse or Blessing." The paper
was authored by Atotech Deutschland GmbH's Sven Lamprecht and Hans
Jurgen Schreier, as well as Kuldip Johal and Hugh Roberts of Atotech
USA.
IPC recognized "The Effect of Thermal Loaded Bend Test on the Solder
Joint Reliability," co-authored by Yuanze University Taiwan's Dr.
Yeongshu Chen, C.S. Wang and C.H. Chen, as well as Solectron Corp.'s
Dr. Aichyun Shiah, with an Honorable Mention for this international
paper.
Copies of the winning papers are included in the 2004 Technical
Conference Proceedings. They will also be published in the IPC's
Review, a monthly publication distributed to IPC members.
www.ipc.org
|
