CHATSWORTH, CA – NEOTech, a leading provider of electronic manufacturing services (EMS), design engineering, and supply chain solutions in the industrial, medical, and mil/aero markets, announces the recent opening of its internal production training center for employees wishing to continue career development. This new training center, located at the Agave2 site in Juarez, Mexico, includes classroom instructors with audio/visual support technology and its own full SMT line of equipment to simulate the production floor environment.

NEOTech is well known in the industry for its commitment to provide high-quality and high- reliability electronic manufacturing services and maintains focus on continuous improvements for internal processes and employee development. With this new training center, NEOTech increases opportunities for manufacturing team members to acquire enhanced skillsets and further career development. The company is very excited about the training center’s grand opening being a highlight for customer tours, allowing them to showcase NEOTech’s investment in improving workers’ production skills, which in turn guarantees higher levels of quality for their customers product builds.

“By offering instructor lead training and hands-on simulated production work sessions, NEOTech gives each team member the opportunity to learn vital skills that help them grow in the company and helps NEOTech retain a good strong workforce,” commented Arturo Mendiola, NEOTech Vice President of Operations. “Our goal is to empower our people to take a proactive role in improving themselves, which increases their value-add to the organization and increases our value-add position to our customers. We are extremely proud to open our first training center at the Agave2 site, and we are excited for the benefits it brings our entire organization.”

NEOTech’s goal is to successfully convert customers’ product technology into engineered products, providing the most capable supply base, manufacturing products with care, and delivering them on time. The company is large enough to offer refined Tier 1 tools, processes, and capabilities, yet small enough to provide individualized care and service. NEOTech provides tailored project-by-project services that focus on each customer’s individual, unique needs. The result is a true collaboration in which the customer’s needs are met – or exceeded – in a timely, efficient, and cost-effective manner.

With more than 40 years of heritage in electronics manufacturing, NEOTech specializes in high-reliability programs in the Aerospace and Defense industry, Medical Products, and High- Tech Industrial markets. NEOTech is well recognized as a premier EMS provider with in- depth experience manufacturing high-tech products and managing stringent U.S. government requirements. For more information about NEOTech services, visit the company’s website at www.NEOTech.com 

SAN DIEGO, CA – Aculon, Inc., a US-based manufacturer of electronic protection coatings, entered a non-exclusive global distribution agreement with global distributor Ellsworth Adhesives. The agreement allows Ellsworth Adhesives to distribute Aculon® NanoProof® 3 series.

The NanoProof® 3 series is a drop-in replacement for 3M™ Novec™ Engineered Grade Coatings products, i.e., Novec™ 1700, 1900, and 2700 series. The NanoProof® 3 Series provides up to IPX5 level protection to PCBs and electronic components. This liquid-phase coating uses proprietary polymer technology to achieve dust and water protection across many substrates on a PCB. The NanoProof® 3 series features flexible application methods, including spray, dip, and dispensing, with no cure requirement, quick processing times, improved yields, and reduced equipment costs.

“With 3M’s desire to rapidly exit their Engineered Grade Coating business, customers began reaching out to Aculon® looking for a drop-in replacement to meet their current needs,” shares Edward Hughes, CEO of Aculon®. “We have not only formulated a line of electronics protection coatings to match the 3M™ product line-up but also partnered with Ellsworth Adhesives who is currently the leading distributor of 3M™ Novec™ Engineered Grade Coatings in North America. We can help facilitate a quick transition from 3M™ to Aculon® products, creating a win-win for Aculon®, 3M™, and Ellsworth Adhesives. Ellsworth Adhesives is not only qualified to supply major aerospace and automotive customers but also brings tremendous technical depth with their very strong engineering salesforce.”

Jay Richardson, Vice President of North America for Ellsworth Adhesives adds, “For Ellsworth Adhesives, it is important to support our customers as our partners’ priorities change. We are a globally recognized leader and trusted distributor, having Aculon® step in and meet these needs is aligned with our goal of providing engineered solutions to fit our customers’ needs.”

Learn more about Aculon® NanoProof® 3 series at https://www.aculon.com/nanoproof-3-3m-novec-replacement/ 

BILLINGSTAD, NORWAY – Maven Wireless Sweden AB (publ) has entered into a production agreement with Kitron Aktiebolag a leading Scandinavian Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) company. Kitron has operations in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, India, China, and the United States.

The manufacturing partnership will initially be supported at Kitron’s factory in Jönköping Sweden.

“Since its founding, Maven Wireless has rapidly grown in both size and scope. Today, its distribution of sales includes large portions of Europe, Middle East, and Asia. Maven Wireless is also doing successful business development in North America, which means Kitron USA could also be a potential future manufacturing site. We are happy to have yet another EMS partner which can support our rapid growth into the years to come, says Fredrik Ekström CEO of Maven Wireless

“We are very happy that Maven Wireless has chosen Kitron as a manufacturing partner to support their growth. Kitron has a long history of producing RF and telecom products. Signing a long-term partnership agreement with Maven Wireless, a market leader in telecommunications for indoor- & tunnel coverage, is a great recognition," says Stefan Mutas-Hansson MD of Kitron AB

NEUSS, GERMANY – Yamaha Robotics SMT Section has supplied surface-mount assembly equipment including the YSM20R modular mounter to RØDE Microphones, a member of the Freedman Group that owns a portfolio of consumer and professional audio brands.

Founded and chaired by Peter Freedman, RØDE Microphones began as a small company selling only one type of microphone and developed into a large global company whose name is now renowned throughout the world. More than 1.7 million RØDE microphones have been sold, in 116 countries. The product range now contains over 200 types of products designed for diverse creative activities such as movie filming, stage recording, live productions, broadcasts, blogs, podcasts, and radio.

“RØDE has achieved great success through creative use of technology to deliver effective solutions,” commented Daisuke Yoshihara, Sales General Manager at Yamaha Robotics. “Yamaha has been chosen to help extend and strengthen this success and we are looking forward to a productive, long-term collaboration.”

Peter Freedman and his team leverage the latest microphone knowhow and electronics technologies to deliver innovative features and ensure market-leading performance. The company handles the complete product realisation from design through to manufacture and invests regularly in cutting-edge technical capabilities, including manufacturing equipment. When he decided, recently, to setup a new, state-of-the-art electronic surface-mount assembly line, Yamaha’s advanced SMT equipment including the YSM20R mounter was the natural choice.

“Yamaha’s surface-mounting technology has proven indispensable to our expansion and success,” he commented. “With our new YSM20R, we can manufacture more sophisticated circuit boards than ever before.”

Capable of placing up to 95,000 cph, the YSM20R all-purpose surface mounter has the highest speed in its class and features Yamaha’s 1-head solution that saves stopping the line to change the mounter configuration. The High-speed Multi (HM) head handles components from 0.2mm x 0.1mm (0201) SMD chips to parts such as large ICs and connectors up to 55mm x 100mm x 15mm high. Additional YSM20R features include a side-view camera for rapid pickup detection, high-speed smart recognition of new component types, and Yamaha’s All-Image Tracer for quality control.

RØDE’s YSM20R has been installed in the factory and brought up to speed leveraging support and training delivered by Yamaha technicians.

“We have been able to continue taking great steps forward by applying this cutting-edge Yamaha technology to build our electronic circuits for microphones and audio,” concludes Peter Freedman. “We are currently developing RØDE Podcast Studio, the world’s first dedicated console interface for podcasting, and my goal is to make RØDE Microphones the no.1 microphone throughout the world.”