BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – SEMI, the industry association serving the global electronics design and manufacturing supply chain, today announced that SEMI Europe, as the lead of a new 18-partner consortium, has won up to €4 million in funding to develop the European Chips Skills Academy, an initiative to help tackle the skills and talent shortages in Europe’s electronics industry and propel its long-term growth. The initiative is backed by more than 30 partner research organizations, vocational and education training providers, certification agencies and industry stakeholders.

The European Chips Skills Academy will expand on the Microelectronics Pact for Skills and the EU Chips Act to support the microelectronics ecosystem in Europe to attract new talent. The academy will deliver targeted European-wide training in key microelectronics fields such as automotive and additive manufacturing. The grant, provided by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ Programme, will fund the academy for four years. The European Chips Skills Academy is the second phase of the Microelectronics Training, Industry and Skills (METIS) consortium. Both initiatives are designed to foster microelectronics industry collaboration with key education, training and certification providers to address the skills shortage and European competitiveness.

“The pan-European alliance guiding the European Chips Skills Academy will leverage the diverse and considerable strengths of its many partners from across the microelectronics’ ecosystem and industrial value chain,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI. “The project aims to bring greater strategic foresight to the evolution of professions and skills in the industry by applying evidence-based, data-driven success metrics to workforce development.”

“Rapid semiconductor industry growth in Europe and around the globe in the years ahead necessitates that we quickly scale up the region’s training efforts and drive greater cohesion of skills strategies across Europe to meet demand for the qualified workers required to sustain innovation and growth,” said Laith Altimime, president of SEMI Europe. “The European Chips Skills Academy will be the first decentralized microelectronics skills provider in Europe to help overcome this critical workforce development challenge.”

Expected to begin work in autumn 2023, the European Chips Skills Academy consortium consists of the following organizations:

• Asociación Nacional de Centros con Certificados de Profesionalidad (ANCCP) - Spain
• Association for European NanoElectronics Activities (AENEAS) - France
• Budapest University of Technology & Economics (BME) - Hungary
• DECISION Etudes & Conseil - France
• Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden) - Germany
• Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) - Austria
• Infineon Technologies - Austria
• Information Centre on Academic Mobility and Equivalence (CIMEA) - Italy
• Innovazione Apprendimento Lavoro Friuli Venezia Giulia (IAL-FVG) - Italy
• Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (imec) – Belgium
• Knolyx - Romania
• Melexis - Belgium
• Okmetic - Finland
• Platform Talent voor Technologie (PTVT) / European STEM coalition - Netherlands
• SEMI Europe - Germany
• Silicon Saxony - Germany
• Technical University of Ostrava (VSB) - Czechia
• Tyndall National Institute - Ireland

AUSTIN, TX – Fox Robotics is in the business of making autonomous forklifts to make it possible for people to do more with less. With their recent implementation of the manufacturing and accounting web-based business suite Cetec ERP, they are now also able to grow their business more for less cost than most traditional ERPs out there. Just a few short months ago, Fox Robotics was struggling to keep up with their daily business operations, essentially using spreadsheets for most of their processes. Unable to move forward with certain steps of production without the ability to track and build sub-assemblies ahead of time, Fox Robotics quickly realized they needed an ERP system to keep growing.

A group of engineers started Fox Robotics in 2017 with the goal of making robots that work. They wanted to create a company that could keep up with the fast-paced world of automation and build safe and intelligent robotic forklifts at scale. Fox Robotics believes that by employing robots to work alongside humans, you can expect more consistent operations, greater productivity, and lower labor costs. Their goal is for employees to experience safer working conditions and fewer repetitive tasks, improving overall workplace satisfaction.

Cetec ERP specializes in solutions for the work order tracking and scheduling problems that growing companies like Fox Robotics run into. Cetec ERP is a cost- efficient, more modern web-based alternative compared to price-heavy and outdated providers like NetSuite/Oracle and SAP. With the help of Cetec ERP, Fox Robotics can now track subassemblies and has effective processes in place to continue growing and expanding. Carissa Washam, Purchasing and Inventory Control Manager at Fox Robotics, says she’s worked with a lot of ERPs in the past, and Cetec ERP stands out.

“Cetec is definitely a lot more user friendly than other ERPs that I’ve worked with. I really like that it’s web-based,” Carissa Washam, Purchasing & Inventory Control Manager at Fox Robotics.

Cetec ERP Senior Sales Consultant Tanner Rogers was instrumental in the implementation of Cetec ERP at Fox Robotics. Washam says they chose to do a gradual ERP implementation, with the adoption of purchasing and receiving first, then production, and then finally quality and operations. She says that doing the implementation in stages helped everyone at Fox Robotics get comfortable with the new processes.

“A lot of our engineers mentioned how great the Cetec implementation was with the complete training. We’re local, so we got to do most of our training in-person, on-site which was really awesome to be able to connect and get our questions answered in real-time,” added Carissa Washam. “We were able to get some play time in before we went live. The implementation went really smoothly.”

SAN JOSE, CA – Green Circuits, Inc., a full-service Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) partner to leading OEMs, is pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Dutton, MBA to Chief Financial Officer. A senior finance executive, Dutton brings multi-industry experience with companies ranging from $90 million to $2.5 billion USD.

In his previous role as VP of Finance for a major manufacturer in the durable goods industry, Dutton led his division to $28M+ EBITDA improvements through operational initiatives, contract renegotiations, facility consolidations and SKU/customer rationalizations. He has experience working in fast-paced environments, managing multiple priorities under tight deadlines.

He has cross-functional experience working with sales, marketing, R&D, operations, supply chain, finance, IT and HR. Dutton has more than 15 years of expertise in Strategic Leadership, Budgeting & Forecasting, P&L Management, Operational Experience, Capital Investment Strategy & Planning, Business Process Improvement, Cross-Functional Team Leadership, Financial Modeling & Analysis, Strategic Planning and Management Reporting.

Green Circuits provides high-quality design, prototyping and full-scale production services for all types of printed circuit boards and complex systems. For more information, visit www.greencircuits.com 

REDDITCH, UK – To ensure quality and efficiency are implemented at all times and compete as a best-in-class CEM, Garner Osborne Circuits liaised with capital equipment supplier and service provider Altus to further enhance their inspection processes through 3D AOI technology.

False calls and escapes are unavoidable when using 2D inspection techniques. When manufacturing complex miniaturised PCBs, this assessment method cannot meet the high standards critical to the success and performance of modern electronic devices. Identifying defects early in assembly and having data to support process improvement decisions is vital to ensure quality. Therefore, moving away from 2D inspection methods to 3D AOI technology is crucial.

To take their inspections processes to a new level Altus introduced Garner Osborne to Koh Young Zenith Alpha HS+, the foremost true 3D AOI solution powered by AI enhanced high speed 3D measurement capabilities. The system incorporates KSMART technology which revolutionises data collection and analysis, and improves PCB process optimisation.

Steve Honeybun, CEM Operations Director, Garner Osborne, said: "Garner Osborne has always had a philosophy of continuous improvement to consistently perform at the top end of electronic production services. Moving to a 3D light metrology process with Koh Young, who is widely regarded as the best inspection provider in the market, is a great reflection of that.

"We have worked with Altus for several years, and extending our partnership further, given the support they have always given us, made the decision easier. As a result, we now have fully 3D SPI and AOI to support improving our production yields, and we are delighted to get the unit up and running."

KSMART analysis collects all inspection and measurement data and helps advanced inspection systems evolve from “Pass/Fail” tools into highly intuitive, dynamic decision-making systems. Adept equipment supplies can then apply the data set to proprietary AI engines for continuous performance improvement. KSMART ensures the highest levels of transparency by showing all conditions of the lines, while providing the required documentation for changes to each job for traceability.

Anthony Oh, Altus Technical Applications Manager: "This has been an excellent project for Altus, and we especially enjoy working with the team at Garner Osborne. Of course, we take each project as a standalone in its own right, and their team tested us, given that by upgrading to Koh Young, they moved away from an already trusted partner. I am pleased that we demonstrated our claims of providing the lowest levels of false calls available and showing the value of fully 3D light measurement data collection to improve yield. This aspect is where CEM customers can unlock value in their production environment and for their customers."

To find out more visit www.altusgroup.co.uk