BROMONT, CANADA – Panasonic Factory Solutions Co. of America and Cogiscan have collaborated on an RFID smart feeder kit for Panasonic's IPAC machine.  

In a statement, Panasonic engineering manager Gene Dunn said that customers have sought to include automatic feeder tracking and closed loop slot verification. He said the integration of Cogiscan's RFID smart feeder system with Panasonic's verification and traceability software is a first major step in that direction.

The kit is offered on new machines and can be retrofitted on existing machines.  

Cogiscan's RFID smart feeder reportedly tracks, traces and controls feeders on and off the assembly line, without human intervention. The companies said tape feeders of any model and year can be upgraded into intelligent feeders by attaching a low cost RFID tag.  

LOS ANGELES – UP Media Group Inc. on Monday announced the winners of its 2007 Service Excellence Awards for EMS providers and electronics assembly equipment, materials and software suppliers. Circuits Assembly magazine recognized the companies that received the highest customer service ratings, as judged by their own customers, during a ceremony at the Apex trade show in Los Angeles.

In the EMS category, the overall winners were Integrated Microelectronics Inc. (revenues greater than $100 million) and Key Electronics (revenues less than $100 million).

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LOS ANGELES -- P. Kay Metal today named Tamura Corp. of Korea and Tamura H.A. Machinery will distribute the company's molten solder surfactant in Korea and North America.

Tamura president James Kim stated, "We have been searching for ways to assist our customers eliminate solder dross, especially with expensive lead-free alloys, and this partnership with P. Kay Metal will allow us to bring this new technology to them."

Larry Kay, president of P. Kay Metal, said, "We are very excited with the possibilities afforded us by the addition of Tamura Corporation of Korea and Tamura H.A. We look forward to the additional opportunities created by partnering with this well-respected group with such extensive wave soldering experience."

More equipment debuted at IPC Apex today than any trade show in recent memory. As usual, the placement machines grabbed the headlines, and with good reason: some are pushing 100,000 cph placement rates. Another exciting development was Viscom's combination x-ray/AOI machine.

Still, the show itself is more modest than in years past.

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SAN JOSE – Bookings at North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers rose 39% to $1.7 billion in January. The book-to-bill jumped to 1.06, the SEMI trade group said, rising for the third straight month and closing above the benchmark 1.0 level. 

The sums are based on a three-month average of worldwide bookings.

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JASPER, IN -- Kimball Electronics on Thursday moved decisively into the hot medical EMS market, closing its acquisition of fellow EMS firm Reptron Electronics.

Technically a merger, the deal was announced last December. The approximate value of the transaction was $49.5 million.

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MILPITAS, CA -- Solectron Corp. president and chief executive Michael Cannon resigned yesterday, effective immediately, to take a job as president of global operations at Dell.

Chief financial officer Paul Tufano, 53, was named interim CEO and principal executive officer. A search is underway for a permanent replacement. Tufano has been executive VP and CFO since Jan. 30, 2006.

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