SAN DIEGO – CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY today announced the winners of its 2018 Service Excellence Awards (SEAs) for electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers and electronics assembly equipment, materials and software suppliers.

CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY recognized companies that received the highest customer service ratings, as judged by their own customers, during a ceremony at IPC Apex Expo in San Diego.

In the EMS category, the overall winners were Kimball Electronics (sales over $500 million), Mack Technologies (sales of $101 million to $500 million), Applied Technical Services (sales of $20 million to $100 million), and Naprotek (sales under $20 million).

The EMS companies with the highest scores in each of five individual service categories also received awards. (Overall winners were excluded from winning individual categories.) In the small-company category, Kodiak Assembly Solutions won for dependability/timely delivery. XLR8 Services took top honors for quality, and tied with Spectrum Assembly for responsiveness. Spectrum Assembly, XLR8 Services, and Kodiak Assembly Solutions experienced a three-way tie for technology, and Spectrum Assembly and Kodiak Assembly Solutions shared the award for value.

For firms with revenue between $20 million and $100 million, Electronic Systems Inc. took home all five individual category awards. For EMS companies with revenue between $101 million and $500 million, Firstronic won each of the five awards.

For EMS firms with revenue over $500 million, NEO Tech was number one in dependability/timely delivery and quality, and Creation Technologies received accolades for responsiveness, value, and technology.

Electronics assembly equipment award winners were Europlacer Americas for pick-and-place; Speedprint Technology for screen printing; Kyzen for cleaning/processing materials; MIRTEC for test and inspection; Alpha Assembly Solutions for materials; Nordson Asymtek for dispensing; Heller Industries for soldering equipment; Aegis Industrial Software for automation/manufacturing software; Count On Tools for automation/handling equipment; Datest for test laboratories; and BPM Microsystems for device programming equipment.

"Interest in the SEAs was higher than ever this year, and some new companies emerged to give the incumbents a run for their money," said CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY editor in chief Mike Buetow, in presenting the awards. "In the highly competitive world of electronics assembly, companies are distinguishing themselves with their engineering know-how and responsiveness."

Customers of SEA participants rated each company on a scale of 1 (poor) to 7 (best in class) in five service categories.

A donation of $4,000 was made on the participants’ behalf to the Surface Mount Technology Association’s Charles Hutchins Educational Grant. Part of each participant’s entry fee was included in the donation.

This is the 26th year CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY has sponsored the awards program.