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March, 2012 ElEctronic Mfg SErvicES Aimtron: Growing at Home and Overseas By Jason Duerr, Aimtron Corp. A
imtron is really two companies — a high-level manufacturing facility in America’s Midwest,
complete with ITAR registration, and a rapidly expanding production facility in India. In between the two, there is a PCB manufacturing facili- ty in China. The Stream wood, Illinois plant is not only the compa- ny’s headquarters, it has been gar- nering the company’s all-important military and medical business, and is currently installing a second full SMT production line. Located in a region traditional-
ly underserved by contract electron- ics manufacturing, Aimtron India located in Vadodara (Gujarat) India, is very well positioned to capture much of the expected explosive growth in its region. Aimtron India has been jump-
started largely due to such anchor clients as Matrix, Enercon, and ABB.
Responding to an exploding client base across several continents, Aimtron is expanding operations on several fronts.
Although the facility started up in 2010, today, it regularly operates with two shifts, and must plan to double or triple its output capacity very soon. This huge quantity of work is from a local customer base in India, concentrated in state of Gujarat. “We are very happy that Aimtron started a facility in our backyard with American level of quality”, said Yogesh Sharma from Matrix. Similar comments were
Production line in India is identical to the one in Illinois.
made by Harish Iyer from Enercon, India’s second largest windmill com- pany. Overall planning must also include accommodating several proj- ects that are transitioning from Aimtron USA to its India plant.
Knowledge Exchange Aimtron’s factory on the sub-
continent is in a growing area. Much of the work force was recruited local- ly and trained from the ground up. This provides an advantage in estab- lishing tried-and-true practices com- ing directly from the USA facility, rather than trying to re-train or
drive out bad habits learned in facto- ries with less stringent guidelines. The capital equipment is brand new, as is the training in its operation. Aimtron negotiated up to one month on-site training to help it build a work force specifically suited to its equipment set. Coupled with good regional support for its machines, Aimtron India is well on its way to becoming a regional center of excel- lence in for electronics manufactur- ing.
“Our business philosophy is
exactly the same for both facilities,” Aimtron’s Founder and CEO Mukesh
Vasani said. “We invest in people. We develop leaders. The results speak for themselves.”
Train the Trainers In addition to regular trips made
by the company’s CEO, employees from all levels travel to the India plant on a regular basis. Since inception, several employees went overseas to train the Vadodara staff in areas such as RFQ, inventory control, MRP sys- tem records, and statistical quality control based on ISO requirements. Scheduled for Late February 2012 of this year, Aimtron’s Director of Engineering, Jason Duerr, will be traveling to India to implement sever- al new infrastructure projects, includ- ing online documentation, and work instructions. The company is manufacturing
to IPC Class II and Class III stan- dards. One of its luxuries is the fact that it builds the same assemblies over and over in large numbers. Management’s goal is to bring more of NPI (new Product Introduction) approach, so the India plant can just as easily handle prototype and mixed volume production. “Overall, I am very proud of the
staff, and what they have accom- plished to date. Now it is time to push forward and bring us to the next level,” said Managing Director Dhaval Vasani.
A Clone Away from Home Today’s market demands are for
all-inclusive service, starting with BGA placement, X-Ray capabilities, to follow-through activities such as conformal coating, potting, and test development. Aimtron’s Chicagoland facility offers all of these full inclu- sive services. The goal is to offer exactly the same list of capabilities, process controls, and quality man- agement systems, all at offshore pric- ing. Aimtron India is proving to be well on its way to achieving this goal. Currently, Aimtron India offers
state-of-the-art surface mount place- ment machines, with no size restric- tions on part size or density. Even advanced small-scale BGA devices are regularly serviced with excellent accu- racy. Automated Optical Inspec tion is performed by exactly the same equip- ment models as used in the Chicago facility, which allows the plant to sup- port its offshore facility and review data. Other processes, such as selec- tive and wave solder, are also offered. A full functional test department is currently in development. As the Vadodara area has been
historically underserved by contract electronics manufacturing, Aimtron is putting the message out: “We are here, open for business, and ready to serve your needs.”
Quality Management System Aimtron’s Streamwood, IL
Headquarters continues to expand its Quality Management System and
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