February, 2017
Lectronics Gains X-ray Vision
Continued from page 23
valuable to the company’s customers. With a variety of customers in the medical and aerospace industries with Class 3 assembly requirements, the company is now able to supply these clients with real-time data and 3D visual images that guarantee the solder joints on their assemblies, and thus guarantee the functionality and reliability of the entire PCBA. “As a future-thinking organiza-
tion, we are always investing in the appropriate tools and resources to provide our customers with unparal- leled quality,” says Mario Sciberras, Lectronics president and CEO. “The Nikon X-ray system will better en- sure quality for highly-complex cir- cuit board assemblies with leadless components.” Contact: Saline Lectronics, Inc.,
710 North Maple Road, Saline, MI 48176 % 734-944-1972 fax: 734-944- 2005 E-mail:
sales@lectronics.net Web:
www.lectronics.net r
2017: What’s
Next in Tech? Continued from page 25
uled to host the 2017 IoM (Internet of Manufacturing) event at the end of March, where innovators in manu- facturing will have a chance to net- work with hardware and software startups. Connectivity is becoming ubiq-
uitous for all new capital investment as those in manufacturing grapple with developing an Industry 4.0 strategy and the task of intercon- necting the factory. Companies like KIC Thermal are enabling manufac- turers to take the reflow process for- ward, providing a convenient start- ing point for IoM in the factory. The trend toward IoM has occu-
pied many column inches, interviews, debates, and much conference time over the past year, and shows no signs of slowing in 2017. One key develop- ment in this area is the need for an open standard for machine-to-ma- chine communication. The IPC is cur- rently tackling the issue. Many com- panies, including Aegis and Mentor Graphics are also making progress in machine communications. The IoM/Industry 4.0 trend has
sparked renewed interest in manu- facturing excellence and the benefits it offers to efficiency and to end user value. This has driven growth in the use of MES software as well as in au- tomation and robotics. While I per- sonally haven’t seen too many truly great robotic solutions, there is no doubt that they are coming, particu- larly those that work alongside hu- mans in a collaborative environment. These collaborative robot, or cobot, vendors are working with traditional equipment vendors and will be bring- ing new offerings to the market in 2017.
This year, look for manufactur-
ing driven by greater connectivity, cobots and automotons, 3D printing and other rapid prototyping tools, and a much closer relationship between innovators and the EMS industry. r
Americas: +1 813 664 0686 UK: +44 (0)1202 266550 Email:
enquiry@speedprint-tech.com See at APEX, Booth 523 S-TRACK
TRACEABILITY RIGHT FROM THE START OF SMT ASSEMBLY
Think how much better production-wide visibility would be if you could get board traceability right from the outset. Now you can with S-Track from Speedprint.
By integrating proven feeder technology, S-Track places barcode labels during screen printing. That’s one full process step upstream of component placement, at the very start of surface mount assembly.
S-Track puts no restrictions on the number of barcode labels placed on a PCB. Or the locations. It
Using Speedprint’s included Traceability Option, users can scan barcodes placed by S-Track to recall all process data for that PCB, even if it was once part of a panelized board.
See the launch of S-Track at APEX on booth #523.
www.speedprint-tech.com/s-track
www.us-
tech.com
Page 27 Navigating the Nearshore Movement Continued from page 24
navigating the ins and outs of nearshoring and shares the goal of manufacturing quality products.
Aiding a Medical OEM A medical device manufacturer
that makes patient monitoring prod- ucts sought help from NEO Tech to return their electronics manufactur- ing nearer to home after an onerous experience in Asia. The company had sourced its PCB assemblies through a large Tier 1 EMS provider in Malaysia. The products were com- plex and required an enhanced func- tional test well beyond the simple validation of workmanship to ensure
that the products met safety-critical requirements. The long-distance sup- ply chain caused frequent business disruptions for the company when launching new products, with ECO implementation, and problems with
product quality. NEO Tech proposed a nearshore
solution at its Otay Mesa site, which is located only a few hours from the customer’s development location. Be- ing in the same time zone enabled the customer’s team members to con- duct calls with their EMS counter- parts during regular business hours. Visits to the manufacturing site
The company’s Otay Mesa site in Tijuana, Mexico.
were day trips instead of expensive, time-consuming weeklong trips and 15-hour flights. Outbound logistics and transit time from NEO Tech to the box build location became one day versus many weeks, reducing lo- gistics costs and needed inventories
Continued on page 44
See us at APEX 2017
February 14-16 - BOOTH #523 San Diego Convention Center
111 W Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101
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