ASM Pacific Technology acquires Siemens Electronics Assembly Systems

Siemens is selling its SIPLACE placement equipment business to ASM Pacific Technology Ltd., Hong Kong. Both companies have signed an agreement to that effect, which is expected to take effect by early 2011 at the latest, provided the cartel authorities and the shareholders of ASM agree. This brings Siemens’s search for a strategic, industrial investor for its Siemens Electronics Assembly Systems GmbH & Co. KG subsidiary (SEAS) to a successful conclusion.

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SIPLACE SX: More flexibility and performance for special PCBs’

The SIPLACE Team now offers additional conveyor capabilities for its flexible SIPLACE SX-Series machines with new options for long boards, heavy boards and thick boards. The increased placement area of the SIPLACE SX with the Long Board Option allows the user to populate boards up to 610 mm long in a single, consistent placement process, which increases the line throughput rate for extra-long boards considerably. With the Heavy Board Option, boards weighing up to 5 kilograms (single conveyor) or 2 x 2 kilograms (dual conveyor) can be processed. And with the Thick Board Option, SIPLACE SX machines can be upgraded for board thicknesses of 4.5 to 6 mm. In combination with its wide range of head, gantry and feeder module options, the new options for exotic boards expand the SIPLACE SX platform’s flexibility even further.

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Greifswald-based electronics manufacturer invests in SIPLACE placement solutions

manufacturing, logistics & services GmbH & Co. KG (ml&s for short) is expanding its SMT production capacity with three placement machines of the new SIPLACE SX series. The company, which is based in Greifswald, Germany, is taking this step to be able to handle the rapidly rising order volume from its customers in the automotive, manufacturing, telecommunication and renewable energy industries. ml&s also wants to improve its manufacturing flexiblity for highly complex products while ensuring its high standard of quality in times of every more frequent product changes. Because of their precision in handling a very broad spectrum of components and the ability to increase their placement performance by adding interchangeable SX gantries, ml&s selected machines from the newest SIPLACE line.

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New WPC for SIPLACE SX: Waffle Pack Changer with non-stop module

The new SIPLACE WPC (Waffle Pack Changer) now being offered by technology leader Siemens Electronics Assembly Systems for its flexible SIPLACE SX placement machines provides electronics manufacturers with a non-stop supply of component trays, which represent a significant plus in process reliability. The new WPC features a non-stop module (NSM) that allows operators to add full trays and remove empty ones without having to interrupt the production flow. The system automatically moves the new trays to their specified destination in the vertical carrier with 28 positions. Depending on the carrier position, trays can be exchanged in two to three seconds. The automated supply via NSM also puts an end to the positioning errors which are possible with manual systems. The compact new WPC with NSM is available immediately for SIPLACE SX placement machines and can be combined with the space-saving SIPLACE 30-track feeder change- over table (SIPLACE COT30).

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Grundig Business Systems picks SIPLACE placement solutions to prepare for more growth

Grundig Business Systems (GBS), a well-known contract manufacturer, is upgrading its SMT production at the company’s Bayreuth plant. To meet the rising demand for the efficient production of medium-sized lots with high quality and flexibility requirement, GBS is investing in a new SIPLACE D-Series placement machine as a flexible end-of-line module as well as in new station and line software.

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NOTE UK leading the way in package on package through SIPLACE Technology

NOTE UK has recently invested significantly in Package on Package (POP) technology in its facility in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire. The result? A SIPLACE dip flux unit. Now, NOTE UK can help customers needing to place BGA on BGA, a growing requirement within the fast emerging technology market.

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More intensive consulting, software integration and lean production

SMT equipment manufacturers expect growth, but also see new challenges
Industry indicators are clearly pointing towards an economic recovery. Manufacturers like Asys, DEK, SIPLACE and Viscom are pleased with this spring's trade shows and the development of their business this year. At the same time, they also see new sales challenges, because the trade shows also indicate that electronics manufacturers demand more competent advice on line and equipment integration and focus increasingly on lean production concepts and more customized solutions. How will equipment manufacturers respond to this trend?
 

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New SIPLACE SX4 sets records in performance per square meter

The SIPLACE Team has unveiled its latest placement machine, the SIPLACE SX4. As a high-speed addition to the SIPLACE SX platform, the four-gantry machine sets new standards in terms of placement performance per square meter of floor space – an important metric in the investment decision-making process. With its placement speed of up to 120,000 cph on a footprint of only 1.90 x 2.65 meters, the new machine even surpasses the previous record-holder SIPLACE X4i in terms of performance per square meter.

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Tectron invests in new SIPLACE X production line

Since 1991, Tectron GmbH in Worbis, Germany has offered flexible EMS services ranging from simple component placement to the production of prototypes, small lots and large volumes with the highest quality standards. To meet its customers’ demands and be optimally prepared for the large flexibility and quality challenges of the future, Tectron invests regularly in innovative production equipment. That’s why the company signed a deal for a SIPLACE X-Series line including the SIPLACE Multistar head at the recent SMT/Hybrid/Packaging trade show in Nuremberg. The new line will expand the capabilities of Tectron’s plant even further.

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SIPLACE Software Suite supports build-to-order in electronics production

With many innovations in its SIPLACE Software Suite, the SIPLACE Team underscores the technological leadership in high-mix build-to-order (BTO) concepts in electronics manufacturing. The software tools, which the company will present at the SMT/Hybrid/Packaging trade show in Nuremberg, optimize the complete production process, ranging from transparent material management (SIPLACE Facts) and production planning and preparation (SIPLACE Setup Center, SiCluster Professional and SIPLACE LES) to highly flexible setup concepts, no-stop product changeovers and SIPLACE Traceability.

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SIPLACE and Mentor Graphics cooperate to deliver state of the art integration value with the new Operations Information Broker (OIB)

The SIPLACE Team, innovations leader in SMT placement solutions, and Mentor Graphics Corporation, (NASDAQ: MENT) the market and technology leader in electronic systems design to manufacturing solutions, announce the first phase of integration between Siemens’ SIPLACE product range and Mentor’s Valor®MSS™ suite of manufacturing operations products via the SIPLACE Operations Information Broker (OIB).

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Automotive supplier AW Europe invests in new SIPLACE SX lines

Belgian company AW Europe, an AISIN company within the Toyota group, is expanding its manufacturing capacity for control systems and navigation devices for European customers by investing in two new lines with a total of four SIPLACE placement machines.

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Product changeovers with no downtime:
SIPLACE Split Table Mode

At the SMT/Hybrid/Packaging trade show in Nuremberg the SIPLACE Team presented a new, software-based setup concept for SIPLACE placement machines with intelligent X-feeders. The SIPLACE Split Table Mode splits the component tables at the SMT line virtually and assigns their feeder positions to two consecutive setups. That way, one area can be used to manufacture a previously optimized product while the other area is used to prepare for the next product without having to stop the line. This new "floating" setup concept is especially useful for electronics manufacturer with great product diversity and relatively few component overlaps. They can now execute their product changeovers with no downtime, reduce their investment in component tables and insert rush orders into their production schedule more quickly and easily.

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SIPLACE participates in industry recovery:
Successful SMT/Hybrid/Packaging show

The SMT/Hybrid/Packaging trade show in Nuremberg provided impressive proof of the worldwide recovery in the electronics manufacturing industry. The SIPLACE Team, for example, noted a significant increase in the number of visitors in 2010 compared with last year, as well as 35 percent more concrete project inquiries. The visitors were particularly interested in the company’s new SIPLACE SX placement platform with its Capacity-on-Demand features and in the setup, product changeover and multi-lane concepts which can be implemented with SIPLACE’s new software options.

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SIPLACE Feeder Manager: Feeder pool transparency lowers costs

With its new version 2.0 of the SIPLACE Feeder Manager, the SIPLACE Team makes feeder management even more professional for electronics manufacturers. The SIPLACE software solution provides all the features they need: inventory management and localization, maintenance cycle and repair cost monitoring, as well as feeder status and history reports. With the help of this software, electronics manufacturers can now optimize their feeder inventory, organize their preventive feeder maintenance and keep accurate records of each feeder’s maintenance and repair history.

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SIPLACE benefits from rising new investments in SMT lines

Based on the sales numbers published by the makers of placement machines, the recovery in the SMT industry continues to pick up speed in all regions of the world. According to analyses conducted by the SIPLACE Team, global deliveries of placement equipment rose by almost fifty percent from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010.

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SIPLACE CA catches the spirit of the times at "Deep Dive" SMT Seminar

The "Deep Dive" SMT seminar hosted by suppliers like Siemens, Zevac, Ekra, Heraeus, Rehm, Christian Koenen and Kasper was recently held for the fifth time in Dresden, Germany . 150 guests attended the technical presentations on this year's topic "Current Trends in Packaging of Integrated Circuits". The audience was particularly interested in the SIPLACE team's presentation on the new SIPLACE CA, the world's first platform that combines die placement from wafers with classic SMT placement technology in a single machine. With the SIPLACE CA, manufacturers can save line space and money by eliminating the need for special die bonding processes and populating products with modern bare dies (flip-chip, die-attach) at high speed on a single line.

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Honored by experts, valued by customers:
SIPLACE SX is a hit at NEPCON Shanghai

SIPLACE can add two more major awards to its trophy cabinet for the SIPLACE SX-Series. At the Nepcon Shanghai 2010 trade show in China the SIPLACE team was honored with the EM Innovation Award and the SMT China Vision Award. The independent panels of international experts were especially impressed by the Capacity-on-Demand concept of the SIPLACE SX, which enables new build-to-order concepts and provides much more efficient ways to deal with increasingly frequent product changeovers and massive demand fluctuations.

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New: Online information and discussion platform covers the future of electronics production

According to the results of a survey conducted by the SIPLACE team at the 2009 Productronica trade show, new technologies and production concepts along with associated communication platforms help electronics manufacturers to become more productive and successful. Producers also like to discuss new impulses and ideas and put them to good use. Another finding: the exchange of information should be easy, fast and global. Users are particularly interested in technology- and manufacturing-relevant issues. The SIPLACE team has accepted this challenge and is offering a new Internet-based information and discussion platform about the future of electronics manufacturing. Starting in early April, the BTO (Build-to-Order) column on www.siplace.com will cover order-oriented manufacturing in great detail.

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New order bookings for SMT equipment continue to rise worldwide

According to the latest market analyses conducted by Siemens Electronics Assembly GmbH & Co. KG (SEAS), electronics manufacturers are heavily investing in SMT equipment again. The main growth engines continue to be plants in China and the rest of Asia, but orders from Europe are also on the rise for SIPLACE and other equipment suppliers. In the first five months of its current fiscal year from October 2009 through February 2010, the SIPLACE team recorded as many orders as during the entire twelve months of the previous fiscal year. SIPLACE was also able to significantly increase its market share in several regions. Especially popular was the new SIPLACE SX, which enables completely new manufacturing concepts in terms of placement performance and feeder capacity.

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Technology leader:
SIPLACE Team receives Global Technology Award for SIPLACE SX

The latest generation of SIPLACE placement solutions impressed not only the visitors, but also the trade journalists at this year’s Productronica, the industry’s leading trade show (Munich Trade Fair Centre, Nov. 10-13, 2009). The jury assembled for Global SMT & Packaging Magazine's coveted Global Technology Award selected SIPLACE and honored the new SIPLACE SX placement platform as the winner for 2009 in the category ‘Pick & Place high volume equipment’. The award is presented for the development of the world’s most important technical innovations by a panel of well-known, independent industry journalists. The SIPLACE SX with its rail-mounted interchangeable gantries and MultiStar CPP head is the world’s first platform that offers consistent capacity-on-demand capabilities, thus giving electronics manufacturers the flexibility they need to scale their production up or down.  

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