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NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW newsPrestigious industry award for A-SeriesWe have received the Frost & Sullivan2005 Surface Mount TechnologyProduct of the Year Award for theA-Series pick-and-placeplatform.Frost & Sullivan researched new product launches andproducts in development in the category and rated theirsignificance on a number of criteria, including theircompetitive advantage in their industry, innovation interms of unique or revolutionary technology,value-added services to users, customer satisfaction,and the potential of their technology to become anindustry standard.We received the 2005 Awardfor our truly flexibleproduction line offering,particularly in high-mix,frequent-changeoverenvironments. The Awardrecognizes that we areamong the first players in ourmarketplace to respond tochanges in the world ofelectronics assembly, and sorapidly that we currently offerbest-in-class scalable andhigh-speed machines.Specific benefits citedinclude A-Series’ capabilityfor scaling production volumeup or down withoutcalibration and withoutchanging the line footprint,low downtime in comparisonwith conventional turret- andgantry-style machines,capability to handle almostall components, and highpick reliability, accuracy andspeed.Frost & Sullivan auditorsfurther concluded that theA-Series could be expectedto make its mark as amanufacturing platform ratherthan as a simple placementmachine, and applauded itscapability in applicationsbeyond SMD assembly,including RFID and moduleplacement, LED assembly,glue dispensing, andsoldering applications.We will receive the Awardat the Frost & SullivanExcellence in IndustrialTechnologies Awards Banquetin Naples, Florida, onMay 25, 2005.From AssembléonBusiness IntelligenceEach year, Frost & Sullivananalysts contact researchand planning personnel ofSMT vendors, and assesstheir business and marketinsights, including varioussupply and demand trends.This is how Frost & Sullivanbuilds a complete marketpicture, which it publishes inits annual series ofSMT Equipment Marketreports. The quality awardsare granted as part of thisprocess.Following our cooperationin providing marketinformation, matchingcommercial and technologytrends, we were put forwardas one of three candidatesfor the Frost & SullivanExcellence in IndustrialTechnology Award. Havingestablished that Assembléonis in the world top five pickand-placeequipmentsuppliers, with a valuemarket share ofapproximately eight to ninepercent and growing,Frost & Sullivan focussedattention on our productportfolio.Analysts track all newproduct launches, R&Dspending, products indevelopment, and newproduct features andmodifications for eachcandidate. This isaccomplished throughinterviews with all the marketparticipants, and extensivesecondary and technologyresearch. As a result of thisprocess, candidates are thenranked on their new productlaunches and new productsin development.Frost & Sullivan rightlyobserved that Assembléonis a top player in the gantrySMT placement equipmentmarket, ranking No. 2 with amarket share around 24%.It also noted that the newA-Series might well be themost promising product inthis growth market.In the next stages of itsresearch, Frost & Sullivaninterviewed our A-Seriesproduct managers, and thentook its findings to numerouselectronics assemblycompanies. This final stage,which is most importantbecause it acknowledges thattechnology can be judgedonly on its relevance to themarketplace, enabledFrost & Sullivan to concludethat Assembléon shouldreceive the 2005 award forA-Series.Frost & Sullivan’sendorsement of theAssembléon brand issignificant because it isbased on wide-ranging criteriaand thorough research of theSMT market. It is particularlysignificant because, in thefinal analysis, it is sanctionedby the people who reallymatter – SMT assemblyequipment users.Assembléon serviceexcellence recognizedat APEX 2005On the eve of the officialopening of APEX 2005,Assembléon received itsfourth annual ServiceExcellence Award in thepick-and-place equipmentcategory, presented by thesponsor of the event,Circuits AssemblyMagazine.The Award recognizessuppliers who achieve thehighest ratings in five servicecategories: dependability,ease of use, responsiveness,technology, and value forprice. Each candidatecompany submitted a list of10 customers forassessment on a scale ofone to five in each category,and Assembléon won theAward with four maximumscores and an average scoreof 4.96. The average scorefor other pick-and-placemanufacturers was 4.85.The high Assembléon scorealso compares favorably withthe average score of 4.60seen in the other equipmentcategories – materials,rework/repair, test andinspection, dispensing andscreen printing.Cor Scholten, CEOAssembléon comments: “Thescores clearly show thatAssembléon is the best ofthe best among electronicsmanufacturing equipmentsuppliers. We’re delightedwith the result, which istestament to a tremendousteam effort.“Winning commendationsfor both product and serviceexcellence in successiveyears demonstratesAssembléon’s outstandingsuccess in gauging theevolving needs of electronicsmanufacturers, and inoptimising all aspects of itsbusiness to satisfy them.”45

FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS productA-Series feedertrolleyThe introduction of the newA-Series feeder trolleys(Fig. 1) standardizes platformfeeding and interfacingacross the complete A-Seriespick-and-place equipmentrange. “Not only does itintroduce a new standard,but the new A-Series trolleyprovides benefits in manyways”, comments RonErmans, product managerfor the AX equipment.“The A-Series feeder trolleyhas boosted the number of8mm feeder positions on theAX by 20%, giving the AX-3132 tape positions and theAX-5 an enormous 260 tapepositions on one pick-andplacemachine. The newtrolley also provides moretape feeding positions forother tape widths – 12mm,16mm and higher – realizingup to 33% more feedingpositions (Table 1).New A-Series featuresAlthough A-Series is an award winner, we’re not resting on our laurels. We launched a number ofnew functionalities and systems at APEX 2005. These are geared to broadening A-Series’application area, and even further improving flexibility and reducing cost per placement.The new A-Series featuresand systems are:■ A-Series feeder trolley■ AX component vision■ AX tray capability“Increasing the number oftape feeder positions deliversbenefits in so many ways”,continues Ron Ermans,“Where cost per placement isthe main driver, the increasein feeder positions furtherlifts the output of the AX,significantly lowering cost perplacement with real benefitsfor our customers.“The increase in codenumbers also sharpenscompetitive edge in high-mixenvironments, where flexibilityis the key driver. The higherthe availability of codenumbers, the greater theflexibility for family orcombined set-up. Additionally,the trolley’s standardintegrated intelligentfeeding interface, combinedwith our intelligent feeders,provides a solid basis forthe most efficient andsimple environment forerror free machine set-upand traceability.”Combined with the AX’sexisting feeding capabilitiesand system intelligence, aswell as output scalability, thenew feeder trolley providesAX-3 AX-5 AQ-2Feeder Min Max Min MaxTwin Tape Feeder 132 156 220 260 96Intelligent Tape Feeder 8mm 60 78 100 130 48Slim Intelligent Tape Feeder 12mm 60 78 100 130 48Intelligent Tape Feeder 12mm 48 54 80 90 34Intelligent Tape Feeder 16mm 48 54 80 90 32Intelligent Tape Feeder 24mm 36 36 60 60 24Intelligent Tape Feeder 32mm 24 30 40 50 18Intelligent Tape Feeder 44mm 24 24 40 40 14Intelligent Tape Feeder 56mm 15 18 25 30 12Table 1 New feeding position availabilityFig. 1today’s most efficientproduction environment.AX component visionWith the introduction of newcomponent vision and traycapability, the successful andscalable AX parallelplacement platform hasbroadened its horizons tobring a whole new world ofopportunities (Fig. 2).Component visionincreases the componentrange to 45mm 2 , typically fedvia tape and tray feeders.Aids such as a componenteditor (Fig. 3) guide the userto select pre-definedcomponents or to define newcomponents via simple, selfexplanatorysteps.Within one placementrobot, components can bealigned either by laser orcamera. Components up to17mm 2 are by default alignedby the on-the-fly laser unit,always providing the optimumoutput. Larger components,or components required tobe aligned by a camera,will be handled by thevision camera.Fig. 2Expanding the componentrange on the AX brings anenormous competitiveadvantage to our customers.It allows one machine,occupying a very smallfloorspace, to cover a largerange of applications with(IPC) output scalable from 30to 105k cph. Combined withthe introduction of the newA-Series feeder trolleys, thisnew feature responds to thedemand for a simple andefficient productionenvironment where flexibilityis required.The new component visioncamera is used for alignmentof components per leads,edges or bumps. To achievehigh placement accuracy withvision-aligned components,the components aremeasured at placementheight, delivering theadvantage that any offsets ofthe placement head in itsvertical position arecorrected. Three light sources(dark field, midfield andbright field) ensure goodComponent sizesMinimum lead widthMinimum lead pitchMinimum bump diameterMinimum bump pitchTable 2 Optimised placement accuracyFig. 3Vision alignment2.0 x 1.25mm 2 to45mm x 45mm(1.77 x 1.77 inch)0.130mm (0.005 inch)0.300mm (0.012 inch)0.300mm (0.012 inch)0.500mm (0.020 inch)contrast between themeasured objects, such asleads, and the background.Together with componentvision reference markers, andboard and/or local alignment,these features assure theoptimum placement accuracy(Table 2).AX tray capabilityWith expansion of thecomponent range to 45mm 2on the AX-5 and AX-3, wehave introduced a newfeature – tray feeding (Fig 4).“Adding the tray capacity toour AX system increases thepotential of our systemsenormously. It brings a largemarket within reach of asingle-platform solution”,adds Ron Ermans.Continued on next page67

FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS product10NEW MG-1If versatility andflexibility are yourpriorities…Taking our single-platform multifunctional solution a stepfurther, Assembléon introduced the brand-new MG-1 atAPEX 2005. It perfectly balances the requirements forefficient high-mix manufacturing with the accuracy tohandle a very wide range of components. And it willprove particularly attractive for its outstandingIC shooting capability.The MG-1 places componentsfrom 01005 through large,fine-pitch QFPs to oddformsand components up to 15mmin height. With a highprecisionplacement beamcarrying eight independentlyZ-servo controlled heads, itdelivers the ideal balancebetween chip and ICplacement speeds – up to24k cph and 10k cphrespectively – to optimizethroughput in all applications.New features for fastmachine set-up and processreliability include RFID feederoptions and a 3D coplanarityvision system for lead andsolder ball inspection.Feeding optionsWith RFID feeders, the MG-1can accommodate 96 partnumbers, or even 160 partnumbers using twin tapefeeders. Other feedingoptions include stick, bulk,and new tray feedingsolutions including:■ an external tray handler.The Large ComponentSequencer (LCS) containsup to 60 pallets, capableof holding up to 120trays, in four easilyexchangeablecontainers.The LCS delivers QFPsand BGAs at a high rateby means of a doublepick head, withoutsacrificing feeder space.■ a cost-effective AutomaticTray Stacker (ATS)containing up to 30 traysin two quick-changecontainers, with directcomponent pick-up.A 20-position CLifeederbar can still sit nextto the ATS at the rear ofthe machine.Neither of these optionsimpacts standard maximumboard width of 440mm.Vision systemThe field of view of the MG-1line array camera system hasbeen widened to accept45 x 45mm componentsor connectors up to45 x 100mm. The lightingsystems of the fiducial andcomponent alignmentcameras have been improvedto handle highly reflectivesurfaces of fiducials andmirror-like componentsurfaces. A cost-effective onthe-fly3D vision systemchecks the coplanarity of anyleaded component or BGAwith minimal speed penalty.Further speedand qualityenhancementsAlso supporting improvedquality is a unique side-viewcamera system, whichverifies 01005 or 0201presence and orientation atthe nozzle while the heads flyover the line array camera forcomponent recognition. Andhelping to boost throughput,a newly-developed twin boardsupport system with double,independent push-up units,halves board loading time.This powerful feature forshort cycle time applicationscan make a huge impacton overall line outputperformance by removing thebottleneck that may limit theoutput of a high-speedin-line chipshooter.Ease of useThe MG-1’s graphical userinterface maximizes ease ofoperation under Windows XPcontrol. The smart feeders(CLi) are equipped with thelatest RFID technology tospeed up and simplifymachine set-up and toprovide powerful real-timecomponent inventorymanagement and lottraceability solutions.Make sure you continue to receive your free copy of On Top andkeep up with product launches, news and views.Register now to stay up to dateWe have redesigned our Web site as an efficientchannel for communicationGo to www.assembleon.comand use the link on the home page to:● register for future copies of On Top● request further information on topics discussed in this issue● register for personalized product and service updates.Feeder indicators provide theoperator with all essentialinformation regarding feederstatus. Feeder trolleys can beset up and verified off-line forfast changeover. The feedertrolleys now accept 24 CLismart feeders.One machinedoes it allCEO Cor Scholten comments:“We see an acceleratingtrend in our marketplacetowards multifunctional,single-platform placementsolutions. For some timewe’ve channelled our productdevelopment along theselines. With our latest launchwe’ve introduced powerful ICshooting features whichensure that manufacturerscan adopt our single-platformtechnology withuncompromized qualityand with minimalthroughput penalty.”New A-SeriesfeaturesPrestigiousindustry awardfor A-SeriesNew ChinaCompetenceCenterIssue 1 – April/May 200511

FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS customer12Low labor cost high mix production in Western EuropeAdvanced conceptworks for ProdriveProdrive bases its cost competitiveness on a one-lineboard production facility, highly automated anddemanding the ultimate in pick-and-place flexibility tominimize non-productive time.Original design manufacturerProdrive B.V. has achievedmore than 50 percentaverage annual growth formore than a decade. Behindthis remarkable statistic liesProdrive’s dedication toserving industrial andprofessional markets at lowercost than competitors, andwith higher flexibility, shortertime-to-market, and sustainedquality. The company investsat least 10 percent ofrevenue in research anddevelopment of newtechnology, IP-cores, buildingblocks and modules. Thisapproach enables Prodrive tooffer tailored high-techsolutions, particularly inimage processing, digitalsignal processing, motioncontrol and powerelectronics, with off-the-shelfspeed and efficiency.Prodrive was set up byHans Verhagen and PieterJanssen, both from theTechnische Universiteit,Eindhoven, initially toundertake productdevelopment, but later alsoproduction. With abackground in design, one ofits core skills is design formanufacturing, which Prodriveapplies to both its own andits customers’ designs tohelp in achieving its firsttarget – as far as possible,elimination of labor.Prodrive’s advancedconcepts for productionautomation and expansionare also designed to furtherthis aim, as well as achievingits other key targets –flexibility and quality.In-line expansionMost SMT manufacturersencountering a high-mixscenario and needing toexpand their capacity tend todistribute production overmultiple lines. Prodriveinitially satisfied itsproduction requirements witha single placement machine,but as product mix andvolumes increased, and withtargets for further growth,it expanded its productionfacility in-line.“As well as expandingcapacity we also wanted tobring down turnaround time”,founding director PieterJanssen explains. “Ourcustomers demand on-timedelivery combined withmaximum flexibility andminimum orderingcommitment. This means wehave no inventory of finishedproducts in our warehouseand a ‘make-to-order’strategy within our facility.”Prodrive has reconciledcost, flexibility and qualitytargets at a stroke, with anexpansion strategy whichhas progressed its placementfacility from one to three,and then to four, placementmachines in line. A highlevel of automation reduceslabor content and boostsquality, while optimizationof the line for fastchangeovers minimizesnon-productive time.Low costs throughautomationIn pursuit of lower laborcontent, Prodrive automatesassembly as far as ispossible for each product.Pieter Janssen comments:“We have a strong focus onproduct data management,based on a databasecontaining all product datafrom specifications anddesign documents, to bill ofmaterials, test andproduction files, and on-lineassembly instructions. Weuse GenCAD, PPS-Pro andsome proprietary tools toautomatically generate thefiles for the pick-and-place,inspection and testequipment, helping us tomove rapidly from designinto production.”With production runsranging from a single boardper year to 100 000,production flexibility with fastchangeovers is essential.“We also favor a fixed feederarrangement in combinationwith barcode-triggered set-upto reduce changeover times.By minimizing feeder changesand using set-up verificationsoftware to give productionthe green light, we achieverapid reconfiguration of theline for any product with littleoperator intervention.”Quality accountabilitySet-up verification softwaretogether with machinefeatures for low-defectplacement are geared to zerodefect production.In addition, to maximizeprocess control and limitproduct-specific testing,Prodrive has installedinspection and testequipment in-line. Automatedsolder paste inspectionfollowing screen printing,automated optical inspectionafter placement, 3D X-rayafter reflow and, finally, aflying probe and ICT testerplaced in-line providefeedback at every processstep. Prodrive also has offlinefunctional test systems.“We take full responsibilityfor the products wemanufacture”, Pieter Janssenconfirms. “All failure typesare stored in a tracking andtracing database, whichenables us to applyStatistical Process Controltechniques. Traceabilitydata helps us in ouroperations, service anddesign processes.”World-classperformancePieter Janssen believes thatProdrive can best serve itsmarkets through long-termpartnerships with bothcustomers and suppliers.“To perform ‘world class’ weneed suppliers which also doso. We selected Assembléonas our pick-and-place supplierfor its solid background inthe complete range fromlow-to high-volumemanufacturing equipment.“Prodrive has been anAssembléon customer sincefirst going into production,and more recently also asupplier, producing asub-assembly for the newdigital camera for theAQ fine-pitch placer.”Prodrive’s first placementmachine was an ACM,followed by two Topaz-Xi IImultifunctional placersmanufacturing PCBs in low tomedium volume. An AX-5was added to the linein November 2004 withthe specific intention ofachieving greater flexibilitywhile significantly reducingturnover time. Prodrive’s linenow has the capability tohandle components from0201 through ultra fine-pitchand pin-in-paste toconventional through-holecomponents.By using twin tape feederson the AX-5, Prodrive hasmore than 600 feederpositions available. Lineoptimization to a fixed-feederarrangement gives Prodrivefast changeovers inpreference to running the lineat top speed. At changeover,the board’s barcode isscanned and a boardidentifier is fed to themachines, which load theappropriate programs. Thefeeder configuration ischecked automatically bySVS Pro and, when it isconfirmed as correct, themachine immediatelyproduces the board.“When barcodetriggeredchangeoveris enabled, andthe correctmulti-productHigh mixlow laborfeeder set-up is in place,changeover for the pick-andplaceequipment takes onlyseconds. Because theoperator can rely on thechecks performed by SVS Proon the set-up, hisintervention is required onlyif feeders need to bechanged, and never duringaproduction run becauseplacement performanceis extremely reliable”.Flexibility for high mixis further enhanced bycapability to producedifferent productsconcurrently on the AX-5.“Where we can keep boardwidth standard, thecapability for multi-productset-up on the AX for setsof products which havesome commonality, or whichare required by thecustomer in a fixed set,gives us a considerablethroughput advantage.”Prodrive places as muchemphasis on quality as onturnaround. SVS Pro preventsfaulty feeder set-up, andAssembléon’s equipmentdelivers very low placementdefects through continuousprocess checks, includingvision, vacuum and forcechecks. As a result, Prodrivetypically achieves 98 percentfirst-pass yield on smallbatches of boards whichcontain 750 componentsand 2500 solder jointson average, and as manyas 15 000 solder jointsmaximum.Feedback toProdrive’s databaseBecause its database is atthe core of its productionphilosophy, Prodrive requiresthat its production facilitycontinually feeds ininformation, which willsupport its quality, efficiencyand logistics objectives.Assembléon is ‘on the case’.BTCO and SVS Pro togethercontribute component andset-up data to Prodrive’stracking and tracingdatabase. While BTCOdelivers the board ID,SVS Pro delivers thecomponent IDs, and thesystem also deliversprocess information suchas error messages etcetera.Continued on next page13

High mixlow laborContinuedAssembléon customized theinterface to a file-basedtraceability system, in whichthe files are stored locally onthe machines anddownloaded to a server onthe Prodrive network. Themachines provide extendedstorage, so that productioncan continue independentlyof network availability.SVS Pro also logscomponent useage,supporting the Kanbanreplenishment strategy whichProdrive operates for highrunnersby helping toeliminate wait times forcomponents while reducinginventory overhead.A dynamicpartnershipWhile it has the opportunityto double the output of theAX-5, Prodrive does notsee this as its first priority.Viewing ongoing growth andthe need for continuousimprovement in meetingcustomers’ needs,Pieter Janssen is sure of onething: “Next year Prodrive willlook different from now!Currently our focus is not onadditional placement capacitybut on reducing the nonproductivetime in our totalprocess. We are consideringbulk feeders for our highrunnersand single-lane stickfeeders for prototyping.We have ideas aboutadjustments andimprovements to the currentset-up, which we share withAssembléon. We hopeAssembléon will be able tofulfil our future needsrapidly!”Asked how his company’sperformance rates againstindustry benchmarks, PieterJanssen concludes: “With anoverall productivity of morethan €300k per employee peryear we are far ahead ofevery CEM. This proves thatour concept of combiningknowledge with an advancedproduction concept works.Our labor cost per product isreduced to a minimum, sothat we can compete withcountries with low labor ratesby offering a better service atlower cost.“In turn we rely onAssembléon, not only for itspick-and-place technology butalso for its support for ourproduction philosophy andfast-response, effectiveservice.”Reel to reel –Assembléon offersautomated linesolutionsLeaders in the design and manufacturing of metal domeswitch contacts and complementary equipment for themembrane switch and related mechanical switchindustries are seeing higher and higher demand. This isincreasing demand for fully automated high-speedproduction methods for their products.One of the methods ofachieving this is to useflexfoil instead of standardSMD substrates such asprinted circuit boards.Assembléon’s parallelplacement technology lendsitself to highly efficientimplementation of theseflexfoil reel-to-reelapplications. Based onresearch and developmentcarried out on the AX, we areable to position Assembléonas a specialist supplier ofautomated line solutions.This article describes aprocess we’ve customisedfor one of our valuedcustomers.The keypads which areever-present in mobilephones, pagers, automotiveand consumer appliancesetcetera, normally feature adelicate but reliable switchbehind the buttons,implemented with a metaldome placed on the PCB orflexfoil. Imagine how manymillions of domes are placedon PCBs and foils every day!The domes are mechanicallysecured to the PCB or flexfoilwith a sticky foil, so they willnot shift during use.Per module, all the domesare placed on one sticky foil,then the backing paper ispeeled away and theassembly is applied upsidedownonto the electronics.Our solution for placing thedomes, which can be lessthan 60 micron thick, ontothe sticky foils uses an AX-5together with a reel-to-reeltransport system (Fig. 1).A de-reeler feeds acontinuous roll of paper intoa punching unit, whichpunches out a hole for eachdome. The paper is thenlaminated with a stickyplastic foil and this substrateis fed into the AX, typicallycarrying multiple keypad foilsacross the width of the roll.A customized feeder, whichwas developed onAssembléon’s existingintelligent feeder platform,punches the metal domesout of a preformed metaltape.The placement system isbased on multiple placementheads, each fed by adedicated feeder. The headsoperate in parallel, carryingFig 2 The AX in combination with the reflow oven.out pick, componentalignment and placementsimultaneously for reducedcycle time.At machine entry and exit,grippers apply tension to thelaminate to ensure that itremains flat during itsprogress through themachine. The verticalmovement of the ‘walkingbeam’ transport of the AXplacement system is adaptedfor reel-to-reel transport ofthe substrate by using apattern of holes in the beamand applying a vacuum tohold the foil, or blower air torelease it. When the beamprogresses, and duringplacement, the substrate isfixed by the vacuum. Duringthe beam return stroke, thesubstrate floats on blower air,and the grippers advance itto bring a non-populated partunder the placement heads.Accuracy and qualitybenefitsPlacement accuracy of lessthan 100 micron is achievedthrough substrate alignmentat each placement head,using fiducials on the paper.A further optical sensormeasures any deviationbetween the foil pitch andindex pitch, ensuring accuratepositioning of the paperlaminate at all times,independently of any stretchin the paper.Conventional domeplacement systems require amechanism to detect doubledomes. The AX pick-upnozzles feature laser andvacuum sensors to detectdouble domes and to checkthat the dome is the rightway up. The presence of thedome is checked duringmovement to the placementAX machineClampingRun-inSensor deviceto align the foilPlacement headsIndexing beam via ServoIntegration in beam Vacuum/blower airapplications FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS FOCUSVision Test UnitLUClampingRun-outFig 1 Schematic drawing of the machine for placement of the buttonsposition, and the nozzledesign ensures that thedome is fully supported forprotection during placement.The continuous placementforce control of the headensures that the very thindomes are not deformedduring the pick-and-placecycle. Finally, an additionalvision quality measurementsystem on exit checks forsuccessful and accurateplacement of all domes perkeypad foil. This check, incombination with the featuresof the AX system alreadymentioned, ensures highestquality and yield in reel-to-reelapplications.Cost per placementbenefitsAccuracy, placement speedand high uptime make the AXmachine highly competitivefor dome placement. Paralleloperation of 10 placementrobots achieves a maximummachine throughput greaterthan 42 000 domes per hour(or more than 84 000 domesper hour for a fully populatedAX-5).Integrated solutionUpon its exit from themachine, the laminate isinterleaved with paper toprotect the domes and thenre-reeled. In partnership withscreenprinter, dispenser andreflow specialists, we’reproducing a fully integratedflowline concept for domeprocessing and other reel-toreelapplications. The reflowmachine, for which we’reapplying for a patent, is builton the same base as the AX(Fig. 2) for placement of foilsonto the PCB.Demonstrations areavailable at Veldhoven.14 15

Interview withWout BijkerVice PresidentMarketing andBusiness LinesWout Bijker, Vice President Marketing and BusinessLines, is ambitious to drive Assembléon through the nextphase of sustainable growth by putting strongeremphasis on the ‘outside-in’ process. We interviewedWout to find out exactly what he understands thisprocess to be, and how it will affect the way Assembléonserves its customers.What do you mean by anoutside-in process?By an outside-in processI mean a process by whichAssembléon’s businessdevelopment is determinedby the requirements of itsmarketplace. We must makesure that we understand thedirection in which theelectronics manufacturingindustry is moving. But wemust also ensure that wehave the product and serviceofferings in place to gainbusiness advantage frommeeting its needs.Do you feel thatAssembléon needs tochange culturally toimplement such a process?Essentially, no. I believe thatAssembléon has always keptwell in touch with itsmarketplace and progressedproduct and servicedevelopments accordingly.This viewpoint is borne out byour receipt this year of theFrost & Sullivan SurfaceMount Technology Product ofthe Year Award for theA-Series platform. The awardWout Bijkerspecifically recognizesAssembléon as among thefirst players in itsmarketplace to respond tochanges in the world ofelectronics assembly, and sorapidly that it currently offersbest-in-class scalable andhigh-speed machines.In what respects canAssembléon improve on itsprocess of absorbingmarket influences into itsbusiness developmentstrategy?We need to look atseveral aspects of theprocess to make surethat it has the scope toachieve our objective ofsustainable growth.We must make sure thatour knowledge gathering iseffective. We already keepin close touch with globalbusiness and financialtrends. We have a very activemarket analysis division, andI’m sure readers of On Topread its regular reports withgreat interest. We also needto be aware of end-producttrends. In particular,consumer products aredeveloping at lightning speedand dictating constantchange in manufacturingtechnology requirements.But, crucially, we mustramp up our dialogue withour customers to glean allthe intelligence we can ontheir vision of how theirmarkets are developing andhow their production needswill be affected.We need to bear in mindthat we are looking at aglobal picture. Capability formanufacturing electronicproducts can be locatedanywhere in the world – we’veseen the tide of electronicsmanufacturing sweep fromWest to East and now startto flow back to the West.We must be alert to allmarket forces that influencethe localisation of electronicsmanufacturing, and ensurethat we focus our attentionon centres of productionwherever in the worldthey emerge.Our objective as an OEM isto develop, manufacture,market and sell SMTequipment. For our businessto succeed in the future,market intelligence mustimpact each function, and ourresponse to it must be crossfunctionallyaligned. Wegenuinely strive to ensurethat our customers’ needstruly lead all our processes.How do you seeAssembléon’s outside-inprocess developing?We continually review the waywe look at marketsegmentation. Traditionally,we’ve talked about lowvolume,mid-volume and highvolumemarkets andtranslated this intorequirements for low-speed,medium-speed and highspeedmachines. However,speed in itself is no longerthe most important selectioncriterion in any of theconventional marketdivisions. Now it iscommonplace formanufacturers in allsegments to put flexibilityand uptime above sheerspeed in their wants list, sowe need a new way ofsegmenting the market toinform the development ofour various business lines.How will we achieve this?By looking at our customers’key value drivers. We need tosee the world from ourcustomers’ perspective. Whatis driving our customers andwhy? How can we, andshould we, contribute to theircapability to address thesedrivers?If we discover the answersto these questions we willsee patterns emerging whichwill differentiate marketsegments in a new way, notin terms of speed but interms of their key valuedrivers. We can foresee, forexample, that changeovertime may become the keyfactor in CpP for themainstream of ourmarketplace and, of course,our product development hasalready put us into a verystrong position to serve itsrequirements in this respect.Where do you see thisemphasis on the outside-inprocess taking theAssembléon business?Once we’ve identified ourcustomers’ key value drivers,we can translate them intospecific function/featureroadmaps for each segment.And we must ensure that thisprocess is visible to ourcustomers. It is not sufficientto tell customers that wehave the technical solution totheir requirements. We gainbusiness by showing eachand every customer that weunderstand its key driversand have developed aspecific solution to meet itsparticular production needs.How do you see yourpersonal role in theprocess?My role in the process ofsecuring sustainable growthfor our business is to providestrong steering: on thedevelopment of productroadmaps based on ourknowledge of key valuedrivers in our marketplace;on a program to executethose roadmaps to ensurethat we provide timelysupport for our customers;and on sales creation basedon this approach.BiographyWout Bijkers studiedelectrical engineering at theTwente university in TheNetherlands and Leuvenuniversity in Belgium. Hespent four years in researchprogram and projectmanagement at PhilipsResearch. He moved on toPhilips Semiconductors,where he served asmarketing manager, and thengeneral manager, for RFmodules for mobile phones inNijmegen, and then asgeneral manager businessline for Digital TV Solutions inSunnyvale and Eindhoven.Wout has been responsiblefor marketing and businesslines at Assembléon sinceNovember 2004.Valuedrivers1617

NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW newsNEW China Competence CenterWe’ve opened a ChinaCompetence Center inShanghai to strengthenour sales andtechnology supportinfrastructure in theregion. The Centerprovides facilities fordemonstrating the latestsurface mountequipment and is alsothe base for regionalsupport services andservice staff training onproducts and processes.CEO Cor Scholten comments:“Several factors haveprompted our investment inthe Competence Center.Firstly, Assembléon offersunique SMT manufacturingtechnology. Now we candemonstrate to potentialcustomers in China how theirapplications can be executedon our systems.“Secondly, the CompetenceCenter underpins ourcommitment to direct salesand support in China, whichso that they are completelyprepared to answer everyrequirement for equipmentand operational support –quickly, skillfully, andefficiently.”A four-fold increase inheadcount in China during2004 is evidence of ourcommitment to direct salesand service supportthroughout contractmanufacturing and OEMsectors of the market.We now have a sales andWe see the new Web siteas a valuable tool supportingour rapidly-expanding directsales and service network inChina, which in 2004recorded 70% of our totalAsian sales.As well as being able toaccess information on all ofour products and services,our customers in China canbenefit from a passwordprotectedsoftware servicesarea and a series of videoswhich graphically describepredicts a further businesslift in 2005/2006.While China forecastsoverall assembly equipmentmarket growth ofapproximately nine percentper year over this period,Assembléon is optimistic thatit will achieve 40 percentbusiness growth year on year.The main reason for itsexpectation that its businessgrowth will strongly outstripoverall market growth isA-Series.Japanese companies nowinvesting in China.“We are continuing oursubstantial investment in theregion to ensure that ourservice offering matchesour technological excellenceand satisfies customer needsin APR.”Central to Assembléon’sstrategy for continuouslyimproving service quality isthe China CompetenceCenter in Shanghai, which willbe officially opened duringramp-up, and supply spareparts without delay forcustoms clearance. We arealso now able to refurbishmachine parts and feeders inShanghai, further shorteninglead times.”Assembléon is alsocurrently testing a centralizedfreefone Call Center whichwill soon be operational atthe CCC. This will provideAssembléon users with a fastroute to resident techniciansand fast-response delivery ofPeter BayesCEMs and OEMs, which willnow benefit from shorterlead times and improvedlogistics.Cor Scholten concludes:“While continuing to focuson mainland China we’veremained alert to18The establishment of thenew Competence Center isa key development in ourbusiness strategy in China.An enhanced technologyservice network isfundamental to customersatisfaction in Asia, and inparticular China. It is thefocus of our aggressive bidto drive China’s SMTmarket, and is critical toour long-term globalbusiness strategy.we believe to be crucial tothe success of ourcustomers in this market andof our business. The rapidgrowth in the electronicsmanufacturing sector inChina raises an ongoingrequirement for knowledgetransfer to operationalpersonnel, as well as for fastresponseand expert servicesupport. The CompetenceCenter enables us to trainour sales and service staffservice presence in Beijing,Shanghai, Suzhouand Shenzhen.On-line supportfor ChinaWe’ve launched a Chineselanguage version of our Website as part of a program ofservice improvementsrecognizing the Chinesemarket’s predominance in theglobal electronicsmanufacturing industry.A-Series’ unique valueproposition. A press sectioncomplements our ongoing PRactivities in the area.To access the site, go towww.assembleon.com andclick on CHINESE.Asia updateAssembléon’s ambitiousplans for business growth inAsia, and particularly China,proved well founded in 2004,and the company now“We have shown Asianmanufacturers that ourA-Series platform has theflexibility for short-runproduction as well as forhigh-volume manufacturing”,comments CEO Cor Scholten.“As a result we are nowaddressing a much widermarketplace, and increasingmarket share not onlyamong indigenousmanufacturers but alsoamong Taiwanese andNepcon. Already, 70 peopleare working out of the CCC,including 50 engineers.Manager of the CCC,Peter Bayes, adds: “Chinarepresents a large part of ourAsian business, and it wastherefore a priority tooptimize our support forChinese manufacturersThe CCC equips us to offercomprehensive training withinChina, improve our responseduring installation andon-site engineeringassistance and spare parts.A further development inChina is the opening of amanufacturing facility inpartnership with Philips ETGin Suzhou. The first machineto come off the productionline was an AX-5 installed inDecember 2004. A largepotential customer base inthis area includes major USautomotive manufacturers,global CEMs, and Taiwanesedevelopments elsewherein APR. We have opened newoffices in Taiwan, and alsorecognize the importance ofSouth-East Asia. Here again,A-Series is helping us to gainmarket share, and we areboosting our support forSouth-East Asian companiesthrough our SingaporeCompetence Center. We alsohave a strong network ofagents supporting the Koreaand India markets.”19