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Nothing can be more illuminating than discovering how other companies have developed their manufacturing strategies. This section contains a number of articles about companies who have had to solve problems by investing in new equipment or developing new techniques.
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Latest Case Study
Inspecting the way to progress
As progress is key to every company, new technology continuously needs to be appraised and reviewed. This is true for Deep Sea Electronics (DSE); designer, manufacturer, and vendor of control systems for generators. ...FULL STORY
30 June 2008
UK’s First iineo installed
AMS Neve, a manufacturer of professional audio equipment, are the first UK company to install the all-new iineo pick-and-place machine from Europlacer, so that it can keep pace with its rapid growth plans. ...FULL STORY
29 April 2008
Bead probe implementation on a large complex PCB (21 April 2008)
Prodrive, a European company based in the Netherlands, has traditionally used a test strategy that combines in-line automated inspection and functional test. However, for sometime there has been some concerns about the functional test approach, due to its inherent complexity, cost and poor maintainability. Elfried Keers reports...FULL STORY
Rewards show supplier strength (07 April 2008)
Paul Wolfe attended Plexus’ Supplier Awards to meet some of the big names supplying the electronic manufacturing services industry, before taking a look at developments at the Kelso site. ...FULL STORY
Medically fit for the purpose (26 March 2008)
PartnerTech’s Paul Gill and Eldon Lindsay talk to Tim Fryer about the company’s increasing focus on the medical and biotechnology sectors – and argue that while price is still important, proven sector experience, design & development capability, proximity to the customer, and meeting regulatory demands are the real critical success factors...FULL STORY
Siplace Future Proofs TTems UK Growth (26 March 2008)
Siemens Automation & Drives – EA announces that one of the UK’s leading EMS providers, TT electronic manufacturing services (TTems) has made a significant investment in its future with Siplace. ...FULL STORY
Using PXI for spectral monitoring in China (18 March 2008)
Huari Telecom developed a software-defined wideband radio receiver and monitoring system based on the NI PXI-5660 RF vector signal analyser. Daotian Yang of the Chengdu Huari Telecommunications Company reports...FULL STORY
Centre helping Yorkshire grow (18 March 2008)
Since establishing its headquarters in Leeds in 2004, Electronics Yorkshire’s technology centre has proven itself to be a vital element in helping electronics companies in the Yorkshire and Humber region to grow. EM&T takes a look at what the Technology Centre brings to the region...FULL STORY
Camera takes the audio test (25 February 2008)
Contract manufacturer Briton EMS has invested in a Prism Sound dScope Series III audio analyzer, which is being used for production line testing on a key new product (a wireless camera system) from Link Research....FULL STORY
Cabin lights take the heat off (03 December 2007)
The power of the LED has been harnessed by Beadlight to make a bright light that was easy on the eye – but what to do with the heat? RTVs were the answer....FULL STORY
Sensor film holds tighter product tolerances (04 October 2007)
As an innovator of film capacitor technology, SB Electronics designs and manufactures products that are on the cutting edge of today’s demanding electronics applications. To maintain continuous improvement of its manufacturing processes, David Bryan, manufacturing engineering manager for SB Electronics, recently specified Pressurex, a tactile surface pressure-indicating film from Sensor Products....FULL STORY
Designs on medical experts (18 September 2007)
Contract manufacturing came into, and fell out of, fashion in the last decade. However, many indigenous companies, and those with a sense of local identity, have flourished. Plexus, with its accent on design expertise and its Scottish roots, is such a company, as Tim Fryer discovered....FULL STORY
Gas-free glue put in a simple mix (22 August 2007)
It seems to the adhesives specialists at Intertronics that the whole point of technology in industry is to raise quality and/or reduce costs – in other words, to do a job better - often by simplifying multiple tasks or functions into one single operation....FULL STORY
Defences all at sea (06 August 2007)
Beware the terrorist in swimming shorts! A new system has been designed to counter this threat and has relied on some high-spec PCBs to achieve it....FULL STORY
Corintech increases capacity and capability (05 July 2007)
One contract manufacturer has recently expanded its capabilities with a new lead-free line...FULL STORY
Complete assembly line provided (05 June 2007)
Contax Ltd has supplied and installed a third surface mount assembly line for In-Line Electronics....FULL STORY
JTAG extends test capabilities (05 June 2007)
Bedford-based contract electronics manufacturer MRP has added boundary-scan test to its portfolio of test capabilities following its selection of JTAG Technologies and its range of well-proven application development and runtime solutions....FULL STORY
Investing in the X Factor (05 June 2007)
SMS Electronics has invested £1million on Siemens Siplace X Series to future-proof their UK business...FULL STORY
Envisioning long term benefits (29 May 2007)
When Parker SSD Drives in Littlehampton, England, embarked on a £320K investment in their SMT process with Siemens Automation & Drives – EAS, the aim was to improve the reliability of aging machines and increase productivity. What they did not envisage was the benefits this project would have on their entire manufacturing process....FULL STORY
Future success depending on innovation (29 May 2007)
Dr Hywel, Senior Researcher and Consultant at the Materials and Engineering Research Institute (MERI) at Sheffield Hallam University, looks at new Roxton Coated Nozzles from Metro Technologies...FULL STORY
Hardware test to reduce software problems (26 February 2007)
Boundary Scan technology is allowing one third-party manufacturer to verify the hardware on its complex boards, before software integration....FULL STORY
Tail wags the dog no longer (07 February 2007)
Contract Manufacturers typically focus on manufacturing - the clue is in the name. In their search for cost effectiveness and efficiency they should be more attentive to other aspects of the supply chain. That is the view of Paragon – originally a kitting company who has evolved in to something far more comprehensive....FULL STORY
Revolution in the soldering processes (07 January 2007)
EM&T looked at one application of X-ray 'nanotechnology' and went on to examine what the term actually means. ...FULL STORY
Increasing production capacity (07 November 2006)
Brantham Engineering Ltd purchased in 2006 two new 2050L chip shooters and one new 2060L high speed fine pitch assembler in order to increase their production capacity. The three machines plus other equipment make a total investment amount of œ500,000. The placement rate of the new line is in excess of 20k components per hour. ...FULL STORY
Biggest name in musical mixing (07 November 2006)
The company Allen & Heath, situated in Falmouth, has been creating, developing and manufacturing audio mixers and soundboards for 35 years. Many of the big names in today's music rely on the company's systems - and the company's systems' quality is assured by a state of the art AOI system. ...FULL STORY
Reuse and redesign (07 October 2006)
Steve Lane, Commercial Director of Triteq, explains how customer BlueFinger Ltd sought a fast and economic solution to reusing a proven embedded hardware platform, while increasing its functionality and reducing costs to meet the demands of increasingly price sensitive end user markets. ...FULL STORY
Electronics from coal (07 October 2006)
Scottish coal mines were replaced by Silicon Glen in the 70s and 80s, only for a large part of the electronics industry to migrate east during the last decade. However, the electronics industry is far from dead. Tim Fryer went to visit one company whose background has a foot firmly planted in both the coal and electronics industries. ...FULL STORY
Coat for space (07 October 2006)
Due for launch in August 2008, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is a mission to be launched for NASA's Living With a Star Program, aiming to help scientists understand the causes of solar variability and its impacts on Earth. Many names in science, aerospace and electronics, among them Lockheed Martin and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, are heavily involved in this project. Chiltern Connections are also playing a key role in the project. ...FULL STORY
Boundary scan leads lead-free redesign (07 July 2006)
SMS Electronics has invested in the XJTAG boundary scan development system to speed up fault diagnosis on complex boards with multiple JTAG devices such as ball grid arrays (BGAs) and limited test points - and to assist with a flurry of RoHS-led redesign work ...FULL STORY
X-ray stars in the ancient sky (07 July 2006)
Some electronics assembly equipment can be of use to the wider world. In a deviation from our usual subject matter on EM&T, we take a look at how an x-ray machine is being used to unearth the secrets of the ancients. ...FULL STORY
Fresh air for babies (07 July 2006)
Development of a new healthcare product has been achieved with help from a contract manufacturer to provide the intelligent controls...FULL STORY
Chinese success brings benefits to UK (07 May 2006)
We are used to hearing how the runaway growth of Chinese manufacturing is hitting the UK's Contract Electronics Manufacturing (CEM) sector. It was therefore a pleasant surprise to be interviewing a company that has not only found a profitable niche in today's market but has also found a way of directly benefiting from China's success story. ...FULL STORY
Control test is ahead of the game (07 February 2006)
Microsoft has selected National Instruments' LabVIEW and PXI to test the controllers for the new Xbox 360, resulting in a 50% improvement in test time. ...FULL STORY
Siemens set-up on Singapore's doorstep (07 January 2006)
As many manufacturers move East it is not surprising that their suppliers follow. The latest is Siemens, who has added to its service capabilities with the recent launch of a anufacturing centre in Singapore. Tim Fryer was invited to go and see the new centre and visit a couple of very different customers. ...FULL STORY
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