Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1098973
60 SMT007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2019 ers and the designers on the front end, and a lot more DFM. We see a lot of people who say, "This is how I'm designing it, and this is what it is. You need to build it, and you need to build it right." But it doesn't always work out that way. Being able to collect this data in real time and early on in the process during prototypes and get that back to the designers so that they can maybe make some better choices or small changes will increase the longevity of the prod- uct is critical. Johnson: Is getting that information back to the designers so that they can incrementally improve yields something you're currently looking to do with your software? Reiselt: No, our software wasn't designed for reporting DFM back to the designers. Remem- ber, we take the information from an MES or collect it from a few pieces of test equipment and display it in a picture. We can supplement the DFM reporting from the MES with a screen- shot of the assembly highlighting problem areas, so ours is more of a first-line defense. Johnson: That makes sense. Reiselt: Again, the companies that are doing the MESs, such as Aegis, Cogiscan, and Pana- sonic, are collecting so much data and they have great tools to dive deep into some amaz- ing analytics. That market is taken and covered, and that's not where we're trying to go. We're trying to address the very beginning by keep- ing the failures from happening as soon as they're detected. Johnson: So, you play well with the MES tools. Reiselt: Correct. There's no competition between us and an MES. We need the MES to collect the data; we're simply putting it into a real-time picture. Then, when you get that report at the end of the shift or the following day, you can take a deeper dive and say, "Oh, this is how that happened, and this is what we're going to do to prevent it in the future." You can use our tool to ensure that it stops almost immediately on the floor. Johnson: Obviously, there is a need for this for anybody working on a manufacturing floor. And you're out there addressing this need pretty creatively. You mentioned you're work- ing with beta testers through the rest of the year. Do you care to share when you think you're going to release these as products? Reiselt: For Heatwave, we think the beta test- ing should be complete by April and available for full production; Flexline will probably be fairly close behind. We're using it at the manu- facturing site where I work, so we want to make sure that we work out any compatibility issues before release. Johnson: Congratulations on all of that. Reiselt: Thank you. Johnson: You certainly answered all of the questions I had. Is there anything else that you want to cover? Reiselt: We're a veteran-owned organization with over 30 years of manufacturing experi- ence in electronics and are committed to creat- ing simple and intuitive solutions. Johnson: Thanks again, Craig. Reiselt: Thank you. SMT007 We can supplement the DFM reporting from the MES with a screenshot of the assembly highlighting problem areas, so ours is more of a first-line defense.