SMT007 Magazine

8 SMT Magazine • October 2015 by Stephen Las Marias i-connecT007 edItor'S note the need for Speed COluMn I was recently invited to judge the editor's choice award at National Instrument's 2015 NI Engineering Impact Awards—ASEAN Regional Contest. This is my second time judging the an- nual technical applications contest. The awards aim to showcase the most innovative projects using NI hardware and software, and it's amaz- ing to see the projects submitted by the academe and industry professionals that are designed for various industry applications—from autono- mous vehicles to flexible control systems for car engines, to automatic generation control mod- ules for microgrid applications and real-time lo- calization systems. There were also projects on energy harvesting as well as reliability improve- ment for stamping machines. As NI provides test and measurement technologies and solutions, there were also a few tester submissions, such as a power supply sequencing tester, an EDA mem- ory characterization tester, and a PCB connectiv- ity tester. There was one project that I found relevant to our topic for this month's issue of SMT Maga- zine, which is cycle time reduction. Developed by Gatepacific Circuits Inc. (GCI) for a client, the project aimed to improve the process of dispens- ing paste compared to the manual process done by human operators, and increase the unit per hour (UPH) capability from 500 units to more than 1,000 units. The project incorporated pin location and visual inspection with motion and pneumatic controls to provide fast and accurate dispensing, effectively doubling the manufactur - ing yield of a human operator. Project Specifics Based in the Philippines, GCI provides qual- ity products and professional services in elec- tronic assemblies such as PCB design, fabrica- tion and assembly, and in-systems engineering solutions including automated test systems and test development, control systems, and ma- chine vision systems. Its clients include those in the semiconductor and electronics manufac- turing industries. For this particular project, GCI integrated the NI LabVIEW Vision Development Module and the CVS-145xRT with a slider electric actuator,

• Cover
• Feature Articles — Cycle Time Reduction
• Table of Contents
• Column — The Need for Speed
• Feature — Value Stream Mapping: Operationalizing Lean Manufacturing
• Feature Interview — Choosing the Right Component to Reduce Cycle Times
• Feature Column — Reducing Print Cycle Time
• Short — Darwin on a Chip
• Feature Interview — Cycle Time Reduction in the Eye of AOI
• EIN Market Highlights
• Feature Interview — Reducing Cycle Times with Innovative Bonding Solutions
• Feature — Technologies to Enable Quick-Turn PCB Assemblies
• Feature Interview — Process Improvements for Cycle Time Reduction
• Short — Nanostructures for Contactless Control
• Feature Column — Cycle Time Reduction with WORK, Part I
• MilAero007 Highlights
• Feature Interview — Is Automation the Answer to Cycle Time Reduction?
• Column — Gold Embrittlement Mitigation: Understanding the New J-STD-001 Requirements
• Short — A Fast Cell Sorter Shrinks to Cell Phone Size
• Supply Line Highlights
• Feature Interview — Inspection Innovations to Reduce Cycle Time
• Short — Permanent Data Storage with Light
• Column — Selecting a Reflow Oven, Part 3
• Top Ten Recent Highlights from SMT007
• Events Calendar
• Advertiser Index and Masthead