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The Inside Line
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
December SMT Cover Wins Award
NASHUA, N.H. — SMT and Advanced Packaging Editor-in-Chief Gail Flower, along with SMT Art Director Suzanne Heiser, were honored for Best Cover Concept for the December 2003 cover in an internal PennWell award ceremony.
The cover art was created by graphic designer Chris Short, brother of Rick Short of Utica, N.Y.-based Indium Corp. of America. Flower spoke to Chris about the December cover, emphasizing that the issue contained SMT's annual Industry Forecast for 2004. The art needed to reflect the idea of looking forward, so Chris created a futuristic city made out of a circuit board, with the surface mounted components representing the city's buildings. The perspective of the city looks toward a new dawn on the horizon.
"We were very pleased with this cover, and I thought I would submit it for an award," Flower says. "It represents the electronics industry's bright future in an eye-catching way through Chris' idea and Suzanne's execution. We're thrilled that this spectacular cover has received such recognition."— Christine F. Della Monaca
ATE EASi Line Showcases Live Assembly
ROSEMONT, Ill. — A live assembly line whirred and clicked in the Electronics Assembly Pavilion of Assembly Technology Expo here last month, showcasing machinery from 18 capital equipment and more than 10 support services companies.
The Electronic Assembly Suppliers' Initiative (EASi) line included sample equipment that provided material handling and transport, stencil printing, pick-and-place, reflow, selective solder, visual and X-ray inspection, robotic point-to-point soldering, packaging, aqueous cleaning, microcontroller programming, and final assembly.
The line has been part of the show since 1996, and was the brainchild of Rick James, now vice president of operations for Indianapolis-based EMS provider Electronics Manufacturing Solutions Inc., a company he founded in the mid '90s "The hook was to build something functional," he explains. This year's product was a "Light Chaser" game that incorporated double-sided SMT and a programmed microcontroller.
"Attendees see the equipment operate, building a real product," James continues. "You can see it in a brochure or even in a booth and not get a feel for its exact operation."
For the exhibitor in the line, whether an equipment maker or service provider, the advantage is exposure. "The exhibitor gets to show the equipment in operation through all the hours of the show, and some of it actually gets purchased. The last few years have been difficult to get equipment here because companies were building to order, without equipment sitting around, but this year seems to be easier," James says, adding that several of its participants have been with the line since the beginning.
New this year was a selective soldering machine from Tyco Electronics. "It was the first time in the line," James says. "I've never seen a demo at a show of this kind of equipment, and light bulbs in people's heads have to be going off about specific applications."
Not only is the line an opportunity for exposure for its participants, but those exhibitors nearby get to soak it up as well. "A lot of companies in the line and even those whose equipment could not go in the line want booths near it," James explains. "Those booths always fill up first."— Christine F. Della Monaca