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The Inside Line
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
FocalSpot Opens New Headquarters
SAN DIEGO — FocalSpot Inc., a provider of inspection and rework/repair solutions and services to OEMs and the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry, opened a new corporate headquarters here.
The company provides advanced BGA/SMT inspection and rework solutions and services to manufacturers of electronics assemblies. Product offerings include a complete line of rework stations, soldering tools and accessories. It also offers BGA "look-under" microscopes and will soon include a complete line of X-ray inspection solutions.
The company has evolved to meet the demands of a recovering electronics manufacturing marketplace. It serves OEMs and contract manufacturers in the military/aerospace, automotive, electronics, telecommunications, IT and industrial automation marketplaces.
The new company headquarters is located in the prominent Scripps Ranch technology community at 9915 Businesspark Ave., Ste. A, San Diego, CA 92131. The Scripps Ranch facility is the distribution hub for North American sales, which includes office and warehouse space, demonstration and training rooms, and complete service facilities to support all principal product lines, including legacy Nicolet Imaging System (NIS) and SRT products.
"Our new facility brings everything our customers need under one roof and is staffed by personnel with more than 15 years of industry knowledge," said Fred Schlieper, president and CEO. "Our team includes individuals who are known in the test, inspection and rework marketplace, and whose experience comes from such present and former industry leaders as IRT, NIS, SRT, Four Pi, Hewlett-Packard, GenRad and Teradyne."
Frank Silva, VP of sales, added that this facility allows for delivery of a broad range of flexible services to its customers.
For more information on FocalSpot, contact Frank Silva, (858) 536-5050; Fax: (858) 536-5054; E-mail: sales@focalspot.com; Web site: www.FocalSpot.com. — Jenny Popp
Quick Vote Reveals Hot Buttons
NASHUA, N.H. — Everyone's got an opinion, and the Quick Vote feature on SMT Online allows an outlet for expression.
At the beginning of 2003, Quick Vote asked, "What trade show are you looking forward to the most in 2003?" Forty percent of you voted for APEX, 20 percent for Productronica, 13 percent for the NEPCON shows and another 13 percent for SMTA International/Assembly Technology Expo. The rest of the votes were divided between SMT/Hybrid/Packaging and SEMICON.
At the end of 2003, Quick Vote asked readers to look back on their favorite tradeshows of the year. APEX led the way with 33 percent of the vote, followed by Productronica with 21 percent, the NEPCON shows with 15 percent and SMTA International/Assembly Technology Expo with 9 percent.
In June, 62 percent of those polled go to trade shows to learn about the latest technology, while 11 percent said it was to network with colleagues. An additional 11 percent go to make purchasing decisions. Nine percent wanted to keep up with competitors.
The coming shift to lead-free soldering technology has been the subject of great study, consideration and even fear, and this was reflected in Quick Vote answers for 2003. About 74 percent of those polled in March said that using lead-free solder in electronic assemblies will drive up the cost of end-use products for consumers, a phenomenon already seen in countries like Japan. And in July, while 25 percent of those polled didn't know when their companies were going to shift to lead-free and 23 percent had no plans to, 20 percent planned to transfer over in 2004 and 11 percent were looking to 2005.
Almost half of those voting in May (48 percent) were concerned about regulatory hurdles to doing business in China, and 45 percent of those polled in August have an office there. At the same time, 35 percent said they do not have an office and don't plan on one. Finally, 42 percent polled in November have offshore locations in Asia, 33 percent in Mexico, and 14 percent don't have any offshore locations. — Christine F. Della Monaca