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Publisher's Executive Council Interview
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
This month's Publisher's Executive Council Interview features one of the industry's leading innovators: Joe Vilella from Vectron Inc. SMT Magazine's Publisher's Executive Council consists of 30 electronics industry executives hand-picked by publisher John Bubello. They share their expertise and insights with our editorial staff and act as a sounding board for new editorial concepts and projects. These individuals also contribute much to the industry in general, working as leaders within their companies.
SMT: To begin, please explain your company's position within the surface mount industry.
VILELLA: Vectron provides advanced automated optical inspection (AOI) equipment for populated printed circuit board (PCB) inspection. Our goal is to offer our customers the most accurate, reliable and leading-edge solution in 2-D AOI.
SMT: What is Vectron's fundamental business strategy?
VILELLA: Our strategy is to provide maximum customer satisfaction with our AOI solution. Vectron is a customer-driven company. Early on we sacrificed market entry position to develop a technology that works the way our customers realistically expect it to from day one a product that will continue evolving as its demands require. We have achieved that, and will continue investing substantial time and effort to provide an efficient and accurate solution that is easy to operate, maintain and upgrade for years to come.
SMT: What steps has Vectron taken to achieve those levels of AOI performance?
VILELLA: We are committed to placing the necessary resources to achieve our performance goals. Our camera technology has evolved from 4 to 6 million pixels and will shortly increase to 11 million pixels and beyond. We have opened a state-of-the-art R&D facility in Puerto Rico that focuses on developing advanced imaging algorithms and artificial intelligence processes. We also have developed special board programming filters that allow our customers to program 2,000 component boards using their pick-and-place programs in a matter of three hours or less. Finally, we have developed advanced image analysis, data processing and advanced customer support tools that will further promote our evolutionary efforts.
SMT: What is the most critical issue for AOI equipment suppliers today?
VILELLA: AOI has become an essential technology in the 21st century. Many next-generation products in consumer and high-tech electronics will depend on AOI advances to reach the required reliability and quality levels. AOI equipment suppliers must be able to provide effective and realistic solutions that customers can count on. Customers also must be realistic about what AOI can do for them. A combination of realistic customers and straightforward AOI suppliers can lead to a win-win relationship for them as well as for worldwide consumers of electronics products.
SMT: The K2-AOI system is designed using full digital color, a large image format and color image analysis. Explain why this is advantageous to system performance. How does this technology help identify the company within the industry?
VILELLA: When we designed the K2-AOI, we did it carefully, considering the negative issues that were inherent to the AOI equipment available in 1996. By using a large format digital image with a parametric inspection strategy we had to overcome numerous technical challenges, but we felt all along that such strategy would provide a solid and versatile AOI solution. The levels of inspection accuracy, speed and reliability we have achieved with this strategy are exceptional and impressive. Additionally, one day in the not too distant future, our next-generation cameras, in conjunction with a set of highly specialized algorithms, may allow us to derive synthetic 3-D analysis out of 2-D imaging.
SMT: How have your customers' needs/demands changed over the past five years?
VILELLA: Components have become much, much smaller. The 0201 components are a case in point. In 1996, 0603 components were the norm, 0402s were a very necessary innovation and 0201 components were not even in the picture. Today, 0402 components are the norm and 0201 components have become an important next step. Who knows what the future will bring? But whatever it brings is bound to be very small. Our customers will have to meet those placement challenges and we must be there with more powerful AOI technologies to help them achieve their next-generation manufacturing goals.
SMT: What has most driven developments in vision inspection capabilities? How does AOI fit into this? How does 0201 inspection fit?
VILELLA: Miniaturization has been the key to developments in vision inspection capabilities. We must inspect ever shrinking components with higher levels of accuracy than expected. Because of this, AOI has become a critical component in the placement solution. The 0201s bring a special challenge. I discussed with some key manufacturers the fact that with 0201 components, by virtue of their size and the physics involved in their placement, AOI systems will have to be capable not only of detecting them, but also of providing measurable placement feedback to the people manning the line or, ideally, directly to the pick-and-place machines to prevent systemic errors immediately.
SMT: How would you characterize business today?
VILELLA: We are turning the corner. We are leaving behind the turbulent economic times caused by the burst of the e-commerce bubble and we are better for it. Companies with solid strategies and strong technologies, regardless of size, have survived the onslaught and better days are facing all of us left standing. I see a bright future ahead for all involved in manufacturing electronics.
SMT: Where is the surface mount industry headed over the next few years?
VILELLA: As was true in the past as well as today, the future for SMT electronics will continue to be driven by the global need for better, more sophisticated and more powerful electronics devices and systems. It is intrinsic to human nature to be constantly innovative and evolutionary to achieve a better way of life. Such need for innovation and evolution comes with some critical technical challenges. Placing 0201 components is the technical challenge that our industry must successfully and reliably address today. Once placing 0201 components is a normal occurrence, other placement challenges will surface. As an industry, we must proactively meet those challenges head on and implement them successfully.
SMT: What is the central message Vectron would like to convey to the surface mount industry?
VILELLA: Continue tackling placement challenges, and embrace 0201 component placement and beyond. Such challenges are important. Vectron will do the very best to understand your plight. We will be as responsive as we can to your needs, and we will do our level best to provide innovations in AOI technology that you can count on and feel proud to own. And finally, a heartfelt prayer: May the Lord help all of us in the SMT industry and guide us to contribute to a brighter future for mankind.