PartnerTech adds new SMT line and AOI equipment to Cambridge NPI facility

Citation

(2009), "PartnerTech adds new SMT line and AOI equipment to Cambridge NPI facility", Soldering & Surface Mount Technology, Vol. 21 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ssmt.2009.21921bab.003

PartnerTech adds new SMT line and AOI equipment to Cambridge NPI facility

Article Type: Industry news From: Soldering & Surface Mount Technology, Volume 21, Issue 2

PartnerTech, one of Europe’s leading contract manufacturing companies, has added a new Mydata pick and place surface mount (SMT) line and automated optical inspection (AOI) equipment to its state-of-the-art Cambridge-based new product introduction (NPI) facility.

The new equipment will enable the company to meet increased demand and to further improve throughput and yields for UK-based product designers looking for a local, flexible, fast turnaround printed circuit board prototyping and small- to-medium volume system assembly service.

PartnerTech’s 1,400 m² Cambridge site, one of the largest and best equipped NPI facilities in the region, has been providing services from the Coldham’s Lane location for over a decade. Its customers include leading design consultancies and OEMs in point of sale applications, medical technology and instrumentation, industry, defence/aerospace and maritime, information technology, and cleantech. These include, among others, Plextek, Ricardo, Solarflare Communications, TTP and Ultra Electronics.

With the addition of the new Mydata SMT line, the facility now boasts three high speed and high-accuracy placement machines, all of which can accommodate the most up-to-date package styles such as 01005, 0201, 0402, QFP, QFN, ball grid array (BGA), micro BGA, and chip scale packages. The in-line AOI system will complement the existing X-ray inspection to further improve throughput and quality.

Gary Howse, Managing Director of PartnerTech’s UK operation, said: “Our experienced engineering team in Cambridge provides customers with a fast, friendly and flexible PCB prototyping and system build service with yields consistently better than 99 per cent. This is probably why our top ten customers have been using us collectively now for well over 100 years”.

“The new SMT equipment gives us the capacity to meet an upsurge in demand while maintaining our reputation as a high quality, fast turnaround NPI centre. And, importantly, as part of a larger group, we also have the ability to provide customers with a gateway to our UK manufacturing site in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, or for those that want an offshore option, to transfer production to one of our low cost manufacturing facilities in either Poland or China”.

PartnerTech is one of Europe’s largest business-to-business contract manufacturing companies with manufacturing and customer centres in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Poland, the UK, the USA and China.

The company offers the full range of product life cycle services from product design, development, prototyping, NPI and test services through to printed circuit board manufacture, system assembly and distribution. As a systems supplier, PartnerTech leverages its core expertise in combining electronics and mechanics, to enhance the profitability and competitiveness of its customers.

For more information about PartnerTech’s NPI capabilities, please contact: PartnerTech, College Business Park, Coldham’s Lane, Cambridge CB1 3HD. Tel.: +44 1223 247477, Fax: +44 1223 244177 or e-mail: gary.howse@partnertech. Alternatively, visit the web site: www.partnertech.com