DEK International - News & Events

	Double win for DEK at the Global Technology Awards Our ongoing commitment to innovation was recognised at 2007’s Global Technology Awards, held on November 13th during Productronica. Handed to the leading-edge Cyclone and Reel-to-Reel technologies, the awards saw us prevail in the hotly contested cleaning equipment and screen printing equipment categories. Sponsored by Global SMT & Packaging magazine, the awards recognise innovation in the electronics industry over the past year. Both Cyclone and Reel-to-Reel topped their respective categories after an independent panel of experts judged them favourably in relation to criteria including innovation, speed/throughput improvements, quality contribution, cost-benefit and ease-of-use. Officially launched at Productronica, our Reel-to-Reel solution unites proven alignment and clamping technologies with breakthrough tooling solutions to deliver precision printing for continuous substrates such as flexible printed circuits and synthetic advanced materials. Our other award winner, Cyclone, impressed the judges with its ability to cut conventional understencil cleaning times in half. Combining shorter cleaning cycles, longer intervals between paper roll changeover and reduced changeover times, Cyclone represents a substantial productivity advantage – a capacity which sealed our double award win in Munich.

	Circuits Assembly 2007 Service Excellence Award DEK’s commitment to providing an outstanding level of customer service was recognized once again as the company added a fifth consecutive Service Excellence Award to its collection. Presented by Circuits Assembly Magazine, the accolade makes DEK the only printing company to have won five SEAs in succession. “This award reinforces that DEK customers really can expect more,” explains Neil MacRaild, Americas General Manager for DEK. “We are committed to supporting our innovative product range with an exceptional level of customer service, driving productivity for customers around the world.”

	VectorGuard® collects Ed Hale Surface Mount Product Award Held over 17th – 19th October in Melbourne, Australia, the Manufacturing Technology Infocus Trade Show saw DEK collect the Ed Hale Surface Mount Product Award for its VectorGuard® stencil system. Nominated by our distributor Hawker Richardson, VectorGuard impressed the judges with its ability to deliver significant advantages over traditional, mesh mounted stencil technologies. Established by the Surface Mount and Circuit Board Association to honour the contribution made by its founding member and former Vice President Ed Hale, the award judged entrants on a range of strict criteria. Spanning innovation, improvement on an existing product or process, use for SMT, uniqueness, usability and potential, the criteria was successfully met by the VectorGuard stencil system. As a unique tensioning system delivering a whole range of process benefits, VectorGuard is available in a variety of different foils for enhanced manufacturing flexibility. The entire range – from the original stainless steel VectorGuard Blue to the electroformed nickel VectorGuard Gold – delivers space-efficient storage, enhanced usability, improved rigidity and safer handling.

	Global Technology Awards honour Instinctiv™ DEK’s advanced Instinctiv™ machine user interface was awarded a Global Technology Award during a ceremony held at Chicago’s ATExpo 2006. Held on September 27th, the awards were designed to recognise the best new product innovations released over the past year. Judged in relation to criteria including innovation, quality contribution, cost-benefit, ease-of-use and maintainability, Instinctiv was voted winner of the software category by a panel of international judges. Having facilitated the advance of the e-printer age, Instinctiv equips DEK customers with the ability to simultaneously maximise machine utilisation, process control and operator efficiency. Built on human factors techniques usually found in virtual reality technologies, Instinctiv is able to display complex machine and process data in an accessible format. In addition, this unique graphical interface also acts as the portal into DEK’s range of online support services to incorporate a high level of on-board help and error recovery. Sponsored by Global SMT & Packaging Magazine, the awards recognised Instinctiv’s status as a breakthrough technology for the next generation.

	DEK enjoys awards double at the Advanced Packaging Awards Held at the high-profile Semicon West exhibition, the 2006 Advanced Packaging Awards saw DEK win an awards double. Judged by a panel of industry experts in relation to product innovation, cost-effectiveness, speed and throughput, quality, ease-of-use, maintainability and environmental responsibility, DEK’s SinguLign and DirEKt Coat technologies each picked up top honours in their respective categories. SinguLign led the category of Specialised Advanced Packaging Equipment and Materials, recognised for its ability to enable high accuracy mass imaging of multiple materials onto singulated substrates. In addition, the DirEKt Coat system received an award for its ultra-thin wafer level-coating process for various materials including die attach, epoxies and protective backside coatings. Commenting on the awards, Neil MacRaild claimed “The efficiencies and flexibility of DEK’s high accuracy mass imaging platforms have clearly established these systems as viable alternatives to high-priced, single-function dedicated semiconductor processing equipment.”

	DEK wins 2006 Frost & Sullivan Award for Market Leadership Following a recent analysis of world screen printers markets, DEK has been singled out as the recipient of the 2006 Frost & Sullivan Award for Market Leadership. The prestigious accolade acknowledged DEK’s maintenance of its technology leadership position over recent years and its continuing efforts to enhance customer service. Established to recognise companies exhibiting market share leadership by driving innovation and capitalising on opportunities, the annual award is bestowed on a recipient which has displayed excellence in all areas of business processes, including the identification of market challenges, and deploying suitable strategies to overcome them. Commenting on the award, Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Lavanya Ram Mohan claimed, “DEK’s diverse product portfolio has helped the company penetrate all segments of the market successfully and cater to customers around the world. Customers, in turn, have accepted the flexibility inherent in the company’s product line as an effective solution to meet the ever-growing requirements of speed and accuracy.”

	ProFlow® DirEKt Imaging technology wins the award for best entry in Dispensing Systems/Equipment category at the Electronics Manufacturing Asia Innovation Awards 2006. Peland Koh, General Manager for DEK Asia Pacific, “These awards recognize and reward excellence in the electronics industry, and are given to the companies that achieve the highest standards in driving the industry forward. As such, we are obviously delighted that our innovative ProFlow® DirEKt Imaging technology has been singled out for this special recognition in Asia.” Since its introduction, ProFlow systems have been installed by DEK customers in all corners of the globe, representing around 80% of all enclosed printheads currently in action worldwide. In migrating from squeegees to enclosed printhead technology through the adoption of ProFlow® DirEKt Imaging technology, users have benefited from enhanced throughput, higher process yields, improved efficiency, and lower material consumption. Not only does DirEKt Imaging dramatically improve the efficiency of the surface mount pre-placement process, it also delivers environmental benefits and exceptional ease-of-use for operators.

	Intel Preferred Quality Supplier Award 2006 “We are proud to be associated with the recipients of the Preferred Quality Supplier award,” said Gidu Shroff, Intel vice president and director of materials. “This year’s recipients have demonstrated commitment through outstanding performance in their respective industries and have contributed to Intel’s success. These suppliers have shown their commitment to continuous improvement and dedication to total quality, which is highly valued by Intel.” “This year’s Preferred Quality Supplier award winners stand out for consistently surpassing Intel’s expectations in technology innovation, quality, affordability, and customer satisfaction,” said Jai Hakhu, Intel vice president and general manager of Technology Manufacturing Engineering. “The suppliers we are recognizing are role models for our industry. Their exemplary commitment to enabling new levels of performance and capabilities is essential to helping Intel deliver products that address future applications for consumers and businesses worldwide.”

	Circuits Assembly 2006 Service Excellence Award Outstanding customer service is also an area for which DEK received top honors and was presented with Circuits Assembly magazine’s Service Excellence Award. This is the fourth consecutive win for DEK – a record that clearly illustrates the company’s philosophy of customer delight and of providing unique and enjoyable customer experiences. “For products to be truly exceptional, they must be fully supported with extraordinary customer service,” concludes Neil MacRaild, Americas General Manager for DEK. “This is precisely what DEK strives to deliver on a daily basis and, by all accounts, is achieving.”

	Hawkeye RTC won the IPC Innovation Showcase 2006 For the third consecutive year, DEK was selected for IPC’s Innovative Technology Showcase, which recognizes products in the electronics manufacturing industry that are truly innovative and deliver new and unique process-enabling technologies to the marketplace. This year, DEK’s HawkEye RTC, a board transport and post-print verification pairing that enable DEK’s market-leading Europa platform to deliver a record-breaking 4-second core cycle time, was chosen for this highly coveted honor. The unique combination of Rapid Transit Conveyor (RTC) board transport technology and HawkEye 100% post-print verification on board the highly-accurate and repeatable Europa Micron-class platform deliver the speed and 100% verification that was previously unachievable. Now, manufacturers do not have to sacrifice speed for complete print verification or vice-versa. DEK’s HawkEye RTC makes this process goal a manufacturing reality.

	Interactiv won the SMT Vision award 2006 Interactiv, a robust system that provides 24/7 web-based support. With Interactiv, users realize unprecedented machine control, the ability to predict and schedule maintenance through remote diagnostics capability, view machine histories and gain access to DEK service control centers. DEK Interactiv’s link to the DEK support staff through the Instinctiv interface allows customers the convenience of “on-site” support without the delay associated with a service visit and enables maximum uptime with a significantly reduced cost of ownership.

	Galaxy wins Advanced Packaging’ AP Award at Semicon West 2005 In a ceremony at the Semicon West 2005 exhibition held in July, in San Francisco, California, DEK’s Galaxy high accuracy mass imaging platform was awarded with Advanced Packaging magazine’s prestigious AP Award. The win again confirms DEK’s next-generation packaging leadership and the high accuracy processing capabilities of the Galaxy platform. DEK’s unique Galaxy system combines several new technologies that enable high accuracy mass imaging for a variety of final manufacturing packaging applications, from wafer-level up to and including encapsulation and solder ball attach. Galaxy addresses the ever present need for resource maximisation, as it can be configured and easily re-deployed to host a number of different packaging processes including wafer bumping, ball placement, singulation, thermal interface material (TIM) deposition and backside wafer coating.

	Circuits Assembly 2005 Service Excellence Award Voted on by DEK customers, the Circuits Assembly Service Excellence Awards program is the only such contest in the industry and winners are determined based soley on customer ratings in 5 critical areas of customer service : dependability, ease of use, reponsiveness, technology and value for the price. This is the 3rd consecutive Service Excellence Award win for DEK.

	SMT Magazine Vision Award 2004 for innovative technology - Printing Category DEK's development of the innovative VectorGuard™ frameless stencil system has been recognised and awarded with SMT's Vision Award in the printing category. The Vision Awards are voted on each year by a panel of industry experts and rate each product entry based on several challengin criteria, including: innovativeness, cost effectiveness, speeed / throughput improvements, quality contribution, ease of use, maintainability / repairability and environmental responsibility. The VectorGuard™ stencil system is a unique frameless stencil system that allows for maximum ease of use, improved operator safety, manufacturing cost-efficiency and environmental friendliness.

	Assembly Solution of the Year 2004 Best board assembly equipment or material that has made the most positive contribution to the manufacturing process The Galaxy Galaxy is a high-accuracy mass imaging platform. Its speed and high volume capacity not only means reduced operator training but minimal machine downtime as well. Encoders incorporated into the design eliminate positional errors brought on by belt and pulley drives in previous machines.

	Circuits Assembly 2004 Service Excellence Award 2004 Service Excellence Awards (SEAs) for Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Providers and Electronics Assembly Equipment, Materials and Software Suppliers. Circuits Assembly magazine recognized the companies that received the highest customer service ratings, as judged by their own customers. DEK International Electronics assembly equipment award winner DEK (Flemington, NJ) for screen printing.

	Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Line Strategy in the World SMT Soldering Equipment & Materials Market 2003 DEK is one of the most imminent, able and innovative organizations in the SMT Screen Printer equipment market. It was determined that DEK excelled in the following criteria: - · Introduction of new products, strategically positioned to balance the product line. · Ability to accommodate different market segments, or different markets within an industry by repurposing technology · Enhancement of product offerings through optimisation of packaging, service, delivery financing and/or other value-added services. · Strategic technology or marketing acquisitions or alliances. Quote from Frost & Sullivan: "DEK is recognized as market leader in the World Screen Printer Equipment Market," says Mandeep Singh Oberoi, Frost & Sullivan industry analyst. "DEK International is recognized as the most imminent, able, and innovative organization. It is projected that DEK International will continue to retain its position as market leader as well as a customer oriented organization during the forecast period of the study." "DEK International is renowned for providing highest level of customer support and service by going out of the way to satisfy their customers. DEK has been continuously maintaining its highest position in the SMT screen printer market. It is projected that due to a wide product development and customer satisfaction programs, coupled with high level of product and technologies to its credit, DEK will continue to be the market leader in the SMT screen printer market."

	Intel Preferred Quality Supplier Award 2002 DEK was awarded for its efforts in supplying Intel with printing machines. "PQS recognition has been a significant objective for DEK and it is extremely rewarding to have reached this milestone in our relationship with Intel", said Richard Heimsch, President, DEK International. "DEK has role modelled flexible infrastructure with innovative technology and support to deliver seamless solutions to Intel", Fred Rezaei, Intel Assembly Capital Equipment Development Manager. "Despite tough business conditions, DEK continued to support our new capability assessment programs, and led the way in meeting our cost reduction targets. DEK has consistently demonstrated overall qualities that we look for in a strategic supplier. Congratulations to DEK for winning Intel's Preferred Quality Supplier award". -o- "Intel instituted the Preferred Quality Supplier awards to distinguish those suppliers that differentiate themselves through consistent outstanding performance," said Gidu K. Shroff, Intel vice president and director, Materials. "These suppliers have embraced continuous improvement and are leaders in their respective industries. As a result of our association with these suppliers, Intel has seen its component quality improve and our supply chain business practices advance. I am thrilled about this year's recipients and proud to be associated with such outstanding companies." "Our Preferred Quality Supplier award winners stand out for their significant commitment to innovation, cost management and customer satisfaction," said Jai K Hakhu, Intel vice president, Technology and Manufacturing Group, and general manager, Technology Manufacturing Engineering. "The suppliers we are recognizing today have consistently surpassed our expectations and are well positioned to meet future challenges as we move toward 65-nanometer process technology and smaller."

	SMT Magazine Vision Award for innovative technology DEK won the Vision Award for innovative technology, sponsored by SMT magazine, for DirEKt Ball Placement™, which provides significant performance and cost advantages for semiconductor packaging. DirEKt Ball Placement™ uses DEK's patented ProFlow® DirEKt Imaging technology to place solder balls as small as 0.3 mm in diameter onto substrates or wafers, with fine-pitch accuracy and first-pass yields consistently better than 99%. The DirEKt Ball Placement System was evaluated against other entries on a 10-point scale for its innovation, cost-effectiveness, speed, quality, ease of use, maintainability and environmental responsibility.

	W.L. Gore & DEK win Excellence in Electronic Packaging and Production Award DirEKt Ball Placement™ also serves as the enabling installation technology for snapSHOT™, a new board-level EMI shielding solution from Gore, which won an Excellence in Electronic Packaging and Production Award, sponsored by EP&P magazine. Gore's lightweight, easily removable snapSHOT™ shield provides wireless communications devices with excellent EMI protection and overcomes the limitations of metal cans. DEK and Gore combined their expertise to develop a snapSHOT™ installation process compatible with high-speed, high-volume SMT assembly. The process uses DirEKt Ball Placement™ technology to place solder spheres in precise patterns on a PCB. Gore's patented snap-attach mechanism then secures the snapSHOT™ shield over the solder spheres which, when reflowed, provide both electrical and mechanical connection. If needed, the shield can be removed and replaced with a new one, without de-soldering or re-soldering.