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Salem, N.H., March 2009- On display at the Apex Show in Las Vegas, NV will be Seica’s Firefly laser selective soldering system. Over the past few years this new technology has been making in-roads into the Military sector where due to contract obligations or restrictions on re-designs there has been regained interest in new, effective soldering solutions.
Dave Sigillo, General Manager of Seica North America says: “Due to the fine pitch solder capability of our laser systems, when new production builds are being contracted out, some of the previously difficult solder operations are being reviewed against the latest solder process technology. This not only improves the quality of the finished product to the end user but can also improve efficiency and costs to the contract manufacturer or OEM.” As companies look at ways to reduce costs it is worth reconsidering the new automated solder process associated with laser technology.
“Our involvement in the mil/aero sector has increased substantially the past three years as OEMs and contractors have looked for equipment and legacy support tailored to the high-reliability, low to medium volume sector of the market - Seica is well-known for delivering top notch solutions for those clients’”.
Seica’s Firefly concentrates all the power and precision of laser technology into the automated selective soldering process of electronic boards and assemblies. Firefly integrates Seica’s easy to use VIP™ software, which includes a completely new automatic program development environment that drastically reduces the time needed to setup soldering programs.
Equipped with a SMEMA compatible board conveyor system and fiducial recognition, Firefly is easily integrated into a fully automated production line. Sophisticated algorithms and fast loop control enable automatic management of printed circuit board characteristics and environmental factors, resulting in a high level of soldering quality and repeatability. Thermal control, so essential to the soldering process, is guaranteed by an integrated temperature control system that provides continuous feedback during the soldering process and displays thermal profiles clearly in real time, then stores the profiles and images of each soldered point, ensuring complete traceability of the soldering process.
Seica in the Military / Defense Sector
Seica's dedicated attention to the specific product and support requirements of the mil-aero market should be emphasized. Though mil-aero customers deploy the same test techniques used in commercial applications, their requirements at the prototype, production, and field/depot maintenance steps are more rigid and span over a larger spread of technology and longer product life cycles.
Seica started out developing in-circuit test equipment for OEM's in civilian industries. However, it has since refined and developed innovative and visionary solutions to match the requirements of defense and aerospace manufacturing, where stringent standards for product quality, reliability and support are contractual.
Seica has significantly contributed to test development of LRU, SRU, CCAs programs and fixtures for the Tornado, AMX, EFA2000, F/A 18 and other major military programs acquiring a unique experience on a variety of languages (ATLAS, C++, tester specific,).
About Seica:
Founded in 1986, Seica S.p.A. is a global supplier of automatic test equipment with an installed base of more than 900 systems on four different continents. Seica offers a complete line of test solutions, including bed of nails and flying probe testers, able to perform MDA, in-circuit, functional and optical tests of loaded boards, second and third level electronic modules and printed circuit boards. Headquarter is located in Strambino, Italy, with offices in France, Germany, Texas (USA), and New Hampshire (USA), alongside a worldwide distribution channel network.
