MITA (P) NO 076/05/2000 A Quarterly Publication By Universal Instruments Corporation ISSUE 12 April 2003

CORPORATE NEWS Universal opens new US$5 million world- class manufacturing facility in Shekou, Guangdong Province

niversal Instruments has opened a We will be poised to take advantage of This new facility is another addition to UUS$5 million manufacturing this upswing and use the experience and Universal Instruments’ expanding facility in Shekou, Guangdong Province. knowledge gained in the increasingly infrastructure in China, which includes The new state-of-the-art 4,700 sq m sophisticated and fast-paced China the US$1 million Technology Center in manufacturing facility will act as a base market to forge ahead and capture Suzhou, opened in May 2002, and the to service the company’s Asian business market share.” original manufacturing facility that has and provide hands-on process and been making machines in Guangdong manufacturing training support for Universal Instruments’ shift in emphasis Province for over 10 years. existing and potential customers in China. to Asia reflects changes in the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) sector, the In China, Universal Instruments already The new facility, which will include growth of original design manufacturers serves many of the major local SMT research, engineering, finance as well as (ODMs), and the increasing market for customers, such as TCL, Haier, Wongs, product assembly, is an investment in the mid-range equipment. and Eastway; the major Taiwan future of the company,” said Ian McEvoy, electronics manufacturers with China president of Universal Instruments. The new, state-of-the art facility assembly factories including Asustek, “Already, sales in Asia represent more effectively replicates the renowned Foxconn, Inventec, Delta, BenQ, and than 50% of our global revenues and so world-class manufacturing process and Arima; and the large multinational it is vital that decision making is devolved quality programmes already in manufacturers such as Flextronics, to local centres that can function as operation at the company’s other Solectron, Jabil, and Pemstar. In terms of effective partners to our customers. manufacturing facilities around the market sectors, Universal Instruments world. It also houses the Technology serves virtually every industry, but “All the indicators suggest that global Gallery, which contains displays of the singles out the consumer, industrial, electronic manufacturing will show an advanced technologies that Universal’s communications and IT/PC markets as upward trend toward the end of 2003. machines are built upon, including particular strengths. With this new facility up and running, vision, drive, and interface technologies.

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WHAT’s NEW Chinese Language Pages Available from Universal Web Site

niversal Instruments has range of languages supported via our !"#$%I= !"#$% U expanded its web site to enhance web site by introducing web pages in !"#$ !"#$%& access to native language information other languages in the future. !" !"#$%& >>for Chinese-speaking customers. This access to web content will enable The Universal Instruments’ Simplified !"#$ customers and electronics Chinese language pages are now live, manufacturers throughout China to and can be accessed from the “Universal !"#$%&' !"# gain faster, fuller understanding of Instruments China” link located in the !"#$% !"#$
techniques and technologies, as well left-hand navigation bar on the !"#$%&'()*+, as the support services available Universal Instruments homepage at from Universal Instruments, allowing www.uic.com. ! !"#$%&'() them to maximize the effectiveness !"# of their activities. !"#$%&'()*+,- !"#$%&'()*+, By providing data in local languages, we !"#$%&'("#)*+ !"#$%&'( are helping our customers meet their !"#$% !"#$% www.uic.com !"=“Universal objectives. For this reason, Universal
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Instruments will continue to extend the Instruments China” !" ○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ >> 2 Automation in Electronic Assembly WHAT’s NEW New Shopping Cart Functionality added to Web Site - Simplifies On-line Purchasing

Universal Instruments has improved the functionality of its web site by adding a To access the shopping cart feature, look shopping cart feature that enables users to easily order spare parts and services in a for the shopping cart icon located on the secure web environment. upper left-hand part of every Universal Instruments’ web page. The shopping cart improves users’ web-based purchasing experience with Universal Instruments through various features like the ability to calculate UPS freight charges of the items selected. The shopping cart also retains information for up to 30 days. !"#$%&'()*+,-.
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 At present, the shopping cart is available only for spare parts purchases. To use the !"#$%&'()*+,
 shopping cart, users must be registered to MyUniversal, Universal Instruments’ !"#$%&'() individualized, direct communication link with its customers. Additional customer information is required to ensure security. This security enables Universal not only !"#$%&'()*+,-. to protect its customers, but also to provide them with customer-specific pricing, as !"# !"#$%&'( well as part availability from the parts warehouse closest to them. Universals’ Vantis platform – where value and versatility meet

s the number of small-to mid-sized circuit board manufacturers increases, Aso too does the demand for less expensive component placement equipment with fewer options and capabilities than high-end machines. In response to this demand Universal Instruments has launched the Vantis™ platform, an accurate and reliable placement platform introduced to meet the needs of small- to mid-size consumer electronics, audio-visual equipment, PC, and peripheral manufacturers.

Vantis is built on the same foundation as Universal’s flagship GSM® Platform. The machine has been streamlined by removing many features required by larger manufacturers, delivering optimal performance at a mid-range price. Vantis incorporates a single-beam positioning system and supports a limited number of heads, cameras, and configurations. A choice of 7-spindle high speed or 4-spindle flexible heads accommodates a wide component range, while Asian language application support, extensive networking capabilities, and an intuitive graphical interface make the Vantis easy to use.

While focused on providing value, Vantis offers the stability, reliability, and world-class support that are synonymous with Universal equipment.

Automation in Electronic Assembly 3 NORTH & SOUTH EAST ASIA SEMICON Korea

EMICON Korea 2003, (held in Seoul, 21-23 January) delivered a first-rate view of the worldwide Korean semiconductor S equipment and materials industry. The exposition was at capacity of above 600 booths used by 400 companies. The Korea Technical Symposium was the highlight of the exposition. It consisted of seven technical sessions that provided a dynamic spectrum of technology direction for semiconductor manufacturing from a wide variety of aspects. The symposium covered the latest technologies topics: Etching, advanced lithography, dielectric interconnection & new materials, device, contamination- free manufacturing, packaging and test.

Low cost and simple processes are the mottos for electro package trends. A paper prepared by Dr. Anthony Primavera (Universal Instruments SMT Lab) and presented by Dr. CY Huang (Universal Taiwan) was one of the agenda in the section of packaging technology. The topics were highly focused on practical aspects of modern package design, structure, and manufacturing in the field of system-in-a-package, multi-chip-package, and chip scale package. This paper addressed the effects of multiple factors on the reliability of microvia in the high-density interconnection technology.

Componex show in Bangalore

The Componex/electronicIndia 2003, the 8th International Universal Instruments’ agent in India, International Marketing Conference and Exhibition of Electronic Components, Raw Corp (IMC), was one of the 400 exhibitors participating this Materials and Production Equipment, was jointly organised by year. IMC displayed, for the first time, a GSM2 from our Electronics Today and Messe Munchen International from 21- Remanufactured Machine Division at the booth. Visitors to the 24 January 2003. IMC booth had the opportunity to discover the key benefits of a Universal Certified remanufactured machine. Sponsored by the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, There were over 20,000 visitors as well as international Government of India, the four-day exhibition showcased a pavilions for exhibitors from China, Taiwan, and Germany. wide range of electronic components, assemblies, raw James Webster (product marketing specialist from RMD) materials, and production equipment by both leading Indian also presented a paper on “Purchasing Decision: Used vs and foreign players in these fields. Remanufactured.”

4 Automation in Electronic Assembly HONG KONG / CHINA SEMICON China

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Electronic China= !" !"#$%& International (SEMI), SEMICON China was held from 12-14 !"#$%&'( !" !"#$%&'( March at Shanghai New International Expo Center. Universal !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123 Instruments shared a booth with Alphasem and displayed a set of GSMxs machines.

SEMICON ran concurrently with Electronic China. This contributed greatly to the right target audience being present at the event. The turn out was good and Universal managed to create awareness among delegates in the SMT and SEMICON space.

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Automation in Electronic Assembly 5 PRODUCT & TECHNOLOGY Software Support Services For HSP Products Added To Universal Web Site

Software support services for Universal Instruments' HSP !"#$% epm
 (chipshooter) products were recently added to the !"#$ company's web site at www.uic.com. This software service provides quick turnaround for new releases and machine !"#$% www.uic.com !"# HSP updates, while maintaining the most efficient distribution E !"F !"#$%&' !"# method possible. A software revision notes and known !"#$%"&'()*+ !"#$ issues area provides information on the latest changes and !"# !"#$%&'()*+,- conditions associated with machine software levels. !"#$%&'()*+,-./012

Access to this software support site is available to customers !"#$%&'()*+,-./0 registered to Universal's "MyUniversal" customized, secure "MyUniversal" ! !"#$%&'()* web information site. To register, visit Universal's site at !"#$ !"#$%&'
www.uic.com and select "MyUniversal" from the top www.uic.com !"#$%&'
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 48 !"#$%& activated within 48 hours. Universal Announces Large Board HSP Chipshooter

Internet infrastructure board sizes are driving the need for large-board capability in process manufacturing lines. To address this need, Universal Instruments announces the development of the new 4797L HSP Chipshooter, the fastest large- board capable, high-speed machine on the market.

While the 4797L is designed specifically for large PCB applications, it maintains the performance attributes of the previously released 4797A and 4797S HSP Chipshooters. The 4797 series features a simplified design with fewer mechanical parts, making these machines the most reliable, easy to use, and easy to maintain in their class. And, with a maximum board size of 457mm x 610mm (18" x 24"), the 4797L HSP accommodates most large-board applications.

With key improvements of the new 4797L HSP Chipshooter over the previous large-board machine (the 4796L), as well as vision improvements and faster component feeders, the 4797L offers dynamic performance by populating large boards at full speed. The result is higher throughput, greater machine utilisation, and improved productivity for our customers.

The 4797L HSP Chipshooter supplements the existing 4797 series of turret-style HSPs, which include the "standard footprint" 4797A and "small footprint" 4797S. All Universal HSP machines use direct drive technology, allowing on-the-fly theta corrections for faster large-part placement.

6 Automation in Electronic Assembly Magellan Camera Steers GSM® Platform to Higher Inspection Performance

niversal Instruments extended the U performance of its GSM® Platform by introducing the latest vision technology in the form of the new Magellan™ camera. This superior, high- resolution imaging device captures most of the largest components in a single field of view to accelerate throughput. It also features front, side, and on-axis lighting to accommodate a wide component range.

The large, 60mm field of view (FOV) provides substantial throughput improvements for applications that typically require multiple FOVs for large BGA, CCGA, and QFP devices. This larger imaging area does not, however, come at the expense of resolution. Magellan has a pixel resolution of 1024 x 1024 to facilitate small part feature recognition.

Several lighting improvements have also been incorporated. Lighting intensity is now consistent across the viewable area. The flexibility of the Magellan digital camera makes it ideally suited to today’s demanding requirements in new product development and introduction; high-mix, fast-turn production environments; and high-volume, high- throughput applications.

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Automation in Electronic Assembly 7 Data management adds new dimension to manufacturing optimisation, monitoring, and control software

niversal Instruments has enhanced Optimisation (DPO) module provides a Uits Dimensions™ manufacturing single programming and line automation software suite by adding optimisation tool for configuring a data management features that allow Universal line. electronic manufacturers to maintain a common component database for their Universal Instruments’ Dimensions™ Universal GSM platform and HSP surface manufacturing automation software mount placement machines. allows manufacturers to instantly highlight production bottlenecks, The new Dimensions Database optimise throughput, capture histories Management (DDM) module joins and performance data, and streamline Universal Instruments’ Dimensions line new product introduction (NPI). level manufacturing automation software suite, designed to improve the The suite includes the Dimensions day to day work flow in the factory Manufacturing Monitoring (DMM) environment by increasing line module, which acts as a single point of productivity and managing production storage, retrieval, and analysis of performance. machine management data. It offers web-based browsing, component By providing a centralised component traceability, remote notification, and database, DDM allows manufacturers performance monitoring, and serves to control the component definitions as an Internet window to the available at each of the machines. manufacturing environment. It also DDM makes it easier to use and allows component consumption data, maintain the large quantities of data PCB and machine status, and feeder required for manufacturing modern information to be easily up-linked and electronic products at high throughput integrated into an ERP system. and efficiency. !"Dimensions !"#$%$&'()*+, !"#$%& To simplify pattern program creation, !"#$%&'()*+,-./012 !"#$%& GSM DDM includes definitions for more than HSP !"#$ 1,000 common industry components. In addition, component information within aáãÉåëáçåë !"#$=EDimensions Database Management - DDMF DDM could be exported to Dimensions !"Dimensions !"#$%&'()(*+,- !"#$% Programming and Optimisation !"#$%&'( !"#$!"%&'()!"*+, software (DPO) or a third party programming tool such as Unicam, aáãÉåëáçåë !"#$%&'()*+,- . !"# $%& Valor, Circuitcam, Genrad, etc. The !"#$Dimensions !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123 Dimensions Programming and !"#$% !" #$%&

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Nepcon Shanghai/EMT China 2003 8-11 April 2003 Vantis Road Show – Penang 23 May 2003 Vantis Road Show – Thailand 12 June 2003 Vantis Road Show – Singapore 29-30 May 2003 Taipei International SMT Show 26-29 June 2003 Vantis Road Show – Delhi 17- 18 July 2003 Vantis Road Show – Mumbai 23-24 July 2003 Vantis Road Show – Bangalore 28-29 July 2003

For more information, kindly refer to: http://www.uic.com/wcms/WCMS.nsf/index/Tradeshows_4.html For more information about Universal products and services, please call (65) 6485 8343 or email [email protected] or check out Universal’s website at www.uic.com