-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- pcb007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueThe Growing Industry
In this issue of PCB007 Magazine, we talk with leading economic experts, advocacy specialists in Washington, D.C., and PCB company leadership to get a well-rounded picture of what’s happening in the industry today. Don’t miss it.
The Sustainability Issue
Sustainability is one of the most widely used terms in business today, especially for electronics and manufacturing but what does it mean to you? We explore the environmental, business, and economic impacts.
The Fabricator’s Guide to IPC APEX EXPO
This issue previews many of the important events taking place at this year's show and highlights some changes and opportunities. So, buckle up. We are counting down to IPC APEX EXPO 2024.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - pcb007 Magazine
Whelen & IPS: A Strategic Partnership—A Winning Combination
November 4, 2015 | Bryan Bernas, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Integrated Process Systems, Inc. (IPS) is a manufacturer of automated wet process equipment and material handling systems in Cedar City, Utah. IPS was formed in June of 1996 with a philosophy of being a multi-product, multi-industry company. In 1996, IPS purchased the assets of VCM for its vertical process equipment, and in 2000, purchased the assets of Western Technology Associates Inc. (WTA) for its horizontal process equipment and VRP technology. The result is the establishment of IPS as a state-of-the-art product line that offers a turnkey solution to all wet process and material handling requirements.
Of the 39 suppliers Whelen chose to use, none were as integral to the automation and overall design and layout of the line as IPS, with its team led by President Mike Brask. In February 2014, IPS approached Whelen at a very early stage, to put the required infrastructure in place before any of the equipment could be installed. This involved the design and installation of al the overhead utilities: the blower on the roof for exhaust, the process piping, as well as all the Unistrut framing (yellow and green for Mike’s favorite Green Bay team—a playful jibe for a factory located in the heart of New England Patriot territory). IPS also hired local mechanical contractors to run the plumbing, which would later be connected to pump stations (also installed by IPS) scattered throughout the factory. From start to finish, the Whelen project took the IPS team approximately 18 months.
Speaking about taking on such a large project, Brask said, “From an engineering point of view, the challenge was thinking through all the process flows and automation details that needed to happen; Alex Stepinski had his flow charts and his logic worked out, but what does that tool have to look like? That’s where we came in. He did a very good job spec’ing the process, which made it a lot easier, but then configuring the tools to do each one of those functions—that took some time. Another big challenge for us was that normally, equipment manufacturers in the U.S. don’t get huge orders like this every day. We had to ramp up to keep up with the capacity we needed to build this along with our other projects and try to balance it all.”
The IPS equipment made up about one-third of Whelen’s equipment spend. Overall, IPS installed 52 machines at Whelen. One of the key technical challenges was working with other vendors to integrate their tools into the software management system. IPS had the responsibility of integrating these tools for the line to run as a turnkey solution. This involved writing software drivers to work with each supplier’s unique formats and languages that, in some cases, weren’t developed at the time the orders were placed with IPS. All systems needed to be programmed so the user could define the process flow of each job in a tray that could be independently routed and tracked. This soft-ware and hardware allowed the line to run as a continuous system.
All IPS equipment was manufactured in the U.S. in Cedar City, Utah, except for the handling equipment, which was made by IPS’ Taiwanese partner, WorldTech. It makes up an impressive automated conveyor system that tracks very smoothly and is filled with IPS loader/unloaders, buffer systems, etching and stripping systems, and so on. But perhaps the most impressive IPS system is the vertical electrolytic plating machine. Being fully automated, this machine has the biggest cycle time gain; in 30–40 minutes Whelen is able send a panel through the entire process. After all of the equipment was installed, IPS also worked with Proface, their touchscreen provider, to develop software that coordinates all the machines and allows the system to monitor each job in real-time.
Within the budget Whelen set, Alex dreamed up a remarkable factory, but it was IPS that played a central role in making it a reality.
“We’re in a redefining moment,” Brask said.” We had our initial business plan that we started the company with—to be multi-product, multi-industry. We’ve always stuck with that philosophy. That has gotten us through the down-turns and the recessions. We’ve been fortunate enough to always be stable. Now what we’re doing is we’re redefining the business plan to basically bring to the table integration and automation. It’s what the future market needs in the U.S. for circuit boards.”
Suggested Items
Lockheed Martin Australia, The Department Of Defence Sign Strategic Partnership Head Contract
04/26/2024 | Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin Australia signed a landmark AUD$500 million contract with the Department of Defence to build Australia’s future Joint Air Battle Management System under project - AIR6500 Phase 1 (AIR6500-1).
Cadence, TSMC Collaborate on Wide-Ranging Innovations to Transform System and Semiconductor Design
04/25/2024 | Cadence Design SystemsCadence Design Systems, Inc. and TSMC have extended their longstanding collaboration by announcing a broad range of innovative technology advancements to accelerate design, including developments ranging from 3D-IC and advanced process nodes to design IP and photonics.
Siemens’ Breakthrough Veloce CS Transforms Emulation and Prototyping with Three Novel Products
04/24/2024 | Siemens Digital Industries SoftwareSiemens Digital Industries Software launched the Veloce™ CS hardware-assisted verification and validation system. In a first for the EDA (Electronic Design Automation) industry, Veloce CS incorporates hardware emulation, enterprise prototyping and software prototyping and is built on two highly advanced integrated circuits (ICs) – Siemens’ new, purpose-built Crystal accelerator chip for emulation and the AMD Versal™ Premium VP1902 FPGA adaptive SoC (System-on-a-chip) for enterprise and software prototyping.
Taiyo Circuit Automation Installs New DP3500 into Fuba Printed Circuits, Tunisia
04/25/2024 | Taiyo Circuit AutomationTaiyo Circuit Automation is proud to be partnered with Fuba Printed Circuits, Tunisia part of the OneTech Group of companies, a leading printed circuit board manufacturer based out of Bizerte, Tunisia, on their first installation of Taiyo Circuit Automation DP3500 coater.
Vicor Power Orders Hentec Industries/RPS Automation Pulsar Solderability Testing System
04/24/2024 | Hentec Industries/RPS AutomationHentec Industries/RPS Automation, a leading manufacturer of selective soldering, lead tinning and solderability test equipment, is pleased to announce that Vicor Power has finalized the purchase of a Pulsar solderability testing system.