Transition Automation awarded

The award was presented by Global SMT & Packaging Magazine's Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Trevor Galbraith to Meghan K. Wallace, accounting manager, during a Wednesday, September 27, 2006 ceremony that took place at the Sofitel Hotel during the Assembly Technology Exposition. Permalex Paste Manager is an exciting and innovative self-cleaning squeegee system that offers an improvement to SMT printing lines. This new active wiper system is integrated directly into the squeegee holder and is designed to exceed the industry challenge of eliminating the conundrum associated with solder paste sticking to squeegees. This unique adaptation of the original dual squeegee system is designed to wipe away solder paste after each stroke, eliminating interruptions in the printing cycle and creating an increase in the uniformity of the printing process. The system clips paste from the squeegee using two small precision-guided articulating wires in a repeatable and controlled manner, improving the quality and consistency of the solder paste within the print area of the printer. The wiper system's actions eliminate the need to manually clean the squeegee, creating a substantial savings on material migration and waste. Cycle changeovers and clean up are made simpler because the solder paste remains mainly on the stencil surface, producing superb process improvement because of less intervention by the operator. As an additional benefit to users, the system is capable of cleaning lead-free solder paste. The Permalex Paste Manager Self-Cleaning Squeegee System is offered across the full Permalex metal squeegee product line and is easily adaptable to any dual squeegee platform. There is no additional hook ups or machine interfacing required because the system is passively actuated by the motion of the squeegee holder. Little or no training is involved with the installation of this system, saving both time and money. The Global Technology Awards program is sponsored by Global SMT & Packaging Magazine, and is an annual celebration of product excellence in semiconductor packaging and electronics assembly. Premier products based on the finest examples of creative advancement in technology in 19 key areas, including Assembly Tools, are chosen by a distinguished panel of industry experts.