Rent-to-buy deal gives easy access to testers

The key to Exception EMS' successful Fast Track service for single batch prototyping at the highest technical levels has been its approach to assembled board testing.

Exception EMS, the UK-based contract manufacturer, is one of three elements within the Exception Group, which also includes Exception PCB (PCB manufacture), and Exception VAR (offshore sourcing of medium to high volume PCBs).

The Exception Group employs some 450 staff at its sites located in Calne and Tewkesbury in the West Country.

This Calne, Wiltshire, based manufacturer prides itself in its 6-year long record of helping to develop and produce low to medium volumes of the highest quality coupled with a speedy turnaround and competitive rates.

Exception EMS' Managing Director, Phil Jackson, is enthusiastic about the business which has full turnkey ability from PCB design and manufacture through to assembly and test, including box-build where required.

Key to Exception EMS' success has been its Fast Track service - offering a 24-hour turnaround service - that has responded well to the demand for single batch prototyping at the highest technical levels.

Important to this success has been its approach to assembled board testing.

From the outset Exception had been using Takaya flying probe test equipment, starting with the APT-8400 then expanding their test facility with an APT-9400 both to meet the then improving technology as well as catering for increased demand.

However as technology advances and test requirements became more challenging it was apparent that a review of the business and a reassessment of the demands being made from external customers as well as the company's own production requirements had become essential.

This extensive review highlighted, amongst other areas of the business, the test facilities within the organisation.

The original Itochu-supplied Takaya 8400 has been the main workhorse for test services and the later APT-9400 added extra dimensions in terms of added capacity coupled with improved technology.

Equally important have been the demands of the military sector with its growing complexity, greater sophistication and 100% test necessity.

Exception EMS recognised that the demands of the electronics production marketplace, with increasingly higher technology, shorter deadlines and increasingly more complex assemblies, exampled by such requirements as 22-layer boards, that tying up valuable test resources to meet specific targets was an expensive process.

In an innovative and inspired approach Phil Jackson, MD, and Pete Stoneham, Test Director, decided to approach the dilemma head on.

Essentially, is there a way to benefit from increased test facility without incurring the initial high capital cost?.

The Takaya APT-9411 was identified as the ideal addition to the test capability of Exception EMS, given the flexibility and improved functions of this latest flying probe test system from the Takaya stable, with higher fly height, faster test cycles and enhanced technical features offering different options allowing for additional probes top and bottom as well as top and bottom cameras for improved visual inspection.

To help Exception EMS Graham South, Itochu's Takaya Business Manager, was able to offer a low cost alternative that avoided the relatively high initial capital outlay of the latest Takaya flying probe test system but enabled Exception to benefit from the latest technological advantages of the Takaya 9411 series on an initial rental basis.

The monthly rental has been offset in large part when Exception committed to purchase the system.

This "rent to buy" initiative from Itochu for the Takaya APT-9411 system has been introduced to help all companies considering investment in flying probe test to literally test it for themselves without the high initial cost outlay.

Exception EMS now has three Takaya flying probe test systems for which the company has been able to justify the investment through a proven programme and, with this latest initiative, has helped to avoid an initial capital outlay.

Says Jackson: "The rent-to-buy alternative gave us the breathing space needed while we were assessing our future needs".

This latest initiative from Itochu will enable those companies who have identified the need for flying probe test technology but are yet to justify the initial capital outlay to gain first hand the wide range of benefits of the Takaya system.

The "rent to buy" alternative offered by Itochu enables companies to initially rent the flying probe test system and, when they find that they need to commit to invest in the system, the rental fee will be offset against the purchase.

This facility has been used to great advantage by Exception EMS which, although already an established user of Takaya systems, was able to profit from this initiative.

Itochu's "rent to buy" arrangement is not limited to existing customers, it is available to all those companies who would like to leverage the economies of scale offered by fixtureless testing but are either unsure about the initial outlay or are at an early stage in developing their own in-house test facilities.

Back to top