MYSMT 2015 02

MYNews 2015.02 BNLX-UK – page 1
MYNews
An SMT magazine from Mycronic
2015.02 BNLX-UK
PINBALL
WIZARD
chooses Mycronic
VALUE
that’s what we sell!

MYNews 2015.02 BNLX-UK – page 3
High-mix thinking
For a higher volume world
Jet printing lets you add solder paste 10 times faster.
Stop waiting for painfully slow solder-paste dispensers. With modern “touch-
free” jet printing technology, you can move 10 times faster on complex add-on
work – with absolutely no risk of human error. Whether you’re mounting PCBs
for the space industry, doing pin-and-paste for new mobile broadband appli-
cations, or producing highly populated boards, you can always be sure
of getting perfect solder joints.
How? The secret lies in a combination of advanced robotics and software that
enables you to add paste where you need it, with precise volume control. You
can also achieve faster, more accurate low-temp paste application, avoiding
the need to expose costly components to a second reflow. So why not put our
high-mix thinking to work in your higher volume environment?
Mycronic, MYDATA, MYDATA automation and MY; MY100, MY100DX, MY100SX, MY100LX, MY100e, MY100HXe, MY100DXe, MY100SXe, MY100LXe, MY200, MY200HX, MY200DX, MY200SX,
MY200LX, MY500, MY600 and MYSynergy; T3, T4, T5 and T6; HYDRA Speedmount, Midas, ISIC; Agilis, Agilis Linear Magazine (ALM), Agilis Linear Magazine Flex (ALM FLEX), Agilis Stick Magazine
(ASM), Mycronic Tray Exchanger (TEX), Mycronic Tape Magazine (TM), Mycronic Tray Wagon Magazine (TWM); Mycronic Dip unit (DPU); Mycronic Standard vision System (SVS), Mycronic Dual
Vision System (DVS), Mycronic Linescan Vision System (LVS), Mycronic HYDRA Vision System (HVS); Mycronic Assembly Process Management (APM) including; JPSys, TPSys, MYLabel, MYPlan,
MYCenter, MYTrace, MYCam, FlowLine and Cad Conversion are registered trademarks or trademarks of Mycronic AB. Mycronic is ISO 9001:2008 certified.
MYCRONIC BNLX: Building Mµ, P.O. Box 8026, 5601 KA Eindhoven - The Netherlands
Visit: High Tech Campus 10, 5656 AE Eindhoven - The Netherlands
Tel: +31 40 262 06 67, FAX: +31 40 262 06 68
MYCRONIC UK: Unit 2, Concept Park, Innovation Close, Poole Dorset, BH12 4QT - England
Tel: +44 1 202 723 585, FAX: +44 1 202 723 269
www.mycronic.com, Publisher: Paul Rooimans, Editor: Keith Wilson. This newsletter is produced three times a year with the intention of providing
information about Mycronic, our services and our products. Responsible under Dutch Law - Paul Rooimans
4 Value: that’s what we sell!
8 Mycronic partnership
12 Pinball wizard chooses Mycronic
16 Rommtech halves SMT capacity...
20 Experience Centre
24 Industry barometer for electronics manufacturing
28 System integration
32 Aegis and Mycronic...
36 Hitting the ground running
38 MYCare Training
24 16
20
Contents
2015.02

MYNews 2015.02 BNLX-UK MYNews 2015.02 BNLX-UK – page 5
Value:
that’s what we sell!
Around a year ago, we announced that Mycronic would no longer be selling SMT machines;
instead we would be selling value...
Around a year ago, we announced that
Mycronic would no longer be selling SMT
machines; instead we would be selling
value. And now something very exciting is
happening: potential clients are telling us
that value – and not simply machines – is
what they really want.
Over the six months since you received the
last issue of MYNews, we have spent a lot
of time presenting and explaining our new
approach to the market. This hard work is
starting to pay off. We are seeing more and
more CEOs reviewing their benchmarks
and accepting that the machine is only a
small part of the challenge they face when
optimising profitability.
To put it another way, our industry is making
a big paradigm shift and, when it comes to
SMT equipment, it is now putting value at
the top of the list of its requirements, rather
than simply looking for raw capacity and a
low price tag.
I have personally met with a lot of CEOs,
both in our Experience Centres and also
outside them. I’ve also met with CEOs
abroad in low labour countries. With all of
them, I’ve discussed this big shift and, in
every case, their response has been the
same. They are happy with the innovative
approach we’re offering because it gives
them new insights – which they didn’t have
before – into a profitable operation in any-
mix, any-volume environments.
The CEOs I’ve spoken to are also starting
to understand that the Mycronic 360°
Industry Benchmark Approach aligns with
key initiatives such as Smart Industry and
Industry 4.0, and that it will ultimately help
to boost their bottom line.
Even those who were initially reluctant to
visit our Experience Centre to see a live
simulation of their entire factory were
pleasantly surprised and impressed by
the middle of the day. They started to see
the bigger picture, and became engaged
with the process of creating new strategic
initiatives with the potential to transform
their operations and create more profit for
their companies.
Isn’t that fantastic? For us, being able to
help companies that typically have a bottom
line of less than 5% to move forward is
like a dream come true! That’s why we’ve
stopped selling machines and why we
NOW sell value that enables our clients to
become more profitable and to enhance
their competitive edge so that, at last, they
can start to compete successfully with low
labour countries.
What’s Happening at Mycronic
I’m not, of course, going to tell you
everything! However, I do strongly
recommend that you, as a reader of
MYNews, should attend a workshop in one
of our brand new Experience Centres. One is
in Poole in Dorset in the UK, and the other is
in Eindhoven in the Netherlands.
The benefits that you’ll get in return for
investing four hours of your time with us are
that you’ll gain new and useful insights into
your operations, and you’ll also be able to
see for yourself the exciting potential of our
360° Industry Benchmark Approach. During
the workshop, we simulate a real-life case
study where we increase the bottom line by
100%.
I really hope that this challenges you to visit
us, and I would be very happy to personally
discuss with you the best way forward for
your organisation. And please remember that
we’re not looking for short-term relationships,
but for lasting strategic partnerships that will
be beneficial for both of us.
it is now putting value at the top
of the list of its requirements...
...rather than simply looking for
raw capacity and a low price tag

To give you a heads up on the business
we’ve done recently and our outlook for
2015, I can share with you that our business
in the UK to date has been at a similar level
to 2014. That may not sound exciting, but
please don’t forget that 2014 was our best
year ever in the UK by a wide margin, so this
is, in fact excellent news. We have received
a steady flow of orders for advanced SMT
lines, many with full integration of our solder
jet printers.
In the Benelux countries, the trend is very
positive compared with 2014. Business
has increased substantially, utilisation
of CEMs is now much higher, and we’re
seeing more and bigger investments. This
is bringing us back to par with 2012 levels
of business, which is good news. Most of
the new investment has, in fact, been a
result of the higher utilisation of CEMs, but
some is also a response to the challenge of
boosting productivity and, of course, that
all-important bottom line.
Productronica is coming in November
and we are again launching new exciting
products, software and exploring our
360° Industry Benchmark Approach, that
will enable you to reach the next level in
factory automation and will increase your
profitability. During the show our team will
be on hand and happy to show you our new
solutions and continue discussing our 360°
Industry Benchmark Approach.
We are all looking forward to meeting you
soon at Productronica Hall A3 Booth 341.
I do strongly recommend that you
should attend a workshop in one of
our brand new Experience Centres
FACTS & FIGURES ABOUT OUR TERRITORY
Total installed base: 496 Pick and place machines, 77 Jetprinters and 71 SMD Towers, 22 AEGIS MES systems.
284 Mycronic clients.
RECENT NEW ORDERS Axtron MY200LX-14
CIL MY500
DVR MY200SX-14
Elect MY200DX-14
Pascall MY200LX-10 + MY200LX-14
Protonic MY200DX-14
SMB Design MY200LX14
Other accounts 4 x MY200SX-10 + MY500

Mycronic partnership
Understanding business model
As being an entrepreneur, we have also
discovered differences between our suppliers,
and who understands our values in the
business model. A particular issue faced by
EMS companies is low margins, and this has a
huge impact on the health of the company.
With the bottom line results under constant
pressure, it is harder for companies to invest,
or even to run their businesses on a day-by-
day basis. But what about a supplier who
also helps its customers to improve their
bottom line results? Wouldn’t it be great to
find a supplier that takes the time to fully
understand your business and also considers
what is needed to improve your financial
results as part of the solution they offer?
My experience in marketing tells me that it’s very important to track trends
in your own market, in related industries and also monitor potential and
future developments. What does the customer want and what’s important to
them? These are valid questions if we are to provide customers with the best
solution for their current requirements. But is this enough?
In our fast-changing industry, which is driven by rapid developments, flexibility
is becoming more and more important – in fact, we believe that flexibility is
essential for the future success of your company. Terms like ‘Wall-to-Wall’ and
‘Just In Time’ are examples of descriptions that very likely apply to the internal
supply chain in your company. While the majority of OEM companies have the
good fortune to work with reasonably accurate forecasts, EMS companies are,
in the main, forced to work with unpredictable and very short time schedules.
And that’s before you consider the challenge of trying to align your material
supply to this schedule.
As you can imagine this is only one of the many influences on the processes
inside your company, processes that are critical because of their impact on
profitability – on your bottom line.
It’s not our task to challenge you with a
completely new business model, but we
do believe that by sharing our extensive
knowledge, we can support this model more
extensively. This template can be used for
guidance and we are also able to facilitate its
implementation by using external specialists
where necessary.
Is your company future proof?
The management of a company can create the
most comprehensive strategy, but it’s equally
important to ask whether the company
structure is aligned and able to support this
strategy. Does the company have the knowl-
edge, expertise, processes, business systems,
equipment and software in place to achieve
the milestones and stay on the scheduled
Twan Aldenzee
Director Strategic Accounts
UK, Ireland and Russia

growth path? Financial aspects such as
return on Investment, depreciation and cost
of ownership certainly have a big impact on
the current situation, but they are even more
important for the future.
Strategic Partneship
In business, it’s usual to speak about cus-
tomers. Customers are people or organiza-
tions that buy goods, products, services
or ideas from a seller, vendor or supplier
for a monetary or other valuable consider-
ation. Conventionally, after the customer has
received the product or service, there is no
commitment for extending the relationship/
momentum and no specific intention to build
a healthy business together.
The Mycronic perspective, however, is that the
relationship between Mycronic and its cus-
tomers is a partnership – a tailored business
relationship based on mutual trust, openness,
shared risk and shared rewards that result in
business performance greater than would be
achieved by the two parties working together
in the absence of partnership.
Mycronic has a totally different approach
to finding the right partners. It’s of crucial
importance to understand the drivers before
making a decision about partnership. By
having a personal and open dialogue, both
companies can explain and explore their driv-
ers like values (current, needed and preferred),
future plans (business model, strategy, finan-
cials, etc), and empathy/understanding of the
business.
Mycronic has created the first step toward
partnership by developing its novel 360°
Industry Benchmark Approach. As part of
the benchmark process, from wall to wall, we
examine all elements of the business processes
inside the company. As well as having a clear
view of the production facility, it’s also vital to
understand the five-year plan to see that it’s
properly aligned and future-proof. The next
step is to have an open dialogue where we
discuss/share/advise our thoughts on the ini-
tiatives for potential partnership. Our primary
goal is to help you to make a healthier bottom
line for your company.
If you would like to find out more about our
360° Industry Benchmark Approach – and,
for the sake of your bottom line, we strongly
suggest that you should – you are invited
to spend a day with us in one of our new
Experience Centres, which are described else-
where in this issue, or to contact me direct.
Are you open for a
future proof partnership?
If so, we’re ready to talk!

René Versteeg
Director
ARA
Pinball wizard
chooses Mycronic
For ARA (www.ara-aalten.nl), a long established and very successful
developer and manufacturer of electronic systems and mechatronic sub-
assemblies, deciding to go with Mycronic was an excellent business decision
that is helping to boost the company’s profitability, flexibility and customer
satisfaction.
“We used to be heavily focussed on machine
functionality,” said ARA Director, René
Versteeg, “but Mycronic created new insights
for us with its brand new 360º Industry
Benchmark Approach.”
“This novel approach meant greatly increased
involvement for all of the different depart-
ments in our factory, leading not only to bet-
ter understanding and awareness of our pro-
cesses, but also to effective solutions for a
number of key challenges. Working together
with Mycronic, we developed a transforma-
tion plan that enabled us to rapidly optimise
our efficiency. It was a great experience that
created excellent value for our company.”
Established in 1961 with the initial aim of
developing and producing electronic alter-
natives to the relay-based systems then
widely used for machine control, ARA, in
the Netherlands, has a distinguished record
of delivering innovative mechatronic solu-
tions for even the most unusual applications
– including, recently, a new European pinball
machine to compete with machines from
the established US suppliers. Other areas
in which ARA provides modules for OEM
customers include medical, semiconductor,
metalworking and agriculture industries.
Because of its outstanding in-house exper-
tise and experience, ARA’s growth has been
strong and consistent, especially over the
last five years when there has been, in many
machine control applications, a significant
trend moving away from the use of general-
purpose programmable controllers (PLCs)
to more intelligent and more cost-effective
custom-designed control solutions.
During this period, ARA has doubled both its
turnover and its number of employees. As a
result of this growth, the company recently
decided that it needed an up-to-date, state-
of-the-art, efficient, cost-effective and above
all versatile in-house SMT line.
“Ours is a low- to medium-volume high-
mix manufacturing environment,” said
René Versteeg. “In fact, because we do a
lot of development work, we often need
to manufacture prototypes in very small
numbers. With this in mind, we looked at
solutions from several manufacturers, but
we very soon realised that the Mycronic
approach was by far the best match for our
needs. Among the factors that influenced
us was the renowned Mycronic reputation
for delivering excellent productivity in high
mix environments. Advanced quality control

checks during the production cycles and the
integrated board inspection system on the
jet printer were other big plusses.”
Having made this decision to purchase
Mycronic equipment, ARA invested in one
of the latest MY200 series pick-and-place
machines, and an MY500 solder jet printer.
The MY200 machine was chosen for its very
fast changeover times, which are essential
if efficiency is to be achieved with short
production runs, and its ability to handle an
enormous range of component types effi-
ciently, whether they are presented as tape
on reels, as component sticks or even loose.
ARA has found the ability of the MY200 to
work with loose components particularly
useful, as it eliminates the need for time-
consuming manual reworking to fit compo-
nents that, when prototyping, may only be
available in quantities of one or two.
“Our Mycronic pick-and-place machine
is exceptionally fast and easy to set up,”
said René Versteeg. “For example, with
one fairly typical product we make, where
a feeder changeover of more than 120
components is needed, we’ve been able
to reduce set up time by a factor of three,
from six hours to two hours. As you’ll
appreciate, that’s a big efficiency gain and
a big cost saving.”
Ours is a low- to medium-
volume high-mix manufacturing
environment
The MY500 solder-jet printer purchased
by ARA, which eliminates the need to use
stencils for solder paste application, is also
providing big benefits. Not only does it allow
fast turnaround on products and prototypes,
since there is no delay while stencils are
manufactured, it also allows precise control
over solder paste deposition, on a pad-by-
pad basis, if necessary.
This precise control means that even “dif-
ficult” components that would have lead to
high rework rates with traditional methods
of solder application, can be mounted and
soldered consistently and reliably. Costs are
therefore reduced and, at the same time,
product quality is optimised.
Recently, ARA’s Mycronic machines have
amply proved their worth in a rather unusual
project – the development and manufacture
of a pinball machine. In the late 1980s, the
market for these machines shrank rapidly.
This was principally because of the com-
petition from video games but also partly
because pinball machines of that era needed
regular and costly maintenance.
New technology has largely eliminated
the maintenance issue, and there is a large
group of enthusiasts, often described as
pinheads, who prefer to play a real pinball
machine rather than a video simulation. To
capitalise on this resurgence in interest, a
new venture, Dutch Pinball, has devised
a machine based on “The Big Lebowski”™
theme.
Dutch Pinball approached ARA to help
with the development of this machine and
ultimately to manufacture it under contract.
Since the machine is a consumer product, it
was a new departure for ARA, as the other
products it manufactures are for industrial
applications. Nevertheless, a pinball-machine
is an electronic/electro-mechanical machine
just like any other and ARA’s expertise
makes a big contribution to the success of
the project.
At all stages of development, from proto-
types onward, the printed circuit boards for
the pinball machine have been produced
using ARA’s Mycronic SMT production line.
This has given ARA the flexibility needed to
work with all types of components so that
an optimised design could be developed
without restrictions as to component choice.
It has also allowed the company to cost-
effectively manufacture the small batches of
boards needed for the first production run
of the pinball machine, which is just about to
reach the market.
“We are not a typical electronics subcontract
manufacturer,” said René Versteeg, “because
we seek out projects that involve a lot of
design and development and where we can
ultimately supply either ready-to-use mod-
ules or complete machines. Because of this
philosophy, the Mycronic machines are an
excellent fit for our needs. They allow us to
evaluate new designs quickly and cost effec-
tively, and they give us complete freedom of
component choice. They also deliver consis-
tent high quality results”
“Not only are the machines excellent, we also
receive superb service and support from
Mycronic. The company has done much
more than simply selling us equipment, it has
also invested time and effort in making sure
the whole SMT production site is organised
and optimised in the most efficient way. In
short, deciding to go with Mycronic was an
excellent business decision that is helping
us to boost our profitability, flexibility and
customer satisfaction.”
Our Mycronic pick-and-place
machine is exceptionally fast
and easy to set up

Rommtech halves
SMT capacity to boost
throughput by 50%
Having made a major investment in 3D electrical and mechanical design
facilities, Rommtech was achieving gratifying growth in its customer base
but was nevertheless finding that its operating profits were disappointing.
After executing the Mycronic’s 360° Industry Benchmark audit, the problem appeared
to be a production bottleneck in the company’s SMT line, for which a remedy was
urgently sought. Much to the surprise of Rommtech’s directors, Mycronic was able to
show that the right solution was to halve the nominal capacity of the line!
Rommtech prides itself on offering a wide
range of innovative design and manufactur-
ing services for electronic products, and has
production facilities in the Netherlands and
Bulgaria. Although it has been operating
successfully for more than 25 years, in 2008
Rommtech’s directors took the decision to
restructure and reinvigorate the company
to ready it for even greater success in the
future.
The restructuring programme largely
achieved its aims and saw a significant
sustained growth in the demand for
Rommtech’s services. The anticipated levels
of profit were, however, not achieved. The
underlying reason for this is the very com-
petitive nature of the EMS market in Europe,
which means that any source of inefficiency
in manufacturing operations will significantly
impact a company’s bottom line.
Rommtech determined that the most impor-
tant negative influence was lack of capacity
in the company’s SMT line, which was based
around two pick-and-place machines that
had given good service over many years.
The company decided that these should be
replaced, not only to improve throughput,
but also because modern machines can
efficiently handle a much wider range of
component types.
The company was looking for a single
replacement machine with a capacity more
than twice that of the existing machines, so
that the present-day SMT bottleneck would
be eliminated and spare capacity would be
available for future growth.
With this thought in mind, the Rommtech
directors contacted Mycronic, their pre-
ferred European supplier of SMT equip-
ment. Their initial reaction, however, was that
the Mycronic machines were too slow and
too expensive. Instead, they would trial an
Asian machine with a much higher IPC 9850
capacity.
“You might imagine that I would be con-
cerned about this,” said Paul Rooimans,
Managing Director of Mycronic UK, Benelux
and Russia, “but I wasn’t. Our experience
shows that raw capacity figures are only
really meaningful in high volume production
environments with few product changeovers.
In the high mix environments that are typical
of Europe, the net throughput of an SMT line
depends much more on other factors, such
as the supporting processes and the speed
of changeovers.”
To demonstrate this point of view, Mycronic
offered Rommtech a 360° Industry
Benchmark audit on its production pro-
cesses, which revealed that the existing
SMT machines had an uptime of just 25%
of their total possible operating time. This
meant that if Rommtech switched to a new
machine that was nominally twice as fast,
but made no other changes, the end result
was likely to be that the uptime would fall
even further, and the real-world capacity
Mycronic was able
to show that the
right solution was
to halve the nominal
capacity of the line!

of the line would change very little. In other
words, a costly investment would yield little
or nothing in the way of gains.
“After looking at the results of the Mycronic
audit, we could see that the key to remov-
ing our SMT bottleneck was not buying a
new machine that worked twice as fast, but
making better use of the available assembly
time,” said Erik Rommens, Managing Director
of Rommtech.
“The audit showed that one of the main rea-
sons our two old machines were so poorly
utilised was that each had its own operator,
who was responsible for order picking for
each project, loading the components into
the feeders, putting them into the machine
and running the job. Afterwards, the opera-
tor also had to de-kit the feeders before
starting the next job.”
On the basis of these findings, Rommtech
decided to purchase a single new machine
– a Mycronic MY100SX14 that on paper has
only a slightly higher throughput than each
of the old machines. At a stroke, this meant
that only one operator was needed instead
of two. A more significant changes, how-
ever, were that the operator would receive
fully prepared kitted projects, so would be
able to keep a closer eye on optimal system
operation.
Rommtech also realised that running with
two machines gave rise to other efficiency
problems.
With two machines, what do you do if you
only have one component reel available
for a component that is needed in both
machines? And what if one of the machines
can mount a specific component faster than
the other? If both machines share one library,
changes that positively influence the speed
on one machine could create additional
errors and losses on the other machine.
System-specific libraries, however, have the
disadvantage that data must be maintained
in two locations, which is extra hassle and
hassle costs money!
“We were totally honest with Rommtech and
told the company that the 100% uptime that
some suppliers claim to be possible is totally
unrealistic,” said Paul Rooimans. “There is
always some loss of time caused by set up
and operator intervention. The best that can
be achieved is somewhere between 80% and
90% for long runs of the same product. In
a high-mix environment like Rommtech’s, a
target of around 60% was reasonable, and
would still easily deliver the throughput
gains the company needed.”
It did not take long for the Rommtech direc-
tors to conclude that they had made the
right decision about updating and increas-
ing the efficiency of the company’s SMT
facilities.
“After just four months of working with our
new Mycronic MY100SX14, we had already
exceeded our 60% utilisation target and
were, in fact, consistently achieving almost
65%,” said Erik Rommens.
“As you can imagine, our SMT bottleneck
problems have been completely solved.
We’re having no difficulty in keeping up
with present customer requirements and we
have capacity in hand for future expansion.
This really is a remarkable result when you
remember that what we’ve actually done is
to halve the raw capacity of our SMT line! In
fact, our experience demonstrates beyond
all doubt that raw capacity is almost irrel-
evant when comparing SMT solutions.”

Experience Centre
Our 360° Industry Benchmark Approach
has revealed that EMS companies around
the world have issues in their processes that
impact machine efficiency. Our biggest chal-
lenge was how to get this message across
to our customers and prospects in a positive
way. How do we show them that the machine
is just a part – and not even the most impor-
tant part – of the overall production process?
Our solution was to develop our new
Experience Centres. The move from our for-
mer Flight Forum location to our new prem-
ises on the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven
gave us a great opportunity and the free-
dom to develop our first Experience Centre
exactly as we wanted it.
Experience Centre is not just a new name
for a demo room; in the Experience Centre
we no longer focus on equipment. Of course
you will find a fully operational production
line, as it is a vital part of your production
process, but more important are the work-
stations, each of which corresponds to a
specific department in your organisation.
Experience Centre is not just a
new name for a demo room
Michele Presutto
Customer Support Manager
Mycronic

In the Experience Centre we simulate your
entire production process, starting with
incoming goods and purchasing, and going
all the way through to actual production.
Every department has an influence on
the overall machine utilisation and, in the
Experience Centre environment, we can
show our customers the way their processes
should be organised to get the most out of
their production facility.
We have adapted our internal training to
match our new concept. Of course, we train
operators how to run and operate machines,
but we also now invite other key personnel
to attend our courses, and we train each of
them on their own processes with one com-
mon goal: to utilise their machine in the most
effective way.
The Experience Centre is also an integral part
of our 360° Industry Benchmark Approach.
Having collected a lot of information from
the benchmark assessment we then invite
the customer into our Experience Centre to
allow us to really show how our solutions will
add value to their business.
Feedback already given by the visitors to
our Experience Centre in BV – we will also
have our new one in the UK up and running
in November – shows that we made the right
decision and that the centres work effec-
tively. We are confident that the Experience
Centres will give our customers a better
understanding of the peripheral processes
and their impact on production capacity. It is,
after all, not just about the machine!
It is, after all, not just
about the machine!

Chris Mulvihill
- EMS Manufacturing -
Q3 has been very good for us as the
business has performed and delivered to the
headline operating plan. Our OEM sales are
strengthening through adoption of a number
of the product developments that we
released during 2015. Strong OEM sales to
UK and non-European customers allowed us
to cover slow quarterly activity in our CEM
order book. Our CEM customers reported
very good order intake, and are expecting
this to translate into supply chain activity
during Q4 and into 2016.
Our friends in electronics manufacturing give us their view on recent trends
in our industry, and their thoughts about the future.
We expect Q4 to deliver to plan, with CEM
sales featuring strongly. Some key CEM
projects will start delivery during the latter
part of Q4 which will create very high levels
of factory activity. The OEM order book is
expected to deliver its results before the
Christmas break, as customers in the fire-
detection industry reduce their activity levels
over the year-end period. The forecast for
factory activity will place a premium on the
flexibility of the manufacturing system and
the workforce. We have invested widely in
flexible systems and multi-skilling within the
workforce over the past 12 months, and we
expect these assets will allow us to deliver to
our customers’ expectations.
In Q1, activity levels are always high due
to the imminent end of the financial year.
The OEM order book is characterised by
high activity during February and March as
customers close out their year-end budgets.
The CEM order book is expected to maintain
Q4 activity levels throughout, promising high
activity levels. Q1 is significant for EMS as we
will be releasing a major new product line
that allows us to access different sectors of
the fire detection market. The mix of activity
will make for exciting times for everyone
within the company!
We expect Q4 to deliver
to plan, with CEM sales
featuring strongly
Industry barometer for electronics
manufacturing
Chris Johnson
- JJS Manufacturing -
(The Paragon Electronics Group)
Despite trading conditions continuing to
be tough, we have just completed another
financial year where we achieved substantial
growth including a record final quarter. In
addition we have a number of significant
and realistic opportunities that should
enable us to continue growth in 2015-16.
Our predictions for the next twelve months
therefore are more of the same; we see no
dramatic increases, but conversely no major
blips. If we are able to win one or two of
the new opportunities mentioned above we
could see a return to double-digit growth.
Our growth continues to be fuelled by our
ability to support complex, highly configured
and tested systems. Our capabilities in
managing processes from component
sourcing and validation, through PCB
assembly and on to complex full cabinet
wiring, machine assembly, test and even
commissioning, stand us apart from most
of our peers. As one of only four UK EMS
companies with a wholly owned offshore
facility, we offer OEMs the capacity, flexibility
and control they need to support their
outsourcing strategy.
We continue to work hard to develop
and enhance the skills of our work force
through continuous personal development,
apprentice schemes and commercial
graduate programmes to ensure we continue
to compete in the global market place.
Our predictions for next year;
we see no dramatic increases,
but conversely no major blips

We asked our customers to score business for Q3 of 2015,
and give us their expectations for Q4 2015 and Q1 of 2016.
These are the results, using a scale where 1 means terrible and 10 means fantastic.
Guido Bergman
- Matas Electronics -
For mainstream non-investment products
we are still being put under pressure by
competition. We believe that the best type
of business to focus on is business for the
added value sector – specialization is the key.
That’s why we chose to go for ISO 13485
medical certification. In September 2015, it
was finally in place!
The predictability of mainstream and
forecast orders is satisfactory. In Q1 to Q3
we saw growth of 20%. We believe the final
Q4 outcome could be as much as 25% up on
last year.
Because of Mycronic’s new approach, we
have changed our internal logistics and
production systems to minimize the idle
time and to meet the growing requirements
for flexibility, and we are see the benefits
from this.
We see that our customers are bringing
business back from the East, as they like
the way we treat them. Throughput times,
flexibility and transparency are the things they
are looking for. The business is back on track
and there is good potential for growth in 2016!
1
2
3
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10SCORE
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Ton Plooy
- TBP Electronics -
The second half of 2015 is showing some decrease in
business, largely due to the fluctuations in the dollar
and oil prices. Customers are, however, looking for
more proactive partners in business, and this is where
our focus is at the moment. The predictions we made
last year seem to be quite in-line with what is actually
happening in the EMS world.
Customers are, however,
looking for more proactive
partners in business
THE SCORES Q3 (2015) Q4 (2015) Q1 (2016)
(actual) (predicted) (predicted)
Chris Mulvihill 8 8 9
Chris Johnson 9 8 8
Guido Bergman 8 7 8
Ton Plooy 7 6 7
Average 8 7.25 8
We believe the Q4 outcome
could be as much as
25% up on last year

System integration
You will have read elsewhere in this issue
about the success we have already had with
our 360° Industry Benchmark Approach.
During the visits we make to implement this,
we often find that customers are using sev-
eral software-based business systems.
Each of these software systems has its own
local database and, in many cases, each
database holds a lot of useful data that
could advantageously be shared with the
other software systems in the business.
Unfortunately, these ‘islands of information’
are usually isolated from one another.
It is clear that effective implementation of
software is becoming more and more impor-
tant as a means of improving business effi-
ciency. However, in most cases the real issue
is not so much implementation, but integra-
tion between systems. When benchmarking
customers, we often find very little integra-
tion or connectivity, but with so many differ-
ent manufacturers and suppliers of software
we recognize that achieving integration is a
major challenge.
This is why we have taken the decision to
define a new role in our organization: our
Business Systems Integration Manager,
who will play an important part in the 360°
Industry Benchmark Approach process.
John Rademakers has recently taken on
the role and, alongside the other members
of the team, will focus purely on the cur-
rent business systems our customers have
in place, the information contained within
these systems, and how the systems can be
integrated with our own software as part of
our overall solution.
By creating links and sharing database infor-
mation we will be able not only to further
enhance the efficiency of our own solution
but also that of our customers’ other business
systems.
This will enable, for example:
• Location of MRP issued stock in WIP
updated in MRP/ERP
• Real time stock quantity including
attrition back flushed in MRP/ERP
• Sales quotations based on real time
machine performance
• PCB level traceability linked to QMS
• Line performance and utilisation
integrated into production planning and
scheduling systems
By connecting the ‘islands of information’
we create a better and more accurate flow
of information. As a result, the business
functions more efficiently in all areas, which
enhances the value that we provide with our
solution. With more accurate information
flowing in real time, there is also the possibil-
ity of reducing the value of stock and WIP.
These kinds of initiatives are aligned with
the fundamentals of Industry 4.0 and Smart
Industry.
Jason Gross
Group Technical Director
Mycronic UK, Benelux and Russia

MYNews 2015.02 BNLX-UK
In a future issue of MYNews, John will high-
light some real customer examples of how
Mycronic has enhanced the integration of
systems.
Here is a quote from Rolf Nagtzaam, IT
Manager, tbp electronics bv
“At tbp electronics, we are convinced that
putting more effort into connecting applica-
tions with machines is the best way to go.
Doing this will enable Mycronic to create
more value for its customers and help them
to maximize their overall potential. The
connections we have implemented in our
factory are giving us a much better view
of the production process. This means we
can ensure that efficiency is increased on all
levels: management, logistics and quality. It’s
not just the machine itself that is of interest
– the data the machine generates is equally
important. So instead of merely asking what
is the machine capable of, we now also ask
what data can we use from the machine?”
With this in mind, you should ask yourself
this question: How well are my systems
integrated today and what would be the
benefits to the business if they were bet-
ter integrated? If you’ve not considered the
integration of your business systems yourself
and you have our 360° Industry Benchmark
Approach, one thing is for sure, John will
have!
By connecting the ‘islands of information’
we create a better and more accurate
flow of information
Millions of components. One intelligent storage solution.
Look into our SMD Tower for a better way.
Whether you’re assembling PCBs for advanced smartphones or electronic
systems for cars, maintaining seamless production is critical. It’s about more
than just speed. You also need material handling solutions that enable the
highest possible line utilization at the lowest possible cost. Full control.
Easy MSD tracking. And smart storage of an endless array of indispensable
components.
The answer is not adding more factory staff, storage space or trolleys, but
embracing a smarter solution. Like our new SMD Storage System, which can
handle thousands and thousands of part numbers without losing track of
a single reel. So why not put our high-mix thinking to work in your higher
volume environment?
High-mix thinking
For a higher
volume world

Aegis and Mycronic show how
data transparency can improve
your manufacturing operations
If you can’t see it, you can’t measure it, and
if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it!
This is the simple mantra of successful manu-
facturers the world over. Manufacturing
excellence can only come from manufactur-
ing visibility across the enterprise. That’s the
ethos that has driven Mycronic and Aegis to
deliver simpler programming, greater trace-
ability and better performance.
What Mycronic and Aegis collaboration
means for you
This collaboration for success starts with
machine programming supports. Users can
program all of their placement equipment
using one interface Aegis provides for the
Mycronic equipment with direct interaction
with machine libraries.
Then Aegis software also integrates with
Mycronic’s Material Handling software and
with eventlog information from their MY200
series placement machines. That way Aegis
software extracts all required data to provide
Level 4 traceability, down to the component
level and process level.
For data conversion, Aegis uses their xLink
technology, developed to IPC’s CAMX stan-
dard. This collaboration not only provides
simplicity and traceability, it can improve
performance, by extracting real-time uptime
and downtime data, as well as event data
like mis-picks through xLink, allowing better
productions analysis and management.
Meaningful and timely visibility for the
whole company in one place
Visibility is key and that visibility needs to be
clear, precise and timely. The best manu-
facturers have simple, instant visibility to
product, process, quality, test, and materials
information factory-wide.
Dr.-Ing. Friedrich W. Nolting
Managing Director
Aegis Germany

The benefits of such visibility are well known
to the manufacturing community, and yet
achieving it has proven elusive for many.
Data is at the core of every successful manu-
facturing process, so it is essential to start
with the assumption that all the systems and
operations within the factory gather and
maintain information in a meaningful and
timely fashion. This means connecting all
the data from inbound materials through
materials management, production, test,
quality control, packing and all the way to
dispatch, and even into after market services.
Visibility far beyond factory walls
When talking about visibility, the debate
is often restricted to the processes within
the factory walls, but the greatest benefit
is always achieved when a holistic visible
supply chain approach is adopted. Indeed
applying disciplines like six sigma, Industry
4.0, paperless factory or lean techniques
always works best when applied throughout
the supply chain.
Two solutions, two outcomes –
customization or empowerment
When it comes to resolving all the issues
that the transparent factory generates,
there are two polarized approaches: one
solution is customization and the other is
empowerment.
While the customization model may appeal
at first, offering multiple solutions that
deliver a unique dashboard or report for
every eventuality perceived during the
installation of the solution, it will clearly be
the most rigid in the long term, and as a
result the one that requires the most interac-
tion with IT, the integrator and the vendor.
The approach of empowerment of the fac-
tory personnel to create their own data out-
beyond the cost of the initial implementa-
tion. More empowered staff are likely to
be more proactive in resolving challenges
within the business and from the customer.
They are also likely to be proactive and
enabled in improving the processes they
work on, potentially increasing yield, reduc-
ing scrap or waste and lowering costs.
Visibility and transparency mean the world
to customers. The ability to retain and grow
customer business can be directly associ-
ated with their perception of a vendor as
open and honest as well as flexible, agile and
quick to react to their needs.
Choosing the correct approach to data
can be transformational to a business
and its ability to serve its marketplace.
Collaborations like those between Aegis and
Mycronic deliver that data with ease and
simplicity supporting those operational and
business transformations.
puts and dashboards brings so much more
than the custom or tailored solutions.
First, it does not require a detailed plan that
needs to be applied without deviation, which
in itself takes time and resource to research
and build. That plan can only reflect the
demands of that moment, regardless of how
detailed and complete it is.
Second, by empowering those using the
system to configure the system, buy in from
the operators is obtained. They each have
their own version of the system, on their
own platform and they are invested into its
successful deployment.
Third, the system is as dynamic as your busi-
ness is, changing when business or customer
demand dictates.
The latter more empowered approach
doesn’t make great demands on the IT team
and does not expect coding or SQL skills
from the user.
Freedom of further growth
It is not reasonable to consider both options
without weighing the costs of deployment.
A custom solution may initially seem to offer
the best value, but it is without doubt a path
to endless costs of additional customiza-
tion and updates. This may mean the loss of
time and agility to the business way beyond
the basic cost of programing time.
The empowered solution delivers user cus-
tomizable dashboards and reports as well as
intuitive data mining. It offers a system that
is as flexible and agile as any enterprise and
reacts to changes in the same way a suc-
cessful enterprise does.
Transparency, traceability, visibility, agility
and the ability to mine data and deliver it in
a way that allows for the prompt response
to every issue will set successful enterprises
apart as we continue to move into a world
where rapid change is the norm.
A fully transparent approach can have
an impact on the business that goes well
Operational Dashboards
Digitize and automate the daily,
hourly, weekly or monthly charts
and analysis for the entire factory.
Interactive Reports
Drag-and-drop your data sets to
create unlimited reports, interro-
gate the data in meetings and in
real-time, and automatically email
reports on schedule or based on
process conditions.
Report Scheduling & Alarms
Link any report to a schedule or
a process condition-based alarm.
Have reports arrive based on con-
ditions in the factory, improving
reaction time to serious situations.
We continue to move into a world
where rapid change is the norm

Hitting the ground
running
My start with Mycronic UK really was a case
of “hitting the ground running” – to use a
well-known phrase. Within the first weeks
I found myself attending the company’s
Global Sales Training event and I have to
confess, sitting amongst managers from
around the globe, with years of company
experience was a little daunting. However,
this proved to be a most valuable introduc-
tion to a wealth of knowledge and experi-
ence for our industry, which I‘m now happy
to call upon when needed.
After a number of other slightly more fun
social events in the early weeks, includ-
ing the UK/BV team building event in
Maastricht that found us all out on bikes in
30° heat and then a torrential thunderstorm,
and meeting a number of our UK customers
at the Goodwood Festival of Speed - it was
time for me to knuckle down to my new
role.
For many years, my background has been
with a number of CEMs in the UK, so
Mycronic isn’t a completely new chapter
in my career. Even so, it is certainly a big
change. Having worked in roles that include
production management, sales, account
management and purchasing, my broad
knowledge of our customers’ businesses is
definitely my strength.
The service management role has recently
been divided into two areas: commercial
and technical. This means that I will be
working closely with our newly appointed
Senior Applications Engineer, Robert
Houliston, and I strongly believe between us
we have exactly the right mix of knowledge
and experience to offer the best possible
service for our customers.
I’ve initially taken an ‘observing’ approach
to assess the trends we see from customers,
the issues they are dealing with, and the
pressures the UK Service team is up against
in keeping our customers informed, their
machines running efficiently and their staff
properly trained.
I’ve monitored the QPR reports we sub-
mit, participated in customer visits to carry
out our new 360° Industry Benchmark
Approach, and attended preventative main-
tenance visits with our engineers to under-
stand what support and knowledge we can
provide. This has given me a great insight
into where Mycronic UK’s strengths and
weaknesses lie.
The next phase of my Mycronic story is to
meet as many of our UK customers as pos-
sible over the coming months and to hear
what they have to say. It’s definitely not a
good idea to assume we know what our
customers think without asking them! I have
the feedback and results from our recent
customer survey to rely upon, so I’m not
heading into this blindly, but it’s invaluable
for us to know the details, warts and all.
What are the changes so far? A few actions
are underway already and you’ll see more
being rolled out soon.
As I’ve already mentioned, the immedi-
ate effect of my arrival is that we are able
to use the skills and time of our Senior
Applications Engineer, Robert Houliston,
more effectively.
The knowledge he has is invaluable, if only
we could download it in a format we could
all understand (and I don’t just mean with-
out the Scottish accent). This means we
have increased our capacity by 20% and we
now have a team of six engineers available
to support the UK customers.
The other exciting change is our new
approach to sales. As I‘m sure you have
read in past issues, we’re now putting much
more emphasis on total placements over
a year than on the raw throughput of our
machines.
This emphasis, which is at the heart of our
360° Industry Benchmark Approach, pro-
duces gains that go directly to the bot-
tom line. You can find out more at our new
Experience Centres. The UK Experience
Centre is soon to be ready, and I very much
look forward to welcoming many of you to
our Poole Office to visit one of our work-
shops it in the coming months.
Sara Chandler
Customer Support Manager
Mycronic UK
This proved to be a
most valuable introduction
to our industry

Paul Rooimans
CEO
Joanne Yates
Office Manager UK
Michel Marques
Service Engineer
Sebastian v. Houten
Internal Marketing &
Sales UK Benelux
Jason Gross
Technical Director
BUK & Russia
Constantia Schaap
Office Manager
Benelux
Michele Presutto
Customer Support
Manager Russia
Jeremy Hartill
Dir. Financial Services
Robert Houliston
Senior Application
Engineer
Sergey Ivanov
Service Engineer
Rebecca Mace
Service Administrator
UK
Una Lydon
Service Coordinator UK
Twan Aldenzee
Strategic Account
Director
David Cowell
Service Engineer
Wesley van Diesen
Service Engineer
Bas v. Broekhoven
Training Engineer
Benelux and UK
Edwin de Blauw
New Business
Development Director
Warwick Temple
Human Resources
Manager
Daan v. Hoogstraten
Customer Support
Manager Benelux
Brian Andrews
Service Engineer
John Rademakers
Business Systems
Integration Manager
Sara Chandler
Customer Support
Manager UK
Karin Beekmans
Service Coordinator
Benelux
Alan Clarke
Service Engineer
Kirill Panteleev
Service Engineer
Olga Zotova
Business Intelligence
Manager BUK & Russia
Gennadiy Martynov
Application
Engineer
Steven Skelding
Service Engineer
Paul Harvey
Service Engineer
Frank Souren
Communication
MYCRONIC Training Dates
UK 2015
16-20 November
Operator Training (5 days)
24-25 November
Maintenance Training (2 days)
26 November
Calibration Training MY100-200 (1 day)
8-10 December
Programmer Training (3 days)
15-16 December
Software Training (2 days)
MYCare
Training
Mycronic Team
MYCRONIC Training Dates
Benelux 2015
From basic to more advanced levels for ma-
chine operators, programmers and service
engineers, we can put the right training
methods to work for you.
Part of our training offering includes class-
room style tuition conducted at our bespoke
learning facilities at the Mycronic offices in
Poole, Dorset (the UK) and in Eindhoven
(the Netherlands). We offer demonstra-
tion areas with pick-and-place machines, jet
printers and towers along with a training
room with individual PC’s for candidates.
During the training both theoretical and
practical exercises are used with an exami-
nation at the end of each course. For can-
didates who successfully pass the course, a
MYCertificate is provided.
We are also pleased to be able to offer be-
spoke training courses to suit your specific
needs. Pricing will be dependent on the
number of attendees and facilities available.
Dates are subject to availability and mini-
mum attendance levels.
02-06 November
Operator Training (5 days)
11 November
Calibration Training MY100-200 (1 day)
08-09 December
Programmer Training (3 days)
Benelux - United Kingdom - Russia

At Mycronic, we are committed to
developing solutions that improve
efficiency for your entire operation.
We go beyond the assembly line and
eliminate bottlenecks throughout the
factory. With our 360 degree approach
to SMT manufacturing, we can help
bridge your performance gaps and
bring real value to your business.
We call this Mycronic 4.0 - a highly
automated, intelligent factory for
just-in-time production. Let’s meet and
discuss your production challenges,
and how we create the factory of the
future - already today.
We are looking forward to seeing you
at booth A3 341 at Productronica 2015.
Find out
what happens
when passion
meets innovation

MYSMT 2015 02

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