According to ACDi (American Computer Development, Inc.), “Flexible, reliable, and equipped to keep your project on schedule, is what you need as an electronics manufacturing services partner.” That ethos explains why they have always been at the vanguard of manufacturing technology and did not hesitate to upgrade from 2D AOI (Automatic Optical Inspection) to 3D AOI and 3D SPI (Solder Paste Inspection) in 2018. Almost five years later, they remain at the forefront of manufacturing technology and recently ordered the 23,000th inspection machine manufactured by Koh Young.

As the team at ACDi explained, all their capital equipment decisions are driven by the desire to be at the forefront of technological advancements, in the rapidly evolving industry of EMS. What’s more, ACDi has a large presence in the aerospace and defense sectors, including some very high-profile companies with strict traceability and reliability requirements.

Garret Maxson, ACDi’s Vice President of Operations, oversaw the inspection equipment selection, and said, “We evaluated a few competitors with demo equipment, performed some simulations and analysis, and Koh Young was the clear decision.”

Software-Driven Manufacturer

Garret added, “we are a data-driven manufacturer, so for us the big draw is data collection, not just ‘go/no-go’ calls, but real, actionable data. KSMART delivers significant metrics like first-pass yield, continuous improvement, review of top-five defects, and more. This is actionable data that can drive real process improvement.” ACDi also values the low false calls they see, which means they can operate the equipment with a small, but well-trained team. They currently have ten machines, with live dashboards across each of its factories in Maryland, North Carolina, and Connecticut.

Instrumental in the development of the technology partnership between ACDi and Koh Young is Nagy Bayoumi, President of Atlantech. Nagy has been in the industry for close to 40 years and has led Atlantech for 34 of those years. Nagy explains, “It’s a pleasure to work with companies like ACDi who see the real value we can deliver, not just in quality control, but also in performance, efficiency, and manufacturing excellence.” He adds, “Garret is a strategic leader of an impressive team that continues to grow organically and inorganically, including their most recent acquisition in Connecticut.”

Garret adds, “the market for skilled labor is tough, partially motivated by labor shortages, so we want less manual inspection dependent on human labor. The latest Koh Young AOI includes a higher height capability, so we can inspect even taller components in 3D. This means less manual visual inspection, and that’s what we need.” He concludes, “Nagy and the team at Atlantech and Koh Young have been important partners for ACDi, and we expect that to continue.”

You can learn more about ACDi at www.acdi.com. ACDi recently ordered the 23,000th machine from Koh Young, a Zenith Alpha HS+ True3D AOI machine, more details at www.kohyoungamerica.com/zenith-alpha.