{"id":19191,"date":"2025-10-27T10:49:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T01:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kohyoung.com\/en\/?post_type=news&p=19191"},"modified":"2025-12-12T11:31:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T02:31:40","slug":"how-imperial-electronic-improved-lead-times-and-yields-with-koh-young-3d-inspection","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/kohyoung.com\/en\/news\/how-imperial-electronic-improved-lead-times-and-yields-with-koh-young-3d-inspection\/","title":{"rendered":"How Imperial Electronic Improved Lead Times and Yields with Koh Young 3D Inspection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Brent A. Fischthal, Head of Marketing Communications, Koh Young Technology<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imperial Electronic Assembly, a Connecticut-based contract manufacturer, has been serving the electronics industry since 1989. What began as a 10-person operation has grown into a 120-employee company operating in a 45,000-square-foot facility. As a smaller CM competing in an increasingly complex market, Imperial needed to deliver the same capabilities as larger manufacturers while maintaining flexibility and responsiveness for their customers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Challenge: Breaking Free from Batch Processing<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Imperial\u2019s original quality\u00a0control process relied on a batch AOI (Automated Optical Inspection<\/a>) system that created bottlenecks and delayed feedback on production issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cImperial originally had a batch system for AOI,\u201d explains Mark Bohacs, Engineering Manager. \u201cEvery time we ran a product through our system, we basically had to batch it and run it through one at a time. This meant we weren\u2019t getting immediate feedback on quality issues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike Conte, Operations Manager, describes the impact: \u201cWe used to do a batch system, so they would run through SMT, then do AOI. We\u2019d have to wait and be like, oh, now we have a bad batch, we got to rework the entire job. Having the ability to do it inline and detect problems right away as they\u2019re occurring has been tremendous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company also recognized the need for\u00a0Solder Paste Inspection\u00a0<\/a>(SPI) as technology advanced. \u201cWe went with SPI because of the ever-changing technology, the finer pitches, the BGAs,\u201d Mike explains. \u201cWe needed the ability to make sure the prints were good beforehand to eliminate any type of rework. It\u2019s very key to make sure that\u2019s done properly at the initial step.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Selection Process: Choosing the Right Partner<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Imperial conducted an extensive evaluation of approximately three different vendors for both AOI and SPI systems. The decision to partner with Koh Young was driven by multiple factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKoh Young stood out,\u201d Mark recalls. \u201cTheir ability to integrate with our printers, integrating upstream and downstream, and their true 3D imaging and quality allowed us much more detail to try to get to the root cause. The information was readily available in their Casemark product. It wasn\u2019t difficult to learn statistics and the information\u2014it was presented in a very easy-to-use format. Our operators love it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The offline programming and repair station capabilities also played a crucial role. \u201cThe repair station and the offline programming are huge advantages that Koh Young provided that helped us make the decision much easier,\u201d Mark notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike emphasizes the importance of their existing partnerships: \u201cWe did extensive research and decided that Koh Young was the best partner for us. There were multiple vendors out there, but the presentation and the team at Koh Young was really helpful, and they worked well with our Panasonic team. All of our lines are Panasonic, so it was very beneficial to have that collaborative team between Panasonic and Koh Young.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony Conte, Founder and CEO, confirms that Panasonic\u2019s recommendation carried significant weight: \u201cWe have a long-standing arrangement with Panasonic, who recommended Koh Young when we went to put AOI and SPI inline. We\u2019re looking for that visionary stuff from the supply chain, especially from equipment manufacturers, because technology is changing so fast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding the Needs of a Contract Manufacturer<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a contract manufacturer building diverse products for multiple customers, Imperial needed exceptional flexibility. Mark explains the unique challenge: \u201cAs a smaller CM, we\u2019re able to handle the same thing that larger CMs do with the same equipment. We chose the Zenith UHS AOIs, because we wanted that capability to offer true vision and control of the board. We don\u2019t build a product, we make it\u2014and our product could be anything. Taller parts would get in the way, and Koh Young was very clear that we needed to understand what our product is. We wanted to have that flexibility, and Koh Young allowed us to offer that to any customer in any configuration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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