by Scott Bronstad | Nov 3, 2017 | Announcements, News, Technology
HOUSTON, TX—Nov. 3, 2017–BPM Microsystems adopted an Agile software development practice. What is Agile? Agile refers to a software development methodology based on empowering teams, who collaborate with customers, to rapidly deliver working software to customers. Continuous attention to technical excellence and quality improve the agility of a team.
Agile software development originates from the Agile Manifesto. The Agile Manifesto was created in 2001 by a group of seventeen leading figures in the software industry. It reflects their experiences of what principles and approaches deliver the greatest success in software development.
By rapidly delivering working software to customers, BPM is able to deliver valuable features and functionality to customers that achieve business values. Agile allows BPM to build projects around customer priorities and quickly adapt to new and changing priorities.
BPM customers benefit from Agile in many ways. Customer engagement and satisfaction are core to Agile. Improved visibility and customer feedback ensures BPM brings the most valuable products and features to market faster and with more predictability and reduced risk. With Agile, BPM is able to release weekly to every two weeks, instead of 6 to 8 times a year. The frequent release schedule gets valuable changes into customer hands faster.
Since adopting agile in 2017, BPM has seen quality improvements, team spirit is higher than ever, and functionality is being delivered steadily every sprint.
by Scott Bronstad | Mar 26, 2017 | Announcements, News
Award-winning WhisperTeach™ and 9th Generation site technology reduce changeover time and protect future investments
HOUSTON, TX-Mar. 26, 2017-Technology is advancing, and BPM Microsystems continues to provide new technology to help automotive and electronics manufacturers succeed. James Holava, Global Sales Director at BPM Microsystems, speaks with Global SMT & Packaging about new technology from BPM Microsystems.
BPM Microsystems 9th Generation site technology, which is backward compatible with most 6th, 7th and 8th generation sockets, provides true universal support. 9th Gen supports over 34,000 devices, bringing forward support from previous generations. This helps clients leverage many existing sockets and gives clients ease regarding the lifespan of future investments.
With the trend in the industry of higher density and smaller package devices, 9th Gen technology also supports the EMMC devices and the HS400 programming mode at 200 MB per second. This provides the throughput manufacturers need today in modern production. BPM was recently awarded the 2018 NPI Award for a new program called WhisperTeach™. WhisperTeach™ automatically teaches the Z-height of components and removes the opportunity for manual defects. Customers using WhisperTeach™ report a time savings of 25-30 minutes per job.
BPM 9th gen site technology is available on the 4900 and 3900 automated programming systems, as well as the 2900L systems. To learn more about BPM ninth generation site technology and programmers, please contact BPM.
by Scott Bronstad | Jan 12, 2015 | Announcements, New Product, News, Technology
BPM Microsystems announces double data rate (DDR) support for eMMC flash memories on 8th Generation programmers. The 8th Generation programmers already featured the fastest programming and verification times of any universal programmers. This new feature doubles the rate at which data is transferred into and out of the device during programming and verification by transferring a word of data to or from the device on both the rising and falling clock edges.
“Our automotive customers’ programming enormous data files will get an immediate increase in productivity by using DDR,” said William White, CEO of BPM Microsystems. “The programmers we are shipping today are now more than 1,000,000 times faster than the original EP-1 programmer we shipped 30 years ago.”
“The Vector Engine BitBlast DDR Mode Support is just the latest example of how the advanced Vector Engine design sets us apart from the competition. The Vector Engine continues to evolve and adapt to new requirements keeping our users up to date even as their requirements change.”
As an example of the performance that can be achieved with this new feature, 2800 and 3800MK2 programmers are now a staggering 105% faster than the closest competitor on the SanDisk SDIN8DE4-32G. The BPM programmer will perform a Program and Verify operation in 1403 seconds when programming 29GB of random data compared to 2880 seconds for the Flash Core III according to Data I/O’s website. The 3800MK2 will program and verify this device at a rate of 1190 GB/hour, enabling economic programming of enormous data patterns used in today’s automotive electronics.
By decreasing programming times, BPM has enabled customers with the 3800MK2 to achieve the devices per hour similar to competitive machines that are more than twice the footprint. In addition to the improved cost per device, the faster programming times mean that when using High Insertion Count Sockets (HIC Sockets), which can have lifetimes of up to 1 million insertions, customers only have to buy half as many sockets to get the same throughput in devices per hour. Such reductions can potentially save hundreds of thousands of dollars over the life of a machine.
All users of the 8th generation programmers that are under software contracts are eligible for a free automatic firmware update that will enable this new feature automatically when the BPWin software is updated.
Established in 1985, BPM Microsystems is known for its long history of disruptive innovation including the first universal programmer with socket modules, the first concurrent programmer, the first automated programming system with vision centering, the first flash programmer with Vector Engine and DDR and the first high-yield CSP programming system. BPM presently leads the programming industry with automated programming of CSP devices, fast programming times, rapid support for complex integrated circuits and productivity.
by Scott Bronstad | Sep 12, 2011 | Announcements, News
Growing demand for flash memory programming prompts major US programming center to purchase a BPM Microsystems model 3800
BPM Microsystems announces that ProEx, a leading worldwide provider of device programming and other value-added services, selected a 3800 automated production programmer to accommodate its increasing programming demands for high-density flash memory.
“It has been obvious to us that there is a growing demand among many of our customers requiring programming of high-density flash components,” said Chief Operating Officer of ProEx Greg Norton. “We also sought a programmer that offered the versatility to program the entire range of semiconductors requested by our customers. Our research of industry equipment available that could fulfill such requirements identified the BPM Microsystems 3800 as the hands-down choice offering the desired capabilities.”
The versatility of the model 3800 allows it to support microcontrollers, NAND flash, NOR flash, Serial flash, Managed NAND flash, E/EPROM, flash EPROM, and other technologies with densities up to an 8 Eb theoretical limit. It also supports devices with voltage down to 0.7 (Vdd).
The ultra-fast programming speed of the model 3800 is attributed to BPM Microsystems’ Vector Engine Co-Processor, the same proven technology that established Flashstream® as the fastest flash-dedicated programmer.
“With current economic conditions as they are, it is imperative that we increase our throughput in order to keep pricing in line with our customers’ expectations,” said Norton. “We have been pleased with the performance of the 3800 and are confident we will realize an expeditious ROI due to increased efficiencies.”
Established in 1992, ProEx offers value-added services, which include device programming, tape and reel, baking and more on behalf of electronics distributors, contract manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers that span a broad spectrum of industries. With the capacity to program over 75 million devices annually, ProEx operates with the philosophy of maintaining state of the art equipment in order to provide its customers with unparalleled support.
With the addition of the 3800, ProEx owns and operates a total of eight BPM Microsystems automated programming systems, which include two 4600’s, one 4610, one 4710, three 3710’s.
ProEx can be contacted at 7842 South 1300 West, West Jordan, Utah 84088; telephone: +1-801-569-8500; website: http://www.proex1.com.
by Scott Bronstad | Sep 9, 2010 | News
William White, BPM Microsystem’s president and CEO.
HOUSTON – BPM Microsystems, a leading provider of device programming solutions to the electronics industry, is proud to announce that it has reached the 25-year mark in the device programming business. Since 1985, BPM Microsystems leads the industry with innovative products and award-winning customer service.
“Device programming is important and deserves to be done right because billions of end-users count on the results every day,” said William White, president, and CEO. “The need to challenge the status quo and innovate every day remains as important today as it was in 1985 when I started the company. We have had the pleasure of leading change in the industry by introducing revolutionary technologies that changed the landscape of the industry seven times. Each of these revolutions came about by focusing on solving our customers’ most difficult problems whether their pain point was device support, yield, quality, usability, throughput, or cost per device.
Looking forward, I am very excited, not only about our current lineup of products but also about the products we have under development and the effects these will have on the industry,” continued White.
BPM Microsystems made its debut in 1985 with the EP-1, a powerful standalone unit containing its own microcomputer and unique software that allowed customers to select specific manufacturer device part numbers, which greatly simplified device programming. The EP-1 proved to be a tremendous success and paved the way for the company’s later industry-changing programming solutions.
In 1992, the company introduced the first true universal engineering programmer. The BP1200 offered broad support for thousands of devices and a variety of device technologies by combining a versatile programming site with dedicated socket modules for specific device types and packages.
BPM Microsystems next released the first Concurrent Programming System®, which uses fault-tolerant architecture, allowing multiple programming sites to operate independently within a single job session. As a result, throughput, yield, and uptime are optimized to allow a single operator to produce higher volumes of programmed devices. This was an improvement to traditional “gang” solutions where operator and equipment idle time can be significant.
Integrating concurrent programming technology into a fine-pitch pick-and-place platform was another key milestone and industry first for BPM Microsystems. The BP4100 was the world’s first fully automated universal programming system with the flexibility to support tape, tray, and tube media. This fine-pitch placement machine was well-suited to process modern SMD packages without compromising pin quality. The pick head-mounted vision-centering system automatically aligns devices “on-the-fly,” resulting in unsurpassed placement accuracy and high first-pass yields at full mechanical throughput.
Next came the complimentary 3000 series automated platform with a smaller footprint and lower cost of ownership. Designed for quick setup and changeover, the 3000 series machine offered vision alignment and nonstop operation at a price point justifiable for medium-volume applications.
In 2007, the company released the Flashstream®, the fastest flash memory device programmer with proven speeds as much as 12X faster than previous flash memory programming technology. The Flashstream solution includes flexible NAND bad block management options and utilizes BERT (Bit Error Rate Tolerance), a process that solves the problems associated with the excessive number of “bit flips” common with high-density NAND flash.
BPM Microsystems further raised the bar this month with the release of its 8th Generation universal device programmer. This new addition to BPM Microsystems’ device programmer family combines the unrivaled speed of Vector Engine Co-Processor® technology plus true universal device support as the fastest universal programmer in the industry. 8th Generation technology offers the speed and versatility needed to support the latest programmable devices and is unbeatable in performance and value.
Looking forward, BPM Microsystems is committed to enabling its customers to program devices in the most efficient ways possible. To achieve this goal, BPM Microsystems combines technical leadership, innovative design, and state-of-the-art manufacturing practices to offer its customers the latest products. These products enable customers to reduce costs, improve performance and bring their products to market faster.
Established in 1985, BPM Microsystems is a global supplier of electronic device programmers for all applications. The company is the leading supplier of vision-based automated programming systems and sets the standard in device support, performance, ease of use, and cost of ownership. The company offers a wide variety of device programmers including Universal Programmers, Concurrent Programming Systems®, and Fine-Pitch Automated Programming Systems.
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by Scott Bronstad | Aug 28, 2006 | Announcements, News
BP Microsystems, a leading supplier of device programming systems worldwide, announced today that after 21 years, it is changing its company name and will now be known as BPM Microsystems.
“Our company has long been the leader in the manufacture of semiconductor programming equipment,” said Lyman Brown, Vice President, and COO. “Our new name will reflect the same high-quality company that customers and the industry alike have depended on for the past 21 years. However, we look forward to no longer being confused with BP Amoco, the oil company, which also has its headquarters in Houston.”
The original BP name was created from the founders’ first names— Bill White and Peter Cole— when they opened BP Microsystems in Houston in 1985. BPM Microsystems continues today under the direction of CEO and President Bill White and is the leader in the device programming industry in support of electronics production globally.
Looking forward, BPM Microsystems remains committed to enabling its customers to program devices in the most efficient ways possible today and in the future. To achieve this goal, the company combines technical leadership, innovative design and state-of-the-art manufacturing practices to offer its customers the latest products. These products enable customers to reduce costs, improve performance and bring their products to market faster.
The name change will become effective August 28, 2006, and will coincide with the opening of BPM Microsystems’ new headquarters building in Houston, Texas.
