by Scott Bronstad | Jan 29, 2018 | Announcements, News, Technology
Pick and place errors account for the majority of quality issues when programming small devices. Pick and place inaccuracy occurs when the machine is not taught precisely. Teaching the machine manually is nearly impossible for small devices, and for larger devices operator skill and experience are required. Programming centers and manufacturers programming small devices incur added costs for labor, machine idle time, lost devices, damaged devices, escapes, and poor yield.
BPM invented WhisperTeach™, patented, to help programming centers and manufacturers reduce setup time per job, improve cycle time, reduce changeover time, and improve job accuracy. WhisperTeach™ uses artificial intelligence and an enhanced pneumatic system to learn and determine the accurate z-height between the nozzle and device.
Companies report manual teaching small devices takes up to 30 minutes per station. For programming centers with five changeovers per day, this costs 2.5 hours machine idle time and labor costs. With WhisperTeach™, the operator initiates WhisperTeach™ within the BPWin™ process control software during the normal job setup workflow. WhisperTeach™ completes the task in 4.37 minutes with a standard deviation 0.5mils, resulting in a savings of 2.14 hours per day.
Accurately taught jobs improve yield by eliminating pick or place errors. Companies have reported yields as poor as 80% on very small parts using manual teach depending on operator skill. WhisperTeach™ produces a job yield of 99.99% by eliminating any teach related issues.
WhisperTeach™ supports a wide range of device sizes, including Chip Scale Packages (CSP). WhisperTeach™ is now available on all of its automated programming systems (not just our larger systems).
by Scott Bronstad | Dec 4, 2017 | New Product, News, Technology
HOUSTON, TX-Dec. 4, 2017-SMT Global & Packaging interviews James Holava, BPM Director of Global Sales, at Productronica about new BPM innovations. BPM is now on its 9th Gen site technology platform, which is backward compatible with most 6th, 7th, and 8th generation sockets. 9th Generation supports the majority of the 39,000+ library* of components and devices that BPM has collected since 2002. 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 Generation 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. To improve handling for smaller device packages, BPM also introduced a new technology called WhisperTeach™. WhisperTeach™ automatically teaches the Z-height of components and removes the opportunity for manual defects.
BPM 9th Gen site technology is available on the 4900 and 3900 automated programming systems, as well as the 2900L and 2900 systems. To learn more about BPM 9th Generation site technology and programmers, please contact BPM.
*As of publication
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.
