Established in 2004 in Singapore, the SIPLACE Centre Asia (SCA) celebrates its ten year anniversary this year. With new markets emerging and growing more and more important in the early 2000s in Asia, the SIPLACE team, already the leading force in the European and American markets, embarked on a journey to bring its world-renowned placement machines closer to new electronics manufacturers. A decade later, Mr. Low Wei Hsien, Vice President of the SCA, can look back on a host of successful innovations and products launched along the way.
What is the secret behind the success? Mr. Low quickly summed up it in one word: “People. All the success and innovations we made would not have been possible if the SCA did not work as such a great team. We communicate openly and share an atmosphere of mutual trust with colleagues, partners and customers in general.”
Continuing a success story
With rising order numbers and the plan to develop SIPLACE solutions especially with Asian manufacturers’ challenges in mind, the SIPLACE team decided in 2004 to build a second factory – apart from the company’s HQ in Munich, Germany – in Asia. With an ideal logistics infrastructure for better delivery and response times as well as a ready pool of skilled labor, technical expertise and intellectual-property-friendly environment, Singapore was the ultimate choice for the perfect location.
After its establishment, the SCA quickly took its place as a technology leader in the Asian market. In September 2005, only 14 months after its establishment, the SIPLACE team shipped out the SIPLACE HS-60, the very first placement solution developed and assembled in Singapore, with typical Asian manufacturing issues in mind.
Following the roll-out of the SIPLACE HS-60, the SCA pursued another great project: to listen to customer’s feedback and subsequently maximize quality standards. Each department therefore received the feedback and continued to further improve its operations.
A Clear Objective: maximum customer satisfaction
After continuous communication with customers and thorough research into the Asian market, the SCA successfully realized the market’s demands into a new machine. In June 2006, the SCA came out with the SIPLACE D-Series, its first “designed in Singapore” SMT platform. “We always put our customers’ success first and keep on thinking about how to optimize their productivity. The only way we can succeed is by solving our customers’ problems,” said Mr. Low. “The SIPLACE D-Series was created by the SCA and our customers together. It met the market trend towards higher performance and accuracy with the improved benchmark speed and new digital vision system.”
Going with the times
An innovative industry such as electronics manufacturing is always submitted to changes. Proving once more its status as innovation leader, the SCA enhanced its software suite, knowing that customers would soon be facing challenges that could not be remedied with state-of-the-art hardware alone. In the year 2012, the SCA launched its SIPLACE Line Monitor software. With the SIPLACE Line Monitor, customers will experience significantly fewer material related production stops and optimal efficiency in a calm work environment.
The SIPLACE Line Monitor software analyzes information from various SIPLACE sources on the production floor, such as setup verification stations and machines and compiles this data on a single, clearly laid-out screen. Not only that, production costs can be kept low as operating staff can keep everything under control and prevent material-related production stops. “We at SCA understand software as a necessary part of modern electronic production. We take pride in our ability to marry software intelligence with innovative hardware technologies. The SCA team doesn’t overlook smallest changes in the market trend – we know they can bring a huge revolution. This allows us to secure a differentiation and competitiveness in all our products and technologies through continuous innovation efforts,” added Mr. Low.
A continuous process to improve
With the SIPLACE Di-Series released in 2013, the SCA added another chapter to its success story. Following two years of R&D, E by SIPLACE, the new machine for mid-speed applications, is ready to be released in January 2015. “When it comes to quality, performance and ease of use, the E by SIPLACE offers new features that other suppliers in this market segment cannot offer,” said Mr. Low. “There is no doubt that with the release of the new E by SIPLACE, SIPLACE will once again confirm its status as innovation leader in the market.”
A new market, a new location, a new team: it was a fresh adventure when the SCA was established in 2004. After ten successful years of growing and working together as a team and with customers, the SIPLACE Centre Asia team, however, is certain that innovation will continue to be its inspiration and driving factor. From the SIPLACE HS-60 released in 2005 to the E by SIPLACE going to be released in January 2015, the SCA has made incredible progress. Celebrating its 10 year anniversary, the SCA is preparing to write another success story in the next decade and will continue to explore the frontiers of the electronics production.
