Mentor Blogs

Hi there SMT vendors are commonly asked by prospective customers about their existing pick and place programs and what happens with them if they purchase another type of equipment. The customer is usually told that there is nothing that can be done with those programs and hence they need to maintain those in the old system until they migrate them to the new machines. However in Valor MSS Process Preparation … Read More

Sony, Assembleon, programming, Sequence, Siemens, approved vendor list, Fuji, mixed vendor, Panasonic, Hitachi, process, data preparation, Juki, iPulse, Universal, vPlan, Yamaha

Hi there The Valor team are here in San Diego at the IPC Apex Trade Show. We’ve had a great couple of days, meeting our customers, plenty of new ones as well as meeting with some of the other vendors at the show. Our theater presentations have been well received, bringing people in to the booth and then stopping afterwards, asking questions and looking for more information. If you are at the … Read More

Enhancement, documentation, programming, Solder Paste Inspection, AOI, Design For Test, SPI, apex, stencil, testability, Automated Optical Inspection, VPL, BOM, Automated X-Ray Inspection, vPlan, boundary scan, approved vendor list, data preparation, AXI, AVL, bill of materials, Flying Probe, Planning, mixed vendor, OIB, IPC, ICT

Hi there We have just released a new version of Valor MSS (11.3) that brings a number of significant enhancements to existing customers as well as those looking to invest in cutting edge process preparation solutions. I’ll be covering some of these enhancements in more detail in future blogs but here is a short summary of some of the new capability that we have in 11.3. We have made significant … Read More

OIB, mixed vendor, vPlan, AOI, Flying Probe, ICT, BOM, AVL, documentation, bill of materials, Enhancement, Design For Test, data preparation, VPL, testability, stencil, programming, Planning, process

Hi there Next month on February 19th, 20th and 21st is the annual IPC Apex Convention in San Diego and there will be more than 400 exhibitors from 50 different countries represented at the show. Here are five reasons you should attend: 1. The Valor Division of Mentor Graphics will be exhibiting at booth 1227. So, you will be able to meet the U.S. sales team as well as some of the Product Line personnel … Read More

mixed vendor, Flying Probe, AOI, apex, ICT, IPC, bill of materials, BOM, approved vendor list, documentation, data preparation, Design For Test, vPlan, stencil, Sequence, programming, san diego, process

Hi there This week yields a new medium for the Valor MSS Process Preparation suite in that you can now hear from me through the YouTube video below. Here I talk about the advantages of our suite for those users who are still using multiple products for process engineering or are having to maintain multiple part libraries across the various types of equipment on your production line. I’ve had … Read More

Library, mixed vendor, AVL, test expert, vPlan, bill of materials, part library, data preparation, fabmaster, programming, BOM

Hi there Firstly, let me wish you all a Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2013. I appreciate everyone taking the time to read my blog and to also comment on the areas that we have discussed. This week I am going to continue on from my theme from the last posting where I discussed the auto-generation capability in Valor MSS Process Preparation. I described the capability to create machine specific … Read More

documentation, mixed vendor, programming, AVL, vPlan, approved vendor list, Planning, data preparation, process, bill of materials, BOM

Hi there I have talked about the Valor MSS unique capability to use the Valor Parts Library or VPL in multiple ways during PCB manufacturing. VPL data is manufacturer specific information about the actual component body and pin areas that can be used for multiple uses across DFM, Stencil, Documentation, SMT programming, test programming and inspection programming. I’d like to focus the specifics … Read More

Sequence, programming, mixed vendor, AVL, bill of materials, process, data preparation, documentation, Flying Probe, Design For Test, BOM, vPlan, stencil, VPL

Hi there It has been a few months since we launched the World Class Process Preparation Webinar including a video of an overall product demonstration. Over the past couple of months I have met with a number of people who implemented the Valor MSS Process Preparation solution and are achieving the efficiencies and improvements that we describe in the Webinar. Therefore I would like to provide you with … Read More

mixed vendor, Flying Probe, AOI, ICT, BOM, boundary scan, AVL, bill of materials, documentation, data preparation, Design For Test, vPlan, Planning, testability, VPL, stencil, programming, process

Hi there I have been posting comments on my blog now for a number of months. The topics have been based on the feedback and conversations I’ve had with many users of Process Engineering software, both Mentor Graphics and non-Mentor Graphics products, all around the world. Many of you have also taken the time to add comments on these postings which I really appreciate. I’d like to open … Read More

mixed vendor, Flying Probe, AOI, ICT, BOM, boundary scan, AVL, bill of materials, documentation, data preparation, Design For Test, Planning, testability, vPlan, stencil, programming, process

Hi there The configuration of SMT lines has changed a number of times over the years. A few years ago lines were configured with a best-in-class requirement, where the line was configured with the chip shooters being supplied from one vendor and the fine pitch machines being from another vendor. In recent years though, may be with the introduction of modular machines and dual line capability, there … Read More

process, programming, BOM, mixed vendor, vPlan, data preparation

Hi there For the many years I have worked in this industry one of the most common complaints from SMT engineers is related to position and rotation errors that were found during the first article inspection of a PCB during the sticky tape run. The programs would then be tweaked and the sticky tape board ran again to confirm the changes. This resulted in a significant loss of line down time while the … Read More

programming, data preparation, virtual sticky tape, pick and place, vPlan, mixed vendor

Hi there I have covered a number of areas of process engineering in this blog over the past few months and there is now an opportunity to see how these areas all come together next week in our Webinar titled “World Class Process Preparation”. We will be discussing a number of ways that the users of Valor MSS can streamline their process preparation tasks to make them more efficient and … Read More

Planning, AOI, mixed vendor, BOM, data preparation, documentation, AVL, Flying Probe, bill of materials, ICT, Design For Test, process preparation, vPlan, Webinar, testability, stencil, programming, Sequence

Hi there One of the least efficient areas in PCB assembly concerns the creation and management of package data that will be consumed across the shop-floor. For example DFM processes rely on accurate package data to determine component to component spacing issues or using accurate pin terminus contact data to ensure that solder joints will form correctly. Accurate package data is critical for DFT analysis … Read More

programming, AOI, bill of materials, mixed vendor, process, documentation, data preparation, Design For Test, Flying Probe, ICT, BOM, VPL, vPlan, stencil, testability

Hi there One of the largest groups of users within Valor MSS Process Preparation for SMT programming is those supporting ASM, formerly Siemens, pick and place machines. ASM has released their OIB interface as a single API for both programming and monitoring for external applications to use. This has the benefit for third party applications to have an open interface that can be programmed to consistently … Read More

process, programming, data preparation, ASM, SIPLACE, OIB, vPlan, mixed vendor