Aegis Europe Chosen by AWS Electronics for Process Definition in Assembly Manufacturing

Electronics Manufacturer

CHELTENHAM, UK – 23rd August 2005 – Aegis Europe, a leader in Manufacturing Information Management systems for global electronics assemblers, has announced that AWS Electronics, a leading UK based CEM, has selected Aegis manufacturing information software for process definition, documentation and advanced machine programming. The suite includes three CircuitCAM concurrent licenses for all documentation creation and advanced off-line machine programming with line balancing. AWS Electronics provides medium volume electronic manufacturing services to demanding industry sectors such as aero-defence, medical, rail, food and scientific equipment.

The Aegis system allows manufacturers to merge the bill of materials with the supplied CAD data to support rapid New Product Introduction for multiple lines and multiple processes, with built-in process and BOM revision control. CircuitCAM defines the logical routings, aiding fast and consistent data preparation and delivery of programs to machines, documentation to manual assembly stations, and task and checklists to all locations from printing to AOI to repair to box-build. The Aegis software handles all AWS off-line machine programming and optimization needs, manages balance line allocations, machine libraries while creating the bill of process for each station and machine along the entire route, for later use on the factory floor.

key factor in the decision to change to Aegis was their excellence and proven ability in machine programming where the system takes full advantage of automatic, seamless integration to the machines without the need for exporting and editing. We didn’t see this anywhere else.

Commenting on the recent implementation, Chris Bowman, technical director at AWS, said, “We have chosen the Aegis software to expedite and control our advanced manufacturing processes and product data definition for new product introductions. A key factor in the decision to change to Aegis was their excellence and proven ability in machine programming where the system takes full advantage of automatic, seamless integration to the machines without the need for exporting and editing. We didn’t see this anywhere else.”

"Aegis was the only provider that met all of our requirements and provided all the front end applications for NPI. They can generate all our machine programs, accept programs from legacy systems support the widest range of file formats, create electronic work instructions, and display them through web browsers. It was a pleasure to work with them,” Bowman added. “Plus the Aegis Documentation Manager can cover the whole factory floor, not just the front end processes.”

“AWS are looking to create a complete link across all business and factory processes within one seamless system for optimum manufacturing, and to build a more robust, technology-independent process defining ‘how’ products are to be built. In the UK and European contract assembly market rapid NPI is a must, and a great differentiator,” said Peter Clegg, business development director at Aegis Europe. “Their criteria for evaluating and selecting Aegis came down to our ease of use, intelligent interfacing and technical product depth, as well as providing on-site training.”

About AWS Electronics

AWS Electronics, a UK based Contract Electronics Manufacturer (CEM), with comprehensive and modern facilities for manufacturing PCB assemblies, electrical and electronic sub-assemblies and finished products, cable and wiring harnesses for the military, aerospace, medical, rail and other demanding industries.

As part of a long-term investment programme into its people, equipment and facilities, AWS has trained most of its staff to IPC 610 and IPC 620, to the most demanding level, class 3. The company has also invested heavily into new equipment and training focusing on lead free assembly, test and inspection, including sophisticated IT systems and development of a major cable and harness assembly facility, and more recently in a fourth very high standard surface mount PCB assembly line, to keep up with demand that has grown by over 25% year-on-year for the past three years. AWS remains a competitive force in the UK market, compared to Eastern European and Far Eastern competition, because they offer a powerful combination of constantly available dedicated expertise, flexibility and service.

For additional information contact:
Deb Geiger
VP, Global Marketing
Phone: +1 215.773.3571 x 1106
Email: [email protected]