New Interphase electronics manufacturing facility showcases Juki SMT production equipment

Interphase Corporation (NASDAQ: INPH), a diversified information and communications technology company, and Juki Automation Systems (JAS), Inc., a world-leading provider of automated assembly products and systems and part of Juki Corporation, are pleased to announce that Interphase has greatly expanded production capacity at its new corporate and manufacturing facility with a full line of Juki surface mount (SMT) production equipment.

This is the third time that Interphase has selected Juki equipment for its turnkey concept-to-production capability. Over the past 35 years, Interphase has fulfilled the outsourced electronics board design and manufacture, as well as subsystems, systems, and full-service manufacturing needs of the most demanding customers. Its ISO-9001, TL-9000, and ISO-14000 certified facility is optimized to efficiently deliver high-mix, low-volume production services. Interphase takes pride in providing outstanding customer service, flexibility, and world-class quality.

“All of us at Juki are honored to be chosen by Interphase as a key supplier,” commented Bob Black, President and CEO of Juki Automation Systems. “We look forward to working with them in the years ahead, and we pledge our maximum effort to support them in their dynamic growth.”

Chris Guest, Regional manager at Juki stated, “What makes this new Juki line extra special, are the conclusions that were formed from the Interphase engineering team assigned to the due diligence phase of the project. The review not only reaffirmed that the 15 year relationship with Juki on pick-and-place was still the best value in the market, but that our technology and growth path can reduce the resources required by the manufacturing site and improve its overall efficiency. By expanding the Juki footprint to include printing, reflow and wave soldering, all the Interphase systems are safely covered for three years and require only a single support contact for the entire line. This enabled the Juki service and support staff to relocate all of the existing lines and install the new line in only one week (at the new Interphase manufacturing site). I am proud to be a part of a team that can, and does, provide total solutions that include legacy compatible software AND hardware for its customers. It is a great general business practice we plan to continue.”

“We examined the production and capacity forecasts for the next several years, and it became clear that we needed to make an investment in additional manufacturing equipment. We remain committed to the Juki platform because Interphase has produced quality products and experienced high-yield production runs using Juki equipment on our lines for many years,” said Greg Kalush, CEO of Interphase Corporation. “So when we decided to expand and update our manufacturing capabilities, Juki’s new SMT line made perfect sense. Their equipment offers great performance at an affordable price, and they have the full breadth of equipment we need for our newly expanded production facility.”

“Installing a new production line from a proven company with a single point of service helps Interphase make our manufacturing processes more efficient and cost-effective for our customers,” added Jim Gragg, VP of Operations and head of Interphase’s Electronics Manufacturing Services business. “We appreciate a business partner that listens to its customer’s needs and offers a complete solution. Juki went beyond the original scope of our proposed equipment expansion plan to improve several key areas within our factory. Along with Juki’s excellent service engineers, sales team and support, we were able to transition to the new facility in a surprisingly short timeframe.”

The range of Juki equipment that is installed and ready to service Interphase electronic design and manufacturing customers includes Juki GL screen printers, a KE-3010 chip mounter, a KE-3020V flex mounter, an RS-800 8-zone reflow oven, and a SW-450 wave solder machine. This new equipment complements existing Juki and other equipment and provides a significant expansion to Interphase production capacity. The new Carrollton facility was designed to accommodate additional production capacity growth to keep pace with customer needs.