Frost & Sullivan Honors Heller Industries for Standing out in the SMT Soldering Equipment Market with Its Novel Reflow Soldering Tool That Supports Industry 4.0
Heller Industries is a true pioneer of best-in-class SMT reflow equipment, offering predictive analytics, longer lifetime of reflow ovens, and reduced maintenance costs
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the surface mount technology (SMT) soldering equipment that enable Industry 4.0, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Heller Industries with the 2017 Global Frost & Sullivan Company of the Year Award. The company's groundbreaking product innovation, growth strategy, and vision in designing an SMT reflow soldering equipment capable of meeting Industry 4.0 requirements have set it apart from the competition. The innovative soldering equipment boasts highly flexible customization capability, which allows it to address demanding customer needs of high accuracy and soldering perfection in high-volume production environments.
Unlike traditional methods that involve time-consuming system check-ups, Heller Industries' equipment gives customers the freedom to remotely monitor SMT equipment performance and take corrective action through predictive analytics. The Heller SMT reflow oven series is the best in the market due to the high degree of repeatability and flexibility it gives users when configuring the reflow oven. This repeatability is a critical purchase criterion when dealing with ultra-high volume production of electronic devices.
"A key customer need in the current production environment is smart SMT solutions, as semiconductor and electronic device manufacturers are evolving towards Industry 4.0," said Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Viswam Sathiyanarayanan. "Heller Industries is the only company in the market that has keenly focused on developing smarter SMT soldering equipment, offering product advantages such as increased connectivity, greater automation, and less manual intervention."
The company strategically concentrates on two key factors to satisfy the Industry 4.0 requirement:
- Communication software: It has two protocols in the semiconductor equipment communication standard/generic equipment model (SEC/GEM)—the traditional semiconductor communication algorithm and the IPC Industry 4.0 CFX. Heller Industries serves as Co-Chair for the IPC Committee that created the CFX Standard.
- Predictive analytics: Heller Industries' updated version of predictive analytics has data mining capability, which allows users to predict equipment performance and future problems.
Heller Industries has enjoyed remarkable growth in the last ten years, and accounts for 20% to 23% of the total market in 2017. Its most lucrative region has been Asia-Pacific; however, in terms of market penetration, all regions demonstrate similar potential. Significantly, the company is experiencing increased sales in 2017 due to the heavy investments in electronic devices and personal communication devices, generating a year-on-year increase of 10% in sales.
"As the company operates in a price-sensitive market, it places emphasis on product innovations to give customers the best value for money," noted Sathiyanarayanan. "Following intense R&D, it has rolled out a range of new products such as curing and back-end semiconductor solutions, voidless/vacuum reflow soldering and the flux free formic reflow soldering process. This dedication to technology advancement has resulted in a robust, constantly evolving technology roadmap, which, in turn, has earned it a vast and loyal clientele."
Heller Industries offers customers a 24/7 service hotline for any issues related to the SMT soldering equipment. It has set up several service centers across Asia, North America, and Europe for speedy resolution of problems. Overall, for its focus on driving business performance by innovating for the future, Frost & Sullivan is thrilled to recognize Heller Industries with the 2017 Global Frost & Sullivan Company of the Year Award.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated excellence in terms of growth strategy and implementation. The award recognizes a high degree of innovation with products and technologies and the resulting leadership in terms of customer value and market penetration.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.
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