Siemens buys up 3-D inspection specialist Opto-Control

27 Jul 2006

With the acquisition of Opto-Control, Siemens has boosted the inspection capabilities of its SIPlace surface mount technology offshoot.

Siemens Automation and Drives (A&D), based in Nuremberg, Germany, has acquired Opto-Control Elektronik Prüfsysteme of Bochum, also Germany. The acquisition adds high-precision automatic optical inspection (AOI) systems to Siemens's Siplace surface mount technology business. Opto-Control's inspection systems are fully automated and use the latest 3-D sensor technology to detect any solder or placement flaws with exceptional speed.

Process controls and automated inspection are becoming increasingly more important in electronics manufacturing to maximise manufacturing quality. AOI systems help operators as well as process engineers to optimize their processes and monitor output.

Siemens' newly expanded Siplace portfolio combines AOI systems from Opto-Control with Siemens' own SMT placement machines.

The business with AOI systems will be integrated into the Optical Solutions unit of Siemens A&D's Electronics Assembly Systems division, where it will benefit from Siemens global sales and service network. The company says it wants to take advantage of this structure to expand its system with fully automated 3-D inspection systems in the future.

Products supplied by Siemens A&D are intended for the manufacturing and process industries and for the electrical installation industry> A&D also delivers system solutions, for example for machine tools, and for entire industries such as the automation of automobile factories and chemical plants.

Supplementing this range of products and services, A&D also offers software for linking production and management (horizontal and vertical IT integration) and for optimizing production processes.

Siemens A&D employs 60,800 people worldwide and in fiscal year 2005 earned a group profit of EUR 1.21 billion on sales of EUR 9.84 billion and orders of EUR 10.19 billion.