“May we live in interesting times”

I hear this phrase used often when friends, family, or co-workers are describing challenging situations they have little control over — but why do we allow outside influences like politics, global economics, or social agendas to steal the spotlight and make things “interesting”? While the items listed above certainly impact our personal and professional lives, at V-TEK we try to focus on what we can control and create our own interesting times. This past year has certainly been one of those periods for us.

A year ago, we expanded our product offering into device programming services and extended our geographic footprint by acquiring A&J Programming in San Jose, California. A&J Programming is renowned in the IC Programming Services space, providing high-quality, quick-turnaround programming and taping services. The operations remain in San Jose and, for the most part, unchanged. However, since the acquisition, we’ve had fun developing and implementing new marketing strategies, working through integration of systems, and gaining ISO certification — all while continuing to provide the exceptional service and support our customers have come to expect.

During that same period, our engineering team at V-TEK has been developing our next-generation automated test, inspect, sort, and package system. The new technology being integrated into these systems is improving precision for the smallest parts while adding performance for those that have greater production requirements. This machine can be configured as a die sorter to pick bare die that has been diced on dicing tape, or configured to be a high-volume tray-to-carrier tape machine. It can be further configured to include 6-sided inspection, electrical test, and 3D coplanarity inspection, along with options to re-orient a part before it gets placed into carrier tape or a tray output of any kind. As a die sorter, this machine will be the fastest equipment solution designed and built in the USA.

We have already started to define our next interesting journey — stay tuned for what it may be. In the meantime, best of luck with your own journey.

—Mitch Jacobs, President & CEO