New SMT Manufacturing Equipment Increases Production Volume and Quality of
Instrumentation Hardware

August 2, 1993 -- Austin, TX - National Instruments announced today it has
incorporated new, state-of-the-art surface-mount equipment into its
around-the-clock manufacturing process to dramatically speed production
and maintain the quality of its GPIB, data acquisition, VXI, and VME
hardware products.

The company has recently installed two Siemens SP-120 Surface Mount Device
(SMD) Speed Placers, each of which uses a vertical 12-position revolver
head to pick up components from 8-24 mm tape feeders. The revolver head
lifts components with vacuum nozzles, then verifies the electrical value
of each component before placing it on a PC board. To improve throughput,
the SP-120 has been programmed to place components in a path-optimized
sequence - SP-120 machines in a standard dual configuration can pick up,
test, and place more than 14,000 components per hour.

Surface-Mount Manufacturing Speeds Production While Improving Quality 

The SP-120s have decreased the time needed to manufacture the company's
hardware products. In December 1992, it took the company 20 hours to
manufacture 200 Lab-PC+ plug-in data acquisition boards - a rate of 10
boards per hour. Using the SP-120s, the company manufactured 156 Lab-PC+
boards in only eight hours, raising the production rate to 19.5 boards per
hour - an increase of 95 percent.

"We invested in the SP-120s because they do more than mount the components
and increase our production rate," said Jim Craig, quality control methods
manager. "The machines also improve the quality of our products. The
SP-120s automatically discard a component if they discover that its
electrical value is out of tolerance. Also, the machines place
direction-specific components such as capacitors, diodes, and so on - in
the proper direction."

"In our process of continuous improvement, we know that we need to reduce
costs while simultaneously improving quality," said James Truchard,
president and CEO. "By incorporating leading-edge technology into our
manufacturing process, we not only maintain the quality of our hardware
products, but also improve our throughput."

For more information on the company's GPIB, data acquisition, VXI, and VME
hardware products, contact National Instruments, 6504 Bridge Point
Parkway, Austin, TX 78730-5039, (512) 794-0100. Or call toll free in the
U.S. and Canada at (800) 433-3488. Telex: 756737 NAT INST AUS, fax: (512)
794-8411.

 ==========================================================
 From the 'New Product Information' Electronic News Service
 ==========================================================
 This information was processed from data provided by the
 above mentioned company. For additional details, contact 
 the company at the address or telephone number indicated.
 ==========================================================
 All submissions for this service should be addressed to:
 BAKER ENTERPRISES,  20 Ferro Dr,  Sewell, NJ 08080  U.S.A.
 Email:  RBakerPC (AOL/Delphi), rbakerpc@aol.com (Internet)
 ==========================================================
