Burton EMS Work Study Program Cultivates Future Tech Leaders on the Gogebic Range

Ironwood, MI – Burton EMS sought to bring industry and education together in collaboration when they created their work-study program. The program offers a comprehensive overview of the electronic manufacturing services sector, providing students with hands-on experience in various aspects of the industry, from design and prototyping to production and quality control. Burton EMS offers the initiative to complement students’ academic learning and create an understanding of the practical applications of their studies, encouraging a passion for innovation, leadership, and engineering.

Senior, Giovanni Lauzon, valedictorian of the class of 2024 at Luther L Wright High School in Ironwood, MI, participated in Burton’s work-study program this year. Sharing his experience, Lauzon remarked, “Being a part of the Burton EMS work-study program has been rewarding for me. It enabled me to apply my knowledge in real-world situations. The hands-on experience and understanding I’ve acquired will be valuable in my future career.”

Lauzon plans to continue his education at Michigan Tech or Gogebic Community College, majoring in computer science. He will utilize the technical knowledge he received at Burton EMS in school and his future career. 

As students in the area face career choices in industries demanding advanced knowledge in electronics, programming, and computers, cultivating an early interest in technology is critical to fostering the skills they need to compete in tomorrow’s workforce. The success of students like Lauzon is a testament to the viability of the program. 

Gary Burnett, Chief Operating Officer of Burton EMS, echoed that sentiment, “The work-study program at Burton EMS is crucial in creating leaders in the industry who will ensure the continued vitality of technology and manufacturing industries on the Gogebic Range. We’re very proud of Giovanni’s dedication and achievements, and we look forward to seeing more students follow in his footsteps.”

If you know a student who would make a good candidate for the Burton EMS work-study program, email hr@burtonems.com for details on criteria, specifics, and applying.

Burton EMS Showcases Products to Area Art Class

We are excited to share that we recently had the opportunity to visit Ms. Griebel’s 4th-grade students during Mrs. Kariainen’s art class at Ironwood Area Schools. During this visit, we showcased samples of our innovative products manufactured at Burton EMS. This experience not only provided valuable insights into the field of Electronics Manufacturing but also allowed the students to see the products firsthand.

We believe this visit will enhance the student’s understanding of our products. It was a fantastic opportunity for them to learn about the technology and processes involved in manufacturing electronic products. We hope this experience will inspire and encourage their interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields.

We are eagerly looking forward to seeing the advertisements that will be created and displayed in the Newspapers in Education 2024 edition in The Globe in March. It will be wonderful to see the creativity and imagination of the 4th-grade students as they showcase what they have learned during our visit.

At Burton EMS, we are dedicated to supporting education and fostering a love for innovation. We are grateful for the chance to engage with the students and contribute to their educational journey.

Fall 2023 Employee Anniversaries

Congratulations to Burton EMS employees who are celebrating their work anniversary this fall. Thank you for all you do!

#burtonems#electronicsmanufacturing#contractmanufacturing

September Anniversaries

Burton EMS would not be where it is today without our loyal and hardworking employees! Thank you and Congratulations on your work anniversaries!

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KOHYOUNG Solder Paste Inspection (SPI) Unit Added to SMT Line

The KOHYOUNG Solder Paste Inspection (SPI) unit is the newest equipment addition to the SMT line. The SPI inspects for correct stencil design, measurement of board warp, solder paste application, and coplanarity from the screen printer. The SPI inspects every board from the screen printer, and any defect is quickly identified. The average amount of defects from the screen printer is 85%. The equipment additions will ensure Burton can stay productive, flexible with production schedules, and keep up with demand from current and future customers.

Cutting Time in Product Development

Nowhere is the phrase “time is money” more accurate than in product development. A slow product development cycle can increase engineering costs, material costs and marketing costs. When design and manufacturing are outsourced, some original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) see design and manufacturing as distinctly different areas. The reality is that close collaboration among the customer’s design team and contract manufacturer can reduce time and minimize the potential for costly errors.

Design teams focus on product form, fit and function. However, that focus is often on the customer’s requirements for form, fit and function, rather than best manufacturing choices for delivering the desired form, fit and function. The result is often a more costly manufacturing process or a need for an additional design spin to eliminate constraints or quality issues that aren’t identified until the qualification production run. Read our full whitepaper here.

Proprietary Test Software Enhances Repeatability and Trends Analysis

Products with complex test requirements and legacy products often create challenges in outsourced manufacturing. Are the latest bench test procedures in place? Are legacy components creating unacceptable fallout levels? Are multiple tests being performed in the correct sequence? Is enforced routing in place to ensure repaired assemblies complete all retest steps? The team at Burton Industries wanted to automate their processes to the point where the answers to these questions was always “yes.” In early 2019, Burton Industries’ Test Engineering and IT departments teamed up to develop test software that enhances the test team’s ability to support customers with complex test requirements and/or legacy products.

“Some of our customers require an in-circuit test (ICT), followed by a functional test and then finally a read of four-to-five voltages with a digital multimeter to make sure it hits certain values. Initially we wanted to automate the bench test process with software programming that would ensure that every test was performed, exactly to the defined customer requirements,” said Adam Waite, Test Engineering Manager.

This program has reduced the potential for human error on two levels.

Utilizing the system, the technician types in the number registering on the tester or multimeter and the program checks it against the pre-defined range. It then automatically records that in the defect yield tracking system and sends this to the continuous improvement database so that trends and needs for improvement can be analyzed.

As the test operator passes units, the quality assurance inspector scans all bar codes to convert work-in-process (WIP) to finished goods for shipment. The program automatically verifies that all routed test steps have been completed and that any defects logged against the board have been cleared.

The enforced routing that this system drives ensures that no steps get missed and that defective printed circuit boards assemblies (PCBAs) are properly handled. However, it doesn’t stop there. For example, if a customer narrows a test range, the automated system also helps enforce change management because it is verifying that ranges entered match the latest test specification revision. That is very important with new products, because there can be rapid changes as a new product evolves. It isn’t unusual to see three versions of test from prototyping to preproduction to production.

The program supports any aspect of ICT, bench test or functional test. An unanticipated benefit of the system is its contribution to root cause identification and better continuous improvement trends analysis.

“The program allows us to quickly gain access to first pass yield at the sequence level and see patterns in the level at which that failure occurs. That gives us a better idea of why a technician may be testing a circuit several times. This is very important in building legacy product where use of older last buy parts may result in a higher component failures. We have no choice but to use those parts. Understanding trends can help us structure a more efficient test process,” added Adam.

For example, in one legacy project an end-of-life ASIC IC had frequent failures. The customer had instructed the team to test it up to seven times which could lengthen test times to 20 minutes. The test database was able to generate a trends report that helped convince the customer that pretesting these parts was more efficient. The end result was shorter, more predictable final tests. This improved on-time delivery performance. Additionally, since bad components were screened out before assembly, fewer PCBA failures translated to less rework and the associated thermal stress that occurs with multiple reflow processes.

“We originally wanted to give our team a soft poka-yoke tool to minimize human error in test. However, now we are seeing the power of data. We are looking at the top three assemblies that are causing excess troubleshooting time in test to determine root cause. We’ve found that 80 percent of the time when on-time delivery metrics are off, the cause is extra troubleshooting in test. Consequently, we see this as a powerful tool for delivering better customer service,” said Adam.