By Michael Bowling

Trenton Systems has been designing, manufacturing and delivering quality, US-made products since 1989, and understands that innovation and flexibility are key to meeting customer requirements.

Headquartered outside Atlanta, GA, Trenton Systems Inc. is a global leader in the design and manufacture of board-level products and integrated computer systems to address the critical needs of industries such as government and defense, test and measurement, industrial automation, GPU computing, medical, video display walls, communications, video processing and energy. The company has designed and manufactured rugged, military and modular rackmount computers, and industrial servers since 1989. The servers use Trenton Systems’s U.S.-made single-board computers, backplanes and embedded motherboards for critical embedded computing applications.

The company understands that when it comes to rugged, modular or military computers, “one size” does not fit all.  As a result, Trenton Systems’s engineering design and computer manufacturing process can handle a variety of customer design requirements for needs-based industrial, long-life computers. Additionally, Trenton Systems is an Affiliate member of the Intel® Internet of Things Solutions Alliance, a global ecosystem of member companies that provides scalable and interoperable solutions.

Edward Wheeler, Director of Manufacturing Engineering at Trenton Systems Inc., said, “Our design, engineering and manufacturing facilities are still based in the United States, allowing us to maintain the highest quality standards, which continues to be the hallmark of Trenton’s reputation. We remain focused on meeting the demands of any computing environment in which data resilience, dependability and application integrity are critical.” To continue strengthening its high-quality reputation, Trenton Systems partners only with companies that share its view on excellence and best practices.

“At Trenton Systems, we build a wide range of boards for our customers in terms of volume and complexity, from electronics for toys with relatively few placements, to aerospace applications with thousands of placements, and everything in between. We needed a way to ensure that component and solder joint inspection was always being done in a consistent way, and that’s where the Nordson YESTECH 940 3D AOI machines come in,” added Wheeler. YESTECH was chosen for cost, performance and because it is a US manufacturer.

Headquartered in Carlsbad, CA, Nordson YESTECH is a leading provider of automated optical inspection (AOI) systems with integrated yield enhancement solutions for the printed circuit board assembly and advanced semiconductor-packaging industries.

Trenton Systems purchased two FX-940 ULTRA 3D AOI systems for its Utica, NY facility in December 2016, and installed them when they arrived shortly thereafter. The 940 3D was about to be released and Trenton Systems wanted to be on the front of the curve with the new machines rather on the end of the curve with the existing machine that it currently was using. Wheeler said that the new systems are running at full speed, and have improved because YESTECH had been continually developing the software as Trenton Systems was going into production. The machines are running faster with the 3D capability than anticipated. With its FX-940 ULTRA 3D AOI systems, Trenton Systems is able to provide its customers with cutting-edge 3D technology for the inspection of solder defects, lead defects/lifted leads, component presence and co-planarity of chips, BGAs and other height-sensitive devices.

The FX-940 ULTRA provides high-powered inspection with an unmatched false call rate.  “As an early adopter of the 940 3D systems coming from the FX platform, we were concerned that the increased complexity of 3D inspection was going to slow down the process and were devising plans to use it only where needed,” said Wheeler. “We were pleasantly surprised that not only does the 3D run far faster than anticipated, the coverage is dramatically improved compared to the 2D system we were used to, and has expanded the 3D inspection far beyond our initial expectations.”

Nordson YESTECH’s FX-940 ULTRA 3D AOI system gives Trenton Systems the assurance that its product is being manufactured correctly, every time.

Wheeler added, “Working with YESTECH to customize the software and data collection to fit our needs was easy and efficient, making us glad we were dealing with a US-based company.  We build a lot of products that the customer wants shipped out without going through a functional test, and the 940 3D lets us achieve a high level of assurance that the product is being sent out properly manufactured, every time.

Trenton Systems offers customers numerous advantages, including customer-driven computing solutions that satisfy most demanding requirements. Additionally, the company designs, manufactures and supports board-level product in the United States. Further benefits include total BIOS control that allows modifications that support complex integrated systems; backplane designs that allow unique ISA, PCI, PCI Express 1.0 and 2.0 configurations; five-year factory warranty on all SBCs, backplanes & embedded motherboards; rugged enclosures built to withstand shock and vibration in harsh environments; board-level products utilize long-life components for 7+ year product availability; and manufacturing and computer integration facilities are ISO 9001:2008 Certified. YESTECH’s 3D AOI system helps them continue to provide best-in-class solutions to their customers.

Wheeler added, “The service we’ve received from Nordson YESTECH has been exceptional. We knew going in that there would be some growing pains with the new system, and their support – both remote and on-site – has surpassed our expectations.” He added that he constantly evaluates other equipment and will go with a better fit if he finds it, but it needs to be an overall fit, not just price or a marginally better performer on paper. “YESTECH has always had a great technology:cost ratio, and when you combine that with the service and personal aspects of the relationship, it’s not surprising that we have continued to do business with them.”

“As far as I’m concerned,” Wheeler concluded, “The 940 3D is by far the best bang for the buck when it comes to automated inspection equipment. People make a company, and we are thrilled to have the relationship with YESTECH that we have. We don’t necessarily do things in the traditional way, so with some of the custom changes we asked for in the software, I can’t imagine they would have been possible if we’d been dealing with an overseas supplier.”

For more information, contact Michael Bowling, President, Trenton Systems Inc., 1725 Macleod Dr., Lawrenceville, GA 30043; 770-287-3100; e-mail: ; Web site: www.trentonsystems.com. To find out more about Nordson YESTECH and its leading-edge technologies, visit www.nordsonyestech.com.