Agilent’s test equipment selected by SigmaTron to cut cost, increase business

SANTA CLARA, USA: Agilent Technologies Inc. announced that SigmaTron International Inc. has adopted the Agilent i1000D diagnostic test set (DTS) application and the TS-8900 functional test system to reduce the cost of test and increase business.

SigmaTron, a leading US-based contract electronics manufacturer, said the new Agilent solutions help the company meet a wide range of test requirements, including stringent cost, quality and shipping targets. This has enabled SigmaTron to expand its business amid a challenging and uncertain worldwide economy.

SigmaTron is active in the medical, aerospace/defense, appliance, fitness, telecommunications, gaming, semiconductor, consumer, automotive and industrial markets. Using the modular PXI-based TS-8900 system and i1000D DTS application, SigmaTron developed a standard platform-test strategy to support its customers’ requirements for rapid prototyping and short-run capabilities to accelerate time to market. This strategy also improved the company’s ability to increase capacity and implement new test technologies via improved throughput and coverage.

“In today’s competitive business environment, a contract electronics manufacturer must be able to distinguish itself from the competition, providing cutting-edge test solutions from design to shipment, while reducing the cost of test,” said NK Chari, marketing manager for Agilent’s Measurement Systems Division. “Agilent is honored to be able to provide SigmaTron with the i1000D DTS and TS-8900 to increase the company’s manufacturing test efficiency.”

SigmaTron said usage of multiple test solutions to support customers and reduce the time to market is a key strategy for their business. By tapping benefits from both the TS-8900 and i1000D DTS, such as common hardware and software, the company can accelerate the learning curve for new applications and lower labor costs for support. The result is lower maintenance and infrastructure costs.

“The TS-8900 provides a standard platform that is flexible due to its modular PXI-based architecture and re-usable for different product applications from different markets,” said Raj Upadhyaya, SigmaTron’s executive VP of West Coast Divisions. “It is able to provide up to 60 percent of various industries applications’ functional test needs, enabling us to help our customers focus on developing and deploying the fixtures, customized connections and test plan to significantly improve the timeline from prototyping to mass production, while lowering the total cost of test.”