Die and Wire Attach Systems - Staying on the Technology Treadmill

I think none of us would hesitate to say that things change pretty fast in this modern world. The pace of technology is just staggering. When I first moved into my present job a little over a decade ago, the main method of communicating with my customers and my company was a pay phone. Sure, there were mobile phones around but they were big, bulky and unreliable (but they were rapidly improving). I remember at the end of the day looking for a hotel lobby—or even a bank of phones at the local mall—to make all of the calls that the day’s results required, holding the phone between my chin and neck, while I jotted notes in my notebook. Now I don’t even have a landline. It just seemed a waste when all of my communication could be performed through my smart phone. I even have customers that prefer to be text messaged over any other form of communication.

That’s why when I look at the wire bonding and die attach system Palomar Technologies provides, I’m amazed how it has “kept up” with the rapid progression of technology around it. How is this possible? Just think about what your cell phone, TV or computer looked like five years ago. Some capital equipment providers understand that when their customers invest in something that usually takes three or more years to “payback”—they don’t want it to be obsolete in a year. Examining this a little at Palomar Technologies, I’ve pulled together a few key factors.

1. Core Competencies: It doesn’t matter how high tech your system is if it can’t do what you bought it for extremely well. It also needs to do meet repeatability and reliability needs. To use the example of a smart phone, even if you have all those apps, songs, videos and other features, when you go to actually make a phone call you hear hissing and popping and can’t communicate you’re not a satisfied customer. We make wire bonders and die bonders. In the end, what we must do well is to repeatedly make the best wire bonds and die bonds that technology can produce.

2. Versatility and Flexibility: Don’t go for a “one trick pony”. There have been many opportunities presented to us by customers to do a very specific process or operation. Sometimes these requests have the promise of large potential capital purchases and can be very tempting. We at Palomar Technologies choose to concentrate on providing a platform that is so capable and flexible, that we can handle a variety of processes and products. This in turn enables our customers to change their product—or take on new challenges—without having to purchase new equipment. 

3. Upgrades and Support: At some point there comes along a new and proven technology that is a “game changer”. In a lot of cases we are able to offer these to our customers as upgrades or retrofits. In some of our products we have extended the useful life of the system for decades. I’ll use the 2460 Ball Bonder as an example. First manufactured in 1981 and with a total of four major offered upgrades over its lifetime, the 2460-V is still in use at many locations, even today! Support is another key feature at Palomar Technologies. To stay with the example of the 2460-V, we still support the 2460-V system with parts and service contracts even though we stopped manufacturing it years ago. 

4. New Products: At some point, it no longer makes financial sense for customers to upgrade in order to incorporate the latest technology and capability. You cannot turn a Nintendo 64 into an Xbox 360. We are constantly evaluating new technology, deciphering when it is the right time to design and offer new systems. When we do, we keep all the above in our decision process: core competency, versatility, flexibility, upgrades and support. We keep our customers “top of mind” knowing that they are making that next leap in technology as well. Our 3800 Die Bonder is a great example of making the next technology leap, while mainting the versatility and core competency that our 3500-III Die Bonder (three generations) has given our customers.

Thinking this through in the writing of this blog (speaking of technology advances, what was a blog two years ago?) this has been more of a “way of life” for us at Palomar Technologies, rather than some corporate philosophy. As a former subsidiary of Hughes Aircraft for decades and then as Palomar Technologies for more than 16 years, we have been around a while and I am very pleased to say we have some extremely satisfied customers. Our customers are just like us though, in that they see that new piece of technology out there and would love to see it incorporated into our systems. I can only say that I can guarantee you we are looking at it, evaluating it and using the above criteria to make decisions in regards to it.

Learn More about the 3800 Die Bonder