Gemtek Turnkey Electronic Manufacturing started operating in Centurion in 2004 and is flourishing in the medium-sized electronics manufacturing market.
Despite the difficult economic climate at the moment, Gemtek enjoyed solid performance in 2008, with new quotation requests on an almost daily basis. The company attributes this strong performance to a consistent focus on quality and customer satisfaction, and is generally optimistic about the market. “Current trends suggest that there is no serious slow down in the South African electronics industry and all indications are that growth will continue steadily in 2009. There are too many sustainable projects on the go to significantly slow down the local market,” says Gerhard Coetzer, marketing manager at Gemtek.
“The secret to our success is that we never take on any projects unless we are sure we have the skills, knowledge and equipment to do the job,” says Johann Minnaar, Gemtek CEO. “It seems simple enough to take some electronic components and assemble them onto a printed circuit board. The challenge is that every job is different, and in this industry, it is sometimes wise to turn certain projects away.”
Gemtek has adopted a staggered approach to its assembly line, where each pick-and-place machine is operated as a separate entity. For example, both sides of a double-sided surface mount PCB can be built concurrently, which means that it can change very quickly from one job to another, without lengthy setup procedures. While the job is in progress, it can release a batch of assembled boards to the client for approval.
This is critical for all new projects, as well as projects where the design has been updated or changed in any way. The other major advantage to the client is that Gemtek can pause jobs that are not urgent, in favour of mission critical projects. Testimony to this is the fact that Gemtek was recently able to complete 37 different projects in a single month in its surface mount department alone.
As far as skills are concerned, Gemtek considers finding the right staff to do electronic assemblies to be one of the major challenges facing the electronics industry today. As of January 2009, Gemtek has embarked upon an effort to procure staff at this level on behalf of its existing clients as well as other interested parties. These individuals are screened and trained by Gemtek in the relevant disciplines according to IPC standards and in line with the relevant ISO requirements. After an initial training period, the individual will work at Gemtek for six weeks before joining the client. The benefit is that the client will employ the right person for the task, who will fit in and can be productive immediately.
Gemtek has also been providing local support for the Versatronics pick-and-place machines since August 2008. These remain some of the most flexible and robust workhorses in the low-volume surface mount industry. Although newer models are available from the UK, Gemtek can still maintain the discontinued range of Versatronics RV4 machines in the field. Not only do they support the Versatronics, but also run no less than three units in-house. These units are capable of placing most chips and ICs from 0402 up to matrix tray type components.
For more information contact Gemtek, +27 (0)12 664 1771, [email protected], www.gemtek.co.za
© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved
printer friendly version