05-Nov-2002

Winnipeg, MB - As one of its 10-year anniversary expansion activities, IDERS Inc., a Winnipeg-based electronic product development and manufacturing services company, is pleased to announce the opening of it’s automated surface mount technology (SMT) production line for contract business.

“We have been developing electronic products since 1992. In most cases, our clients require us to manufacture the designs as well,” says Bradley Brown, President, IDERS. “The production of these complex electronic products and systems requires sophisticated equipment, highly-skilled staff, process and quality systems working together to meet the client’s requirements, be it for a low-value systems produced in large quantities or complex systems produced in very small quantities.”

To date, IDERS depended on electronic manufacturing service (EMS) subcontractors to do the printed circuit board assembly step of their production. These subcontractors are based all over North America and primarily service large customers. They would sell any excess capacity to smaller firms like IDERS. Capabilities and quality were never an issue, but it was difficult for these vendors to treat a Nortel and an IDERS as equals. This became increasingly unacceptable and plans for change were made.

“Combining this growing need with our already comprehensive design services base, experience and quality systems, the next logical step was for IDERS to make the serious commitment to establish the facility, purchase the equipment plus hire and train the personnel,” explains David Fletcher, Vice President, IDERS. “Additionally, we did not want to rush out and offer this service until we were confident it met our own expectations. The team has spent the past eight months working out the bugs in the new line and building our confidence.”

“In ten years, we’ve designed and produced systems in use around the world in all sorts of industries – point-of-sale, industrial controls, gas distribution monitoring, military systems, rail transport – the list goes on. We ourselves are a reasonable judge of what level of efficiency and quality our facility needs to offer.”

“Now, we have put in the time, effort, investment and experimentation and can say we are ready to offer a new service from IDERS for clients – small to medium-volume electronic manufacturing services.”

IDERS has built an automated line that can place the most complex surface-mount technologies such as ball grid arrays and 0402-sized components at high speed in addition to the many other different types of components required.

At the heart of the line are complex pieces of equipment with a value of nearly $1,000,000. Working around it are thorough professionals who take pride in their work. The new facility already employs ten people and IDERS management expect this number to climb steadily as business increases.

“This is high-volume watch-making for the 21st century, where the watches get deployed around the world and expectations for quality, performance and durability are high.”

The uniqueness of IDERS manufacturing services can be described in three parts:
  • catering to clients with small to medium volume requirements
  • based in Winnipeg
  • production services backstopped by one of the best electronic design groups in the business.

“We have no plans to produce massive quantities for individual customers based out in San Jose. Instead, we have designed our process around flexibility and the requirements of low to mediumvolume clients, without penalizing this type of customer with uncompetitive costs or sub-standard service,” says Chuck Leibert, General Manager, IDERS. “Combined with our local presence plus real knowledge of how the systems are designed, you have a unique service well suited to the requirements of the region.”

The general public would be truly surprised how many world leading, innovative products containing electronics are offered from Manitoba and prairie-based companies. In addition to the advanced agricultural systems people may be familiar with coming out of this region, there are unmanned flight control systems, scorekeeping systems, financial transaction systems, transportation controls, medical devices, mining systems, industrial control systems – the list goes on and on.

IDERS’ Production Coordinator Jeff Guay sheds some light. “You may find it hard to believe but CIBC’s interac terminals and pin pads which people use every day were designed and initially produced right here in Winnipeg by IDERS in the early ‘90s. They were so successful, so quickly, it is hard to imagine doing without these technologies now. This was IDERS very first design project. You can only imagine what we have accomplished since.”