May 14, 2002 San Jose, CA
Adept Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADTK - News), a leading manufacturer of flexible automation for the fiber optic, telecommunications and semiconductor industries, today announced a formalized partnership with DEK to develop a fully automated wafer handling solution for DEK's screen printer wafer bumping and ball placement system. The agreement enables the companies to develop a system based on DEK's extensive experience in mass imaging of materials and Adept's expertise in developing automation solutions. The handling solution will be developed to provide a standard, automated feeding solution for DEK screen printers.
"DEK is a leader in mass imaging of materials and we believe that they have the most advanced process for wafer bumping and ball placement in the industry," noted John Dulchinos, vice president of sales for Adept Technology. "After working with DEK for 2 years, providing automated handling solutions, we have formalized our partnership because we share a common vision to develop a standardized product."
"Our customers told us that they needed a precise, reliable and fast automated wafer handling solution so we chose to partner with Adept because of their tightly integrated solutions which fully comply with industry standards," said Neil Macraild, Manager of the Advanced Technology Development Group of DEK.
The design is intended to be both modular and expandable to provide DEK with maximum configuration flexibility, providing a cost-effective automation solution that can evolve with DEK and their customers' needs. The solution will be fully compliant with SMEMA and SEMI standards to ensure compatibility and easy integration with most advanced packaging equipment. Adept will continue to supply custom automation solutions for advanced packaging applications, in addition to new standard products.
DEK played a key role in the emergence of volume surface mount manufacturing, having introduced the world's first pass-thru� screen printer in 1985. That machine was the catalyst that enabled high throughput electronic manufacturing facilities to be set up all over the world. As contract electronic manufacturing strengthened, DEK continued to develop and improve the processes and technology of screen printing. In 1991, DEK created a new industry benchmark in the DEK 265. Its combination of advanced automation, high throughput and impressive consistency make it a favorite throughout the world's OEM and CEM businesses. By steadily evolving the 265 concept, DEK built a reputation for stability and quality that saw the 265's installed base reach 3000 machines worldwide by the end of the 20th century. For more information about DEK refer to http://www.dek.com.
Adept Technology designs, manufactures and markets factory automation components and systems for the fiber optic, telecommunications, semiconductor, automotive, food and durable goods industries throughout the world. Adept's robots, controllers, and software products are used for small parts assembly, material handling and ultra precision process applications. Our intelligent automation product lines include industrial robots, configurable linear modules, flexible feeders, semiconductor process components, nanopositioners, machine controllers for robot mechanisms and other flexible automation equipment, machine vision, systems and software, application software, and simulation software. Founded in 1983, Adept is America's largest manufacturer of industrial robots. More information is available at http://www.adept.com.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results could vary for a number of reasons, including but not limited to, the potential delays associated with the development and introduction of new products or software releases; rapid technological change within the company's industry and the potential that our new or existing products may contain defects, errors or performance problems.
For a discussion of additional risk factors relating to Adept's business, see Adept's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2001 and Adept's quarterly reports on Form 10-Qs for the quarters ended September 29, 2001 and December 29, 2001, including the discussion in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations contained therein.
The Adept logo is a registered trademark of Adept Technology; Inc. Adept and Adept Wafer Loader are trademarks of Adept Technology. All other trademarks are owned by their respective companies.
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Contact:
Adept Technology, Inc.
Press and Industry Analysts:
Val Cureton, 408/434-5021
val.cureton@adept.com
Financial Analysts:
Maili Bergman, 408/434-5158
maili.bergman@adept.com
