KIC Press Release October 30, 2000 - KIC Pilot Self-profiling Oven Software Now Available On BTU International Reflow Ovens

(San Diego, CA -- October 30, 2000) : KIC Thermal Profiling and BTU International today announced that the KIC Pilot? self-profiling oven software is available on all BTU reflow ovens running BTU‘s Wincon 2.2 furnace control software.

The KIC Pilot is an automated self-profiling software system that interfaces directly with the oven controller. The Pilot does not require an experienced operator to profile the oven. It features a simplified animation-based user interface which allows even the least experienced operator to set up a profile. The Pilot automatically changes the oven setpoints and conveyor speed, then lets the operator know when the oven is ready to run production.

A key feature of the Pilot is the Process Window Index (PWI). The PWI is used to evaluate the quality of a profile by reducing all profile statistics to a single number. A PWI of 0% is optimum, less than 100% is in spec, above 100% is out of spec. The Pilot automatically finds the oven set up that provides the lowest PWI.

David Priest of Agilent Technologies, Colorado Springs, Beta tested the KIC Pilot. "It‘s hard for someone with a good amount of experience using oven software like myself to give up so much control and let the Pilot take over everything.

It wasn‘t easy for me at first, but I got over it in a few hours as I learned to trust the system. The time savings are phenomenal. I can teach an operator how to do a product changeover in 10 minutes, which used to take me at least 2 hours, sometimes even half a day. It used to take 3-4 hours to profile a single product. Now I can do it in one or two runs, which makes me ecstatic."

Until now, the operator has been responsible for controlling the oven. Now, the oven has the intelligence to tell the operator how to set it up, and will not allow the operator to run product if the profile is out of spec. In effect, the KIC Pilot‘s intelligent system controls the operator.

About KIC
Based in San Diego, KIC is the industry leader in automated thermal management tools and systems for reflow, wave, cure and semiconductor thermal processes. The company pioneered the development of oven profilers and process development tools. KIC remains on the leading edge of the thermal industry with innovative tools for process development, optimization and real-time management.