“The final choice was based on the combination of Takaya Probe and Fabmaster CAD conversion software. This combination fitted our needs to quickly turn around post design boards that were not yet released for manufacture.”

JANUARY 2002

Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS) is a major European joint venture company owned equally by Finmeccanica and BAE SYSTEMS. It specialises in designing, manufacturing and supplying radars and mission critical command, control and management systems to defence forces and civil air traffic authorities throughout the world.

The company has an annual turnover of Euro1.2 billion and a healthy order book of Euros 4 billion which underpins its ambitious growth plans for the next four years. In addition it has an established international customer base in over 100 countries.

Being at the forefront across a range of highly specialised and high technology applications the manufacturing arm of the organisation at Hillend near Edinburgh, has become increasingly involved in the earliest stages of the product development cycle, particularly important when you consider that individual boards can have a value in the region of £10000.

The need to be able to produce complex prototypes quickly and efficiently, tested for accuracy, for delivery back into the design process is paramount. However, testing complex boards in such an environment can be very time consuming and expensive. The decision to install the Takaya flying probe test equipment at the Hillend facility was based on the need for a highly reliable, easy to program fixtureless test system.

According to Mr. Lyn Gorton, AMS’s Principle Test Services Engineer, Hillend looked at three major suppliers, including Itochu Europe, suppliers of the Takaya systems, for Roving Probe and visited commercial production factories within the U.K. to develop an understanding of each type.

“The final choice was based on the combination of Takaya Probe and Fabmaster CAD conversion software. This combination fitted our needs to quickly turn around post design boards that were not yet released for manufacture.”

The accuracy of the Takaya is such that for a recent application the test programme required six prototypes boards to be tested with no functional test and they are now on the sixth version after a series of re-designs. The use of conventional fixtured testing would have involved much greater cost and extended the design cycle.

Key to the test process is the speed and ease of programming as well as the ability to deliver accurate values. So important is the Takaya flying probe test equipment that AMS have just taken delivery of their third Takaya APT-9400 from Itochu Europe.

Graham South, Itochu’s Takaya Product Manager, can be contacted on + 44 (0) 1580 895550 or e-mail : gsouth@itochu.co.uk.

Photo Caption :
AMS uses Takaya flying probe test systems for testing boards used in their NAUTIS Combat Management System shown here fitted on a Royal Malaysian frigate.

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