Tuesday, August 16, 2011

AIM sets its targets: the world's unsung solder supplier is building a business for the ages


A few minutes before noon, the cafeteria starts to fill with dozens of workers, blue collar and white, some in business casual wear, others in their factory blues. The volume begins to rise, a cacophony of sounds and languages, English and French, spoken in an endless variety of flavors.


The melting pot culture of AIM is probably the least well-known aspect of what might be the least well-known large solder supplier in the electronics industry today.Pull the plastic hanging devices off each bauble, leaving a hole or a tunnel going into the baubles. Use a small amount of clear drying glue to stick each LED light inside the hole of the baubles.8 wire coat hangers, a circular cake board, 10 LED Lights, card, silver spray paint, and electrical chocolate bock, cable ties, clear baubles, No Nails glue, bendable craft wire, electrical wire, soldering iron and solder (But not in all cases)Manipulate the branches to form appealing shapes. The LED lights will be at the tip of each branch, bear this in mind when you are shaping the tree and try to spread the lights evenly about so that the structure looks attractive from every angle.AIM not only does a lot of "things" to the metal, it does those things in a lot of places. Perhaps owing to its aforementioned understated approach, AIM is considerably larger than most in the industry realize. Its breadth is a byproduct of its supply strategy, which assumes even larger accounts want local service. "If we didn't supply locally, we wouldn't be able to supply globally. It's a consumable product; people run out," Black explains. "The way to do that is to have your own facilities."All paste is made to order. Inventories are kept low, with a few emergency stocks of common types. Prior to shipping, every package is scanned with an XRF to ensure it's the right formulation.Pro sound at www.Acoustica.comTo wire up the 10 LED lights to the battery compartment you need to put new working batteries into the battery compartment. LED lights will only wire up one way so you need to find out which wires go where from the pairs of wires at the base of the tree.Go through each pair of wires at the bottom of the candelabra in turn; stripping away and amount of plastic sheath and holding the bare wires against the two wires connected to the battery compartment. If a bulb doesn't come on, swap the wires over.Each of the 'feet' needs inserting into a hole in the edge of the cake board. Use a hammer and a nail to make holes in the cake board. Tape the nail in a way and wriggle the nail about a bit before pulling it out, to enlarge the hole.Acoustica created the original Mixcraft, now in its 5th edition, as an affordable, yet high-quality option for the entry-level engineer. Now, they have introduced Mixcraft Pro 5, which gives the aspiring engineer even more features. It offers unlimited audio, MIDI, and aux send tracks, supports up to 32-bit/192-kHz recording and playback, and more than 3,300 loops and sound effects. The software also has a built-in video editor, a host of virtual instruments and plug-ins, and automation for every instrument and effect parameter."Higher metals prices don't necessarily work in our favor," says Black. "Take SAC: The silver price is more than the tin," even though silver is a minor element by weight in the SAC formula. "We don't make our money on the metal, but on the things we do to it."Mask each bulb with newspaper and selotape and spray paint the structure with silver spray paint. Also spray the out side of the battery compartment. Use the spray paint in accordance with the instructions on the back of the tin. You may need to give your tree 2 coats of paint for a really good Finnish. Leave until completely dry and remove masking from the bulbs.www.SeymourDuncan.comOption 3 - You could buy LED lights, resistor and a battery compartment separately, and solder the components together.MORE DRUMS IN THE HOUSE, PLEASEThe applications lab features a DEK printer, Quad placement machine, Heller 1500 reflow oven, CRT CRX-1000 x-ray and Koh Young 3020T SPI. Tests are conducted using electroform, lasercut and nanostencils.Fill the hole with no nails glue and push a foot into it. Hold it in place with selotape until the glue dries. Insert all of the wire feet into he cake board in this way.Use a small amount of tape to stick each bulb into place o the wire structure.All you need to make the candelabra is...

The channel plays a large role in the company's success, Black says. "You need to have the distributors to make sales. Customer orders tend to ebb and flow, and they need quick deliveries. [Solder] freight is high relative to the value and margin of the product, so it forces you to have local stock." AIM prefers distributors that are hands-on and seen as adding value with technical expertise. In Europe, South America and Asia, it tends to use a single distributor per country.




Author: Mike Buetow


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