Southampton Photonics selects Camstar's InSite to drive its technology implementation and manufacturing scale-up
Camstar Systems, Inc., a leading provider of e-manufacturing solutions for Fortune 1000 corporations, today announced that Southampton Photonics has selected Camstar's InSite e-manufacturing software as the execution engine for its collaborative manufacturing system at its facilities in Southampton, UK. Southampton Photonics is a manufacturer of in-fiber optical components and subsystems for the global telecommunications marketplace. Its "in-fiber" technology allows the manufacture of reliable, high-performance components and subsystems which will enable telecoms operators to cut costs.
Installing InSite will help Southampton Photonics accelerate its technology implementation process to ramp up volume production of the company's fiber Bragg gratings, erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) and DFB fiber laser arrays. "InSite will be a vital element of our manufacturing control and continuous improvement processes," said Dr. Steve Norman, director of UK operations at Southampton Photonics. "The in-process visibility and traceability provided by InSite will help us concurrently to scale-up our manufacturing and to improve process control and yields. InSite's SPC functionality will give us the tools we need to optimize our technology and maximize yields while maintaining high levels of product quality."
"More than 20 optoelectronics companies across all optical networking segments have selected InSite. These customers range from JDS Uniphase, the world's No. 1 supplier of fiber-optic components, to Nortel, the world's No. 1 supplier of fiber-optic network equipment. "With strong industry expertise, a rapid return on investment implementation approach, and having more large scale enterprise-wide deployments than any other vendor, Camstar has found a niche as the dominant enterprise-wide leader within the optoelectronics market," said David Cahn, high-tech research director at AMR Research. "Southampton Photonics' selection of InSite further validates Camstar as the de facto standard for manufacturing execution within optoelectronics."
"By integrating InSite with our ERP and PDM systems, Southampton Photonics will get new products to market faster by optimizing our overall business processes, from product design and configuration control to real-time shop-floor management," said Dr. Norman. "Through our combined systems, we will have the capability to implement product enhancements rapidly, consistently and reliably across our production processes."
The systems integrator partner for the InSite project will be Unifi Technology Group of Charlotte, NC. Unifi Technology will provide localized support through its East Sussex-based European Division, formerly known as Boward Computer Services. "We are bucking the UK trend of slow ramp up and are shooting for a 'Silicon Valley' schedule with this deployment," said Dr. Norman. "Unifi Technology and Camstar have delivered some very fast optoelectronics deployments. We're counting on them doing the same for us."
The systems integrator partner for the InSite project will be Unifi Technology Group of Charlotte, NC. Unifi Technology will provide localized support through its East Sussex-based European Division, formerly known as Boward Computer Services. "We are bucking the UK trend of slow ramp up and are shooting for a 'Silicon Valley' schedule with this deployment," said Dr. Norman. "Unifi Technology and Camstar have delivered some very fast optoelectronics deployments. We're counting on them doing the same for us."
Southampton Photonics is focusing its manufacturing systems infrastructure on the initial deployment of InSite. "InSite fits the bill better than the other execution systems we looked at," said Dr. Norman. "The structure is sound, functionality is excellent, and it is native to Windows NT - our platform of choice. The system we are creating at Southampton will be the basis for our planned deployments in the U.S. and Asia."
About Southampton Photonics
Southampton Photonics, Inc. is a manufacturer of critical in-fiber optical components and subsystems. The company designs and manufactures optical filters (based on fiber Bragg gratings), interleavers, high-power and flexible optical amplifiers, and DFB fiber laser arrays. SPI's "in-fiber technology" allows the manufacture of reliable, high-performance components and subsystems in volume for the worldwide optical networking marketplace. The company's expertise is in specialty fiber, fiber Bragg grating design and fabrication, and amplifier technology. These core technologies are the basis for SPI's state-of-the-art components and subsystems, and make optical systems and networks more flexible, powerful and less expensive. Southampton Photonics' in-fiber technology enables optical networks to transport more bits, over more channels, with greater accuracy, at a lower cost. Located in Cupertino, CA: 408-865-0472 and Southampton, UK +44 (0) 23 8076 6070, http://www.southamptonphotonics.com.
About Camstar Systems, Inc.
Camstar is the leading provider of e-manufacturing solutions for Fortune 1000 corporations. By linking customer orders to real-time production information, Camstar enables manufacturers to execute e-business strategies across global supply chain networks. Camstar's InSite solution is designed for the most demanding manufacturing environments, offering a common, flexible, Internet-based platform for managing customer orders across multiple plants and processes. Manufacturers use InSite to speed the production of customized products, and provide stakeholders throughout the supply chain with up-to-the-second information and order status. With over 15 years of proven manufacturing and MES experience, Camstar is the choice of industry leaders such as Alcan Aluminum, IBM, JDS Uniphase, Lexmark and Tellabs — companies that rely on Camstar's combination of plant floor expertise and leading edge technology to drive their e-manufacturing strategies. Camstar Systems, Inc. is located at 900 E. Hamilton Ave., Suite 400, Campbell, CA 95008. Tel: 408-559-5700; Fax: 408-558-9350; European Offices at Grove House, 91 Crewe Road, Shavington, Cheshire CW2 5DW UK, +44 (0) 12 7065 9143 (fax and voice), http://www.camstar.com.
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