Portland, OR-During the first half of calendar 2004, Electro Scientific Industries Inc. (ESI; www.esi.com) received multiple-system orders from four leading Taiwanese manufacturers for its Model 2350 and Model 2370 chip resistor laser trimming systems, totaling more than 30 systems. Installation of the systems is slated for completion by the end of the company’s current fiscal quarter.
Used in virtually all electronic products, chip resistors are especially prevalent in personal computers and handheld wireless devices. Heightened consumer demand for these products is driving increased demand and market growth for chip resistors, including those measuring 0.60mm x 0.30 mm in surface area, the smallest resistors currently in production. ESI’s newest trimming systems reportedly are designed to meet these small parts’ stringent manufacturing requirements by combining high-precision beam positioning with ultrafast speeds: Model 2350 recently passed a production milestone, processing more than one million chip resistors per hour.