News & Events Archive

ISO 9001 (1994) and the new improved ISO 9001:2000 are Quality System Models for Quality Assurance In Design, Development, Production, Installation and Servicing.  ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the source of the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 families of quality and environmental management standards and some 14,000 International Standards for business, government and society. ISO is a network of national standards institutes from more than 140 countries working in partnership with international organizations, governments, industry, business and consumer representatives.

When the ISO 9001:2000 standard was published in December of 2000, all organizations like Xandex, who were previously registered to ISO 9001 (1994), were given until December 23, 2003 to become certified to the new standard. The Xandex ISO 9001:2000 certification effort was directed by Xandex Quality Assurance Manager Beverly Packebush, who has lead Xandex on its "Journey to Excellence" since August, 2000.  

Packebush initiated a top to bottom review  of Xandex quality system processes and then performed a gap analysis to provide a roadmap for implementing the new standard within the existing quality system, a method that actually reduced documentation and improved efficiency.

"The transition to ISO 9001:2000 was easier than expected since Xandex already had many of the measures and systems in place" said Packebush about the methodology of implementing the new standard. "The gap analysis and subsequent tasks that grew out of that process gave us an excellent opportunity to streamline our internal documentation and processes." 

Management commitment was universal and support for the project was never an issue according to Packebush, who summarized Xandex management policy and expectations for this latest investment in quality by stating "The ISO 9001:2000 standard's emphasis on customer satisfaction meets our company policies. The emphasis on continuous improvement will help us improve our products and processes and further enhance customer satisfaction, producing a win-win relationship." 

The NSAI is Ireland's Standards body and a leading supplier of product and systems certifications services, both in Ireland and internationally. NSAI is accredited for its certification services by the Registrar Accreditation Board (RAB) in the USA and by the National Accreditation Board (NAB) in Ireland. More information on NSAI programs and certification services is available at the NSAI website http://www.nsai.ie/.

Xandex, Inc. provides innovative test solutions to the semiconductor industry. It is the world’s leading supplier of semiconductor wafer marking solutions and a leading supplier of test interface products to Automated Test Equipment manufacturers. The Company serves over 1000 semiconductor wafer sort floors in 27 countries worldwide. The Xandex Corporate office is located in Petaluma, California and the company has support offices in Asia and Western Europe. Further company information can be found at www.xandex.com.

Xandex will be closed for the holidays Monday, December 23, 2002 through Friday, January 3, 2003, resuming normal business hours on Monday, January 6, 2003.  

Please plan your product requirements accordingly for this announced plant closure. No orders, INCLUDING ONLINE ORDERS, will be processed during the plant closure. If an emergency situation arises during the plant closure, such as a machine or line down situation, please call  707-480-7441 (number not valid after Jan. 6, 2003).  This number will be monitored for messages during the normal business hours above.  A customer representative will respond within 24 hours. 

Thank you, and Happy Holidays!

Xandex Advances YOY in Sonoma Business 500

PETALUMA, CA., February 20, 2002 -- Xandex advanced in the annual survey of the largest businesses in Sonoma County California conducted by Sonoma Business Magazine.  The survey results, published in the business publication's February 2002 Issue rank businesses in Sonoma County California by 2001 revenue.  Xandex Inc., ranked 246 in 2000, moved up to number 199 in 2001, breaking into the largest 200 businesses group.  

'We are extremely proud of our management team." said Kim Anderson, Xandex Technical Marketing Specialist "Their foresight, determination and flexibility in a year when many technology businesses downsized or failed is a cornerstone for our continued success".   

Sonoma Business Magazine is the only publication that focuses exclusively on Sonoma County California business. 

Xandex Announces Distributor for China

PETALUMA, CA., January 31, 2002 -- Xandex, Inc. announced today that Premtek International Inc. will be the principal distributor of Xandex products in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). Premtek International Inc. has been the exclusive Xandex distributor in Taiwan (ROC) since 1988 and has recently opened offices at the World Plaza Building in Shanghai, China. Semiconductor manufacturing in China will expand in coming years, fueled by WTO membership and China's participation in the ITA (Information Technology Agreement). Industry forecasts indicate that the PRC may become the second largest consumer of semiconductors worldwide by the end of this decade.

"China is an emerging market for semiconductor manufacturing equipment and supplies and Xandex desires to be among the first suppliers to have a local presence and position itself for long term gains" said Xandex President and CEO Kamran Shamsavari, who also said he plans to attend the SEMICON China exhibition in March 2002 in order to personally assess the Chinese semiconductor equipment industry.

Premtek International Inc., a professional sales and service distributor for semiconductor equipment and consumables, offers solutions to all the semiconductor segments including IC design, front-end manufacturing, testing and packaging. With 3 offices near Hsinchu, Tainan Science Based Industrial Parks in Taiwan and Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Shanghai, it currently has 65 employees and carries 17 product lines from USA, Europe, Japan, Korea, and Singapore to provide proactive local services to the customers in the Great China territory. Further company information can be found at www.premtek.com.tw.

Xandex, Inc. provides innovative test solutions to the semiconductor industry. It is the world’s leading supplier of semiconductor wafer marking solutions and a leading third-party supplier of test interface products for wafer sort. The Company serves over 1000 semiconductor wafer sort floors in 27 countries worldwide. The Xandex product line includes DieMark™ inking systems, Automated Test Equipment interface and docking systems and high speed interface transmission line solutions. Xandex is ISO 9001:2000 registered and maintains 9 separate patents for its products. The Xandex Corporate office is located in Petaluma, California and the company has support offices in Asia and Western Europe. Further company information can be found at www.xandex.com.

Xandex Celebrates 20 Year Anniversary in 2001

PETALUMA, CA., October 16, 2001 -- Xandex Inc. is celebrating 20 years of design and manufacturing innovation for the semiconductor industry in 2001.  Incorporated in 1981, Xandex has grown from a small "garage" operation employing a handful of dedicated employees into a multi-million dollar global business.  

Incorporated August 22, 1981, Xandex was founded by three Fairchild Semiconductor employees and their friends. The founders shared the classic Silicon Valley entrepreneurial spirit -- a desire to create and develop their own start-up. Using their combined sales and engineering expertise, they identified one area of semiconductor manufacturing that needed significant improvement: inking silicon wafers to mark defective die for identification by machine vision systems during the assembly and packaging process.

The founders began manufacturing and marketing the first DieMark^® ink cartridge holders and disposable ink cartridges in 1981.  The revolutionary new DieMark^® products rapidly became the standard in die marking and the product line expanded to include models and configurations for nearly every wafer test platform.

In 1985, the company went international, marketing its Diemark^® products through a global network of exclusive distributors with service into every country where semiconductors were produced.  As the industry grew, the Xandex inking products line did too.  In 1989, the first high speed pneumatic inkers were introduced to accommodate the high volume production made possible by a new generation of wafer sort equipment. Today, the Xandex DieMark^® product line is still the standard in die marking equipment at wafer sort facilities around the world.

Xandex expanded the corporate vision and product line in 1992, by introducing the AutoLoader line of probe card changers as the first automated interfacing product in the industry.  The AutoLoader was purchased by Intel and placed into worldwide production of the Pentium line of processors.  Today, Xandex Interfacing and Docking products and technologies are being incorporated by Automated Test Equipment (ATE) OEMs in their next generation semiconductor test systems.

The 20th anniversary was the theme at a recent celebration BBQ and will continue to be the theme at upcoming holiday celebrations.  "Xandex is very excited about the future growth potential of the semiconductor industry" said Xandex President and CEO Kamran Shamsavari at the employee centered gathering where the Xandex staff celebrated another year of growth.

Shamsavari used the celebration as a forum to reiterate the corporate strategy of using down cycle quarters to build infrastructure, hone skills and pursue R & D efforts targeted at promising new technologies. Shamsavari summarized, "We will rely on our creative technical team, caring employees and 20 years of industry experience to remain a valuable partner to our customers and position ourselves to be on top of our game as the curve rises."

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Xandex will be closed for the US Thanksgiving Holiday on Thursday, November 22 and Friday, November 23, 2001.  

Xandex will be closed for the holidays Monday, December 24, 2001 through Friday, January 4, 2002, resuming normal business hours on Monday, January 7, 2002.  

Please plan your product requirements during these announced plant closures accordingly. An emergency contact phone number, 707.567.5130, will be available during the closure in case of machine down situations. A customer representative will respond within 24 hours.   

Thank you, and Happy Holidays!

The training was initiated by Jeff Muchow, VP of Engineering and Quality Assurance at Xandex, who stated "Properly deployed, GD&T can save hundreds of dollars in the cost of parts by clarifying the actual part requirements. To achieve that level of performance, it is critical that Suppliers and Engineers have a thorough understanding of the standard to allow them to communicate clearly. This class is but one way Xandex is committing to providing our customers high value for their dollar."

Dr. Shepherd is a member of the ASME Y14.5 Committee for Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD & T) and The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has been an industrial consultant, trainer and educator for nearly 30 years. Dr. Shepherd designed and teaches a full graduate level course at Northern Illinois University devoted exclusively to the study of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing. He has taught GD & T and other design/manufacturing topics at the university level and has an extensive background as a designer and leader of seminars for industry and the military.

For more information contact Jeff Muchow, Xandex Vice President of Engineering and Quality Assurance at: jmuchow@xandex.com 

Xandex Supports Masters Degree Program in Computer and Engineering Science at Sonoma State University 
(link to Forbes ASAP Magazine 11/27/01issue)

Xandex Selects Workgroup Technology To Cut Development and Delivery Time

LEXINGTON, Mass., September 25, 2000 -- Workgroup Technology Corporation (WTC) (Nasdaq: WKGP), a leading provider of collaborative product data management solutions, today announced that Xandex, Inc., a recognized industry leader of DieMark™ inking systems and prober-tester interface products for the semiconductor industry, has purchased WTC's ProductCenter™ collaborative product data management (PDM) solution. WTC ProductCenter and implementation services will be provided through WTC value-added reseller and SolidWorks® provider, GEI technology, inc. ProductCenter will be used by Xandex to consolidate and automate product information and lifecycle processes to enhance customer responsiveness, supplier interaction, and product quality. Complete Press Release (pdf 120Kb)

Xandex Takes Meetings Online With Web Conferencing Technology

PETALUMA, CA., September 25, 2000 -- In September, 2000 Xandex implemented online meeting technology that incorporates real time online review of any printable document with integrated teleconferencing and email scheduling.  Online web conferencing is a collaborative tool that enables any attendee in a web meeting to instantly share documents, including CAD drawings, photographs, diagrams and spreadsheets with all meeting attendees. 

Web Conferencing is the latest example of the Xandex commitment to utilize the latest in technology to exceed the expectations of our valued customers.   The Xandex Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Production and Customer Service teams are utilizing this powerful means of interactive communication to dramatically reduce response times and streamline information exchange with our customers and OEM partners.

The browser-based web meeting interface is as easy to use as opening an email, clicking a hyperlink and answering a telephone call, so don’t be intimidated when your Xandex solution provider says “lets take this ONLINE”.   In fact, we encourage you to ask your Xandex contacts about taking your next meeting ONLINE at Xandex!

Production Facility Expansion Complete by October 2000

PETALUMA, CA., September 18, 2000 -- Construction is expected to be complete by early October on Xandex's facility expansion project that began in August of this year. The new facilities are located adjacent to the existing main office and manufacturing plant in Petaluma, CA, which Xandex has occupied since 1997. The project will more than double the size of the current production floor and R&D labs and provide additional office space for Engineering, Production and Quality personnel.

The growth in demand for Xandex interfacing and docking system product lines is the driving force behind the expansion according to Nariman Manoochehri, Vice President of Operations. "Sales and production of our new product lines quadrupled in the last fiscal year and the new construction is a direct result of that growth" explained Manoochehri, who has spearheaded the expansion project. "Doubling our square footage has given us the opportunity to design optimum efficiency and versatility into our new production cells and to reorganize existing cells for maximum effectiveness" added Manoochehri, who also implemented JIT manufacturing and SPC processes at Xandex in 1988.

Delivery schedules have not been affected by the construction and re-organization according to Kiumars Kaveh, Materials Manager. "We don't anticipate any delays in production or delivery due to the expansion" said Kaveh, "in fact, we look forward to cutting lead times in several critical areas almost immediately."

Incorporated August 22, 1980 Xandex is the recognized industry leader for wafer marking solutions. Xandex patented DieMark™ inking systems are in use by virtually every semiconductor manufacturer, at over 900 sites around the world.

In 1992, Xandex was the first American-based company to develop and introduce automated solutions for tester/prober interfacing. The Xandex portfolio of interfacing products has expanded to include its patented AutoLoader™ automated probe card changing systems, high-performance tester interfaces for wafer and packaged device testing and precision docking systems.