By Srabani Sen
Wednesday, October 09, 2013: The US-based non-profit tech- nology association, Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA), formed its India chapter in Bengaluru in August 2013 once again. While Rajeev Kulkarni will lead the India chapter as president, Sudarshan Kariappa is the secretary of the India chapter. Both office bearers have wide experience in electronics manufactur- ing and project management.
At an event in Bengaluru on Sep- tember 25, 2013, SMTA announced the formation of the new chapter in India, seeking participation from profession- als across the industry. “SMTA India had started a few years back, but since it did not perform effectively, it was shut down. We now need SMTA India to have a greater presence due to the recent market needs arising from the growth of the electronics manufactur- ing industry,” said Rajeev Kulkarni. The SMTA India chapter was first registered in India in March 1999 at Mumbai, and was later closed down.
This time, SMTA India has been formed with the intention to create a technology platform and bring in advanced electronics manufacturing best practices into India. Its objec- tive is to conduct a series of techni- cal seminars and bring technology support to the electronics industry. Presently, it has 35 members includ- ing Fineline Circuits, Henkel, Global Electronics, Tejas Networks, etc.
When asked if SMTA would look into the issues faced by the SMT distributors in India, Rajeev Kulkarni says, “SMTA is an independent body which is engaged in bringing technology to the electronics manu- facturing industry. However, it does not get involved in the statutory requirements of a business. SMT distributors face many challenges in understanding the technology, counterfeit components, etc. Here, they can benefit from the presence of SMTA. SMTA also promotes re- search and studies in related areas, and supports the understanding and implementation of such technology in business processes.”
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