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Comment on Expected Market Changes

Despite the size of the in-circuit test market, the test houses that offer specialized
programming services and implement new test requirements as turn-key projects remain
small in size. This shows that many OEMs and contract manufacturers still depend on
internal resources.
We at the ICT Institute think that this will change over the coming years as cost pressure
forces manufacturers to outsource even more to professional companies.
This requires the test houses to become even more professional. ISO 9001 will become
mandatory driven by customer requirement, regulatory, and compliance issues. At the
same time the protection of know-how is ever more important for many high-tech
customers. They require data security standards (e.g. TISAX for Automotive) to be fulfilled.
We still see some freelancers in the market without the possibility of remote development.
This always creates conflicts with the production or quality department when necessary test
equipment is blocked for the development and debugging of new applications. We think
there will be increasing awareness of this issue and with the forthcoming retirement of
some of these "pioneers of the test market" over the next years we do not see them
replaced, also because there are not many young people moving into self-employment for
that service anymore. The freelancers are also challenged by the increased complexity of
the market. Some of the professional companies regularly maintain and update their
standard programme libraries for many electronic components. They are therefore quicker
and more professional in the realization of a new project.
The increasing professionalism has another side of the coin also. Professional test houses
report that their intellectual property is occasionally violated by customers or freelancers
who are not aware of that copyright. We think the market structure will enable professional
test houses to prevent such contract breaches better in the future.

Overall we see the increased professional requirements as a driver for market

consolidation. While we have seen fixture suppliers having been quite successful over the
last decades, we now see that software is becoming even more important in the smart
factory of tomorrow. It is the main driver for customer performance and productivity. Turn-
key projects are always managed by software companies, not by hardware (fixture)
suppliers, independent of their size.

Your view is highly appreciated. Please contact us and let us know what you think about the
future of testing.

Case Study

We would like to draw your attention to the case study that the EMS company JOPP has
published on their homepage free of charge (German language).
It provides insights into some of the aspects for contract manufactures that use the
power of external ICT programming know-how.

List of In-Circuit Test Software Houses

(sorted by size in ICT software test, partially estimated)

ATi Software GmbH, Munich, Germany (Teradyne, Göpel)

Founded in 1987 in Munich, ATi has become the hidden champion of ICT test
programming for Teradyne test systems. ATi is the specialist in the combination of in-
circuit test with in-system programming. The company usually delivers turn-key products
to its OEM and EMS customers, sometimes in combination with boundary scan, LED test
and functional test. It has become the biggest ICT test house in Europe over the last
decade and is certified according to ISO 9001. It has invested in more than five Teradyne
and Göpel Systems.

TAP Automatisierte Prüftechnik GmbH & Co KG, Stuhr,

Germany (SPEA, Göpel)

TAP is one of the few SPEA-approved test program suppliers and the only test house in
Northern Germany after Schneider & Koch went bankrupt a couple of years ago. Together
with its sister company KTT Testengineering GmbH it can deliver turn-key projects with
test fixtures made in-house. TAP has invested in two SPEA systems that enables remote
development, sometimes together with functional test (via partners) and boundary scan.
The company was founded in 1997 and is certified according to ISO 9001.

Elite Interfaces Ltd, Reading, East Kilbride and Hillington,

United Kingdom (Teradyne, Keysight)

Elite was founded in 1986 and emerged from the fusion with three other companies: TSL,
Blue Technology and IKON. The company has aquired the Hungarian facility of the fixture
supplier Everett Charles Technologies in 2020.
Elite offers in-circuit and functional test implementations. Moreover contract test,
training, and design-for-testability analysis are provided as a service to its customers.
In the last couple of years Elite expanded into electronics handling equipment like robot
cells.

ATEcare Service GmbH & Co. KG, Munich, Germany

(Teradyne)

ATE Care was founded by former Teradyne (Genrad) employees. The company has two
locations in Germany and one in Switzerland. They focus now on the distribution of
Omron inspection and Dr. Eschke MDA solutions as well as Takaya flying probe systems.
However the company still provides some service for Teradyne Systems like the
refurbishment and sale of Teradyne (Genrad) systems and the implementation of test
programmes as well as in-system programming.

Alfa Test SRL, Timisoara, Romania (Teradyne, Keysight)

With offices in Romania and Bulgaria Alfa Test concentrates on Central Europe and the
Balkan countries. It offers a complete range of test systems for its customers in these
countries and is official distribution partner for Teradyne among other test systems such
as AOI, X-ray, flying probe tester and various software systems. Alfa Test offers turn-key
projects with its partners as well as contract testing. The company was founded in 2002
and offers support and training as well.

Inspectronic GmbH, Nuremberg, Germany (Rohde &

Schwarz)

With its two locations in Nuremberg and Essingen Inspectronic offers test program
development for the Rohde & Schwarz platforms, that can consist of in-curcuit test,
functional test and boundary scan. It also offers service on Teradyne and Göpel systems.
Inspectronics operates under one roof with its sister company Assemblify that is an EMS
manufacturer for small volumes.

Areus Engineering GmbH, Herrenberg, Germany (Keysight)

Areus Engineering offers individual solutions for AOI and in-circuit tests. Areus took over
WG-Test in 2013 and merged with it in 2019. The company has a focus on Keysight
systems.

proTest Adolf Diewald, Michael Neureither GbR, Grafing,

Germany (Keysight, Digitaltest)

ProTest delivers turn-key projects for Digitaltest and Keysight systems. The company is
based near Munich and has its own fixture workshop. It offers in-circuit test, functional
test and on-board programming on its in-house test systems.

Boardtest Seeger GmbH, Ditzingen, Germany (Keysight)

Founded in 1999 Boardtest Seeger is a one-man company with affiliated partners for
peak load. Despite the small size of the company the reference list is quite astonishing
and contains some well-knows companies. The founder Tom Seeger has a Keysight 3070
system for remote development of the programs that are mostly delivered as turn-key
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solution together with the fixture. The company also operates as distribution hub in the Policy
German market for the French Design-for-Testability software house Aster.
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