PITTSBURGH, March 25, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FEI (Nasdaq:FEIC) company today announced the new ASPEX CleanCHK™ analyzer – the first fully automated, electron beam-based particulate contamination monitor specifically-designed for automotive applications. The CleanCHK system allows automotive parts manufacturers to improve production line performance and reduce warranty costs. The system is easy to use and rugged enough to install right on the production floor, where it enables operators to react faster to achieve new standards of cleanliness.
"The automotive industry is very sensitive to the performance of precision manufactured parts. Often parts fail due to particulate contamination that occurs in the manufacturing process and ends up in the engine," stated Rudy Kellner, vice president of FEI's Industry Group. "Automotive engines are getting smaller with tighter manufacturing tolerances. As a result, cleanliness standards are becoming more rigorous and cleanliness inspections have become a requirement rather than a luxury."
CleanCHK is a fully-integrated solution that combines a scanning electron microscope (SEM) for high-resolution imaging and an X-ray spectrometer to determine elemental composition. Advanced software routines automatically detect and count particles and analyze particle size, shape and composition within minutes. Designed for easy use on the production floor by operators with no special training, the CleanCHK analyzer offers automated sample set-up, calibration and analysis; simplified menu-based operation; and the flexibility to report results in several industry standard formats.
"The CleanCHK analyzer meets the specific ease-of use and reporting needs of the automotive industry, while at the same time, overcoming many of the limitations of traditional cleanliness monitoring methods, such as gravimetric analysis, optical microscopy, or light scattering," adds Kellner. "With the CleanCHK analyzer, our customers can detect and count particles as small as 0.5 microns, characterize their size and shape, and perhaps most importantly, determine their composition. This provides engineers with information about the source of the contamination, enabling them to determine possible solutions to fix the problem, with the end goal of reduced failure rates, recalls and, of course, costs."
For more information about the CleanCHK analyzer, please visit:
www.aspexcorp.com/CleanCHK
About ASPEX
ASPEX, part of FEI's Industry Group, is a leading provider of integrated microanalysis, providing customers the unprecedented ability to rapidly and automatically detect, identify, quantify and characterize the features of an entire sample, giving them optimal quality control, production capacity and profitability.
About FEI
FEI (Nasdaq:FEIC) is a leading supplier of scientific instruments for nanoscale applications and solutions for industry and science. With more than 60 years of technological innovation and leadership, FEI has set the performance standard in transmission electron microscopes (TEM), scanning electron microscopes (SEM) and DualBeams™, which combine a SEM with a focused ion beam (FIB). FEI has over 2,500 employees and sales and service operations in more than 50 countries around the world. More information can be found at: http://www.fei.com/">www.fei.com.
The FEI Company logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6379
FEI Safe Harbor Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements that include statements regarding the performance capabilities and benefits of the ASPEX CleanCHK analyzer. Factors that could affect these forward-looking statements include but are not limited to failure of the product or technology to perform as expected and achieve anticipated results or cost savings, unexpected technology problems and challenges, changes to the technology, the inability of FEI, its suppliers or project partners to make the technological advances required for the technology to achieve anticipated results, the inability of customers to develop and deploy the expected new applications and our ability to manufacture, ship and deliver the tools or software as expected. Please also refer to our Form 10-K, Forms 10-Q, Forms 8-K and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for additional information on these factors and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. FEI assumes no duty to update forward-looking statements.