MALVERN, PA - Vishay Precision Group, Inc. (NYSE: VPG) today announced the opening of a new Precision Center in Japan for its Alpha resistor brand. VSMP and VSM series resistors made in Japan will ship from the Precision Center with finely tuned custom resistance values within a few days. As with all Vishay Foil resistors, specific "as required" values (e.g. 998.995 ohms vs. 1 kilohm) can be supplied at no extra cost or delivery time. Now, engineers can order the exact quantity required in the exact resistance value needed, with no minimum quantity or standard-values-only restrictions.

"Why add unnecessary reels of unneeded values into stock just to get the few pieces required to prove out your circuit design?" said Yuval Hernik, senior director for application engineering, Vishay Foil Resistors. "Time-to-market pressures need no longer dictate which resistance values designers can use, and second or third iterations of circuit design don't have to contribute to the burden of expensive but unusable stock."

Alpha Electronics, a part of VPG's Vishay Foil Resistors division, is dedicated to the development, manufacturing, and marketing of a full range of high-precision resistors for use in diverse industrial and high-precision applications ranging from high-volume automatic test equipment and metrology applications to medical instrumentation.

The VSMP and VSM wraparound surface-mount chip resistors are based on Bulk Metal® Z-Foil and Classic Foil technologies, respectively. Both series offer initial tolerances as low as 0.01% with load-life stability from 0.005% after 2,000 hours with rated power applied at +70°C, and 0.01% after 10,000 hours. This excellent load-life stability allows engineers to go right to full proof-of-design testing without having to order special "upgraded" resistors for environmental tests after accepting the initial bread boards. TCRs as low as 0.05ppm/°C from 0°C to +60°C provide unprecedented thermal stability and assure automatic TCR tracking of any number of resistors, even across separate circuit boards inside electronic equipments. The unparalleled uniformity of Vishay Foil resistors means that all resistors subsequently used in production will perform exactly the same as the prototypes. The devices' unique construction permits uniform heat dissipation and minimizes the effects of extreme environments. The resistors are noise-free and provide ESD protection of 25 kV or more for increased reliability.

Most resistor manufacturers will supply samples of a few pieces, but only with standard values. And usually when a slightly higher quantity is required for prototypes, the customer must buy a full reel of resistors for each value. The Alpha Precision Center sets a new standard by shipping the exact number of resistors needed of the precise resistance value and tolerance required, and does so within just a few days.

For prototype systems where the exact final resistance value has not yet been determined, the Alpha Precision Center provides engineers with additional flexibility by allowing them to order just a few pieces of specific values in close proximity for final evaluation, without having to stock up reels of unnecessary -- and eventually useless -- values. Through the Precision Center, any value from 5 ohms and up at any tolerance to 0.01% is available in small quantities within a few working days.

Alpha's Precision Center is the ideal source for small-quantity prototype runs and quick changes prior to full production. The Precision Center is open to messenger pick up and other time-saving strategies as required by the user. When time is an important factor, resistors made in this fashion are a decided cost advantage for the designer.

"The competitive pressures imposed upon equipment manufacturers demand faster speed to market and, consequently, a very short time frame for design, component acquisition, assembly, and performance evaluation," said Hernik. "The VFR Bulk Metal Foil resistor is the best choice for use in prototype runs because it is the most cost-effective route to quick delivery of small quantities of any ohmic value. In addition, its unmatched precision meets or exceeds all performance levels required by any application, and it permits evaluation of the equipment's full performance capability with prototypes, not just room temperature, benign environment, and limited evaluation."

(Marketwire - Oct 6, 2011)