Photo Stencil announces its partnership with Novatec, a Montauban, France-based research laboratory, which develops new technologies for the electronics assembly industry. Photo Stencil is now the exclusive North American distributor for Novatec’s underboard support product, VacuNest.

The patented VacuNest tooling system provides support as it takes an impression and maintains the exact shape of the board with component contours. Other available products typically utilize support pins that touch the bottom side of the board, and offer a limited support area potentially damaging components. VacuNest, however, is a pliable, anti-static chamber that contains solid particles. Once the chamber is conformed to the board, vacuum locks the particles without shrinkage, creating a firm and precise support for the entire batch of boards in production. www.photostencil.com