At Productronica India 2026, Electronics Media had an insightful conversation with Shoich Rashed, , Sales Director at Marantz Electronics Ltd. (MEK), a leading provider of automated optical inspection (AOI) solutions. The discussion explored MEK’s latest inspection technologies, including PowerSpector and VeriSpector,and their role in improving inspection accuracy, production efficiency, and throughput.
Shoich Rashed, also shared his perspective on the rapid expansion of India’s electronics manufacturing ecosystem, the growing adoption of automation and AOI, and how MEK is strengthening its support for Indian manufacturers through local partnerships, training, servicing, and advanced inspection solutions.
Q: Could you briefly introduce MEK to our audience?
Shoich Rashed : MEK is short for Marantz Electronics Kabushiki Kaisha, which means “limited” in Japanese. All our equipment is researched, developed, and manufactured in Yokohama, Japan.
I am personally from MEK’s European headquarters, which is based in the Netherlands. In India, we cooperate with ACD Renaissance, which represents us and supports our customers with installation and servicing of our systems.
Q: What makes the PowerSpector compact desktop AOI solution relevant for manufacturers looking for high-quality inspection without a large production footprint?
Shoich Rashed : The main advantage of our desktop machines is their compact tabletop format. We call it a kind of “Swiss Army knife” because it offers multiple inspection capabilities in one machine.
With this solution, manufacturers can inspect through-hole components and solder joints, as well as SMT components and solder joints. The large 60 mm clearance between the PCB surface and the lowest point of the optical unit makes it suitable for through-hole component inspection.
The machine also features different lighting options and angled cameras. It can even include a laser height measurement option to measure connectors for coplanarity and inspect components such as BGAs for planarity.
So, you get all these capabilities in a very compact machine, which makes it quite unique.
Q: THT assembly can introduce critical placement and assembly issues before soldering. How does VeriSpector help manufacturers identify and correct these problems in real time?
Shoich Rashed : VeriSpector is a different range within our product portfolio. The desktop solution I mentioned earlier is part of the PowerSpector range, while VeriSpector is a more cost-effective solution.
It has no moving parts, which makes it suitable for the early stage of through-hole component placement. This is very important because manufacturers can inspect the assembly immediately after the components are placed and identify defects.
These defects could include missing components, incorrect polarity, or the wrong type of component being placed.
VeriSpector also provides operator guidance. Its software can guide the operator step by step, showing which component needs to be placed and in which position. Because it uses a high-resolution camera, it can also accommodate very large PCBs.
Q: As India moves toward more automated and high-volume electronics manufacturing, what role do you see AOI playing, and how is MEK preparing its inspection portfolio for this next phase?
Shoich Rashed : We have a very wide portfolio of products. We already have solutions such as VeriSpector, which is easy to use and very fast. Regardless of the board size, it can complete an inspection in around five seconds.
For SMT manufacturing, we also have full 3D AOI solutions. To increase throughput, we are continuously improving the resolution of our cameras while maintaining the required optical and inspection accuracy.
By adding more resolution to our optics, we can reduce cycle times while maintaining consistent accuracy.
Production today needs to be highly efficient. Customers want to get the maximum possible output from every production line and increase their capacity. Our inspection equipment can help manufacturers achieve that.
Q: As India moves from the design phase toward large-scale manufacturing, what growth opportunities does MEK see in the Indian market?
Shoich Rashed : India is a very interesting market because it is evolving so quickly.
If we look at where the market was around two years ago, there were approximately 5,000 production lines. That number has now increased to almost 8,000 production lines.
This growth is also supported by active government investment in the electronics industry. The industry is gaining pace very rapidly, and we are very happy and proud to be part of this growth in India.
Q: What message would you like to give to your Indian customers?
Shoich Rashed : Just keep it up. India is on a very good path.
India is becoming a serious competitor to other countries that are already known for very high-volume and high-quality production. The quality of manufacturing in India is already very good.
The overall environment and regulations are also increasingly supportive of electronics production. I am very happy to see this momentum, and I hope the growth continues as it is today.
Q: Apart from your distribution channels, do you provide technical and sales support to your customers in India?
Shoich Rashed : Yes, definitely. We work very closely with our partners, including ACD Renaissance, which is based in Pune and Mumbai.
We are deeply involved with our partners because the more knowledge they have, the more knowledge they can transfer to our users. We provide frequent training to our partners and customers.
For machines already installed, we also recommend servicing at least once a year and help customers add additional capabilities where required.
We have our own international engineers who also support these activities. We are very committed to supporting our existing customers as well.
