A method is described for aligning a contact pattern on an electronic device held by a first movable support, with a bond site pattern on a lead frame held by a second movable support. The method includes the steps of: (a) creating and storing models of a chip's contact pattern and a lead frame's bond site pattern; (b) imaging the electronic device and lead frame; (c) determining the position of contacts on said electronic device and reorienting the contact pattern model to a best fit with the imaged contact position; (d) determining the position of each bond site on the imaged lead frame and reorienting the bond site model to a best fit with the imaged bond site position; (e) determining positional differences between the reoriented lead frame and contact pattern models; and (f) generating signals to reorient the first and second movable supports to minimize the positional differences when they are moved into a bonding positon. A machine is described for performing the above method wherein each of three main movable elements of the machine is assigned a dimensional axis in which its travel is non-adjustable, so that other movable elements can be calibrated thereagainst.