| Jim McCarten and Dave F, | | Jim - How about a little explanation on your PlacePro 7100 comments? I'd like to know what a "typical SMT board" is and how "thruput is cut in half" by assembling it. Is this typical SMT board something that most manufacturers assemble? How do other pick & place systems perform when assembling the typical SMT board? | | Dave - Give us some insight into the "traditional slam" against Amistar's service. Tell us what the traditional slam is.... I'd also like to know the methodology behind deducing how "all gantry machines run at half their highest rated speed in real life applications." | David: Welcome to the discussion on Amistar.
AMISTAR SERVICE
Let me see. Real life stuff, no passing-on stories from others. OK. I sent a questionnaire to Harry Munn, VP Marketing & Sales in September 1998. Mr. Munn sent the questionnaire to Mike Ortolano, Northeast Regional Sales Manager. Then Paul Foley in Amistar�s "Chicago office" called and said he would be completing the questionnaire. I haven�t heard from Amistar since.
"But Dave you should have called, we would have completed the questionnaire." No!!! That lack of response fits with the rumors I have heard about Amistar. Why bother?? There are other suppliers.
TYPICAL BOARD
I�d like to see placement machine suppliers shut-up, stop whining about other suppliers run time specs, and publish set-up and run time for a SMTA SABER board. The SABER board is well documented, easy to obtain, and would provide everyone with a baseline to compare machines.
So David, what�s your set-up and run time for "Side 1" on a four-up SMTA SABER board? How does that run time compare with your published maximum run rates?
RUN TIME DERATING
I ask suppliers the same question I just asked you about your run times for SABER boards to determine run rates. Sure 50% is a broad generalization for derating gantry machine placement rates. Some machines will be faster, and some machine will be slower. What�s your point?
Dave F
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