low volume /semi-automatic solutions

Jipp, we sell used equipment for PCBA. I could most likely steer you in the right direction if I knew a little bit more about your product. Feel free to e-mail sales@equipmentresource.com or give me a call at 303-287-9333.

Ken Fry Equipment Resource

reply »

First, what would you define as semi-automatic?

For SMT production you might need a screen printer (these can be anything from full manual to full auto. The low end printers manual require each board to be aligned with a piece of mylar prior to printing on the board - Two prints per board - 1 for aligning and 1 for actual paste deposit on the board.

A pretty good way to go would be to get what some call a semi-auto printer this requires the use of mylar but only for the first print and the the fiducials are recognized (after teaching) by a camera or two. (A Speedprint 200 is a good example of this)

Or you can buy a stencil and place the board on a table line up the board to the stencil and manually squeegee the paste onto the board with a putty knife.

As far as placement goes you need to define what type of components you are currently using and it would be a good idea to peek ahead and see what packages are coming down the pipe. Depending on the answer to this you will determine if you need vision or mechanical placement, A multipurpose placement unit (handles most all package technologies) or one that just places caps/resistors and smaller 50 mil pitch stuff.

How fast do you need them to be built? This will determine on the speed you need from your placement machine.

There a million (give or take) different placement machines out there with minor and major differences relating to a million (give or take) different parameters. To get an idea of some of the lower end semi-auto stuff take a look at this site http://www.manncorp.com. I am not recommending or promoting this company they just have a pretty good site that will show you a bunch of stuff that I believe is in your scope.

I need to stop, or I will go on and on and on.

Hope this helps a little. Russ

reply »

Hello Jipp.

Before I recomend something, can you send to me a picture of the PCB (Bare board) and one picture with the PCB with components, I could help you.

samaniegocesar@smtnet.com, samaniegocesar@hotmail.com

Regards...

reply »

Hi Jipp, If we are talking about 200-500 boards per month the main question is"Is it reasonable to go for semi-automatic production?". You will nead at least 1.Manual stencil printer 2.P&P machine 3.Infrared dryer or reflow oven

Most expensive part is P&P machine. You could bye used, but that means problems. If your boards are 200-400/month why don't you produce them outside your company?

reply »

There are a few directions to go from Here... 1) Outsource it to a CM, 2) Capital investment both have there issues. To Out source I would have processes in place to Inspect quality, resolve issues, Assure quaility, and Hope they can meet your deadlines (200 Boards sometimes do not take high priority).What I am saying is you need to be a careful watch dog.

2) To go the Capital investment you are looking at $30-50K investment. Buy New as you do not want the head aches of used stuff (at least not at this stage). Remember there are Things you need to keep in mind when going this route You will have extra costs..i.e. Stencil costs, stencil wipes, Paste costs, Nozzles, feeders, installation costs so keep in mind that once you go this way you will always have cost. I like going this way as you can monitor quality better and react faster to issues.

In addition you may want to take some basic SMT manufacturing courses.

OEMs: www.manncorp.com www.apsgold.com www.fritschusa.com www.essemtec.com www.dimasmt.com I would test drive each one for software, ease of use, craftsmanship. (I Do know with some of these manufacturers that if you down the road want to go full automatic the program does not differ from machines)

Training: www.ACIUSA.org www.Solderingtech.com www.smtplus.com

Good luck Cal

reply »