Oct 09, 2016 
The Blakell Europlacer Distribution team hosted a User Group Day at the company’s UK headquarters in Dorset recently. The focus of the event was ‘Traceability’ and attracted over fifty participants. All were interested in seeing how the latest products and support initiatives from Europlacer’s distribution arm manage traceability that can be integrated to deliver line-wide traceability solutions.
In addition, the User Group Day on 22nd September (and the Open House event the next day) included seminar presentations from one of the company’s Principals, Iemme, along with guest speakers from traceability subject experts Accelonix and Brady, as well as Europlacer customer, Elite Electronics. There was also a fascinating insight into the workings of the Manufacturing Technology Centre based near Coventry, where Europlacer products feature in the electronics assembly development area.
“Once again this User day was well attended and very productive. It allowed Europlacer Distribution customers to evaluate other products in our portfolio, get a handle on traceability, and benefit from frank, honest and open discussions with users of that equipment,” says UK General Sales Manager Andy Jones. “We also encouraged some of our Principals to run a rolling series of seminars in our training rooms, giving attendees the opportunity to learn more about these progressive businesses than could be gleaned just from testing out the products in our showroom,” he adds. Comments from attendees included: “I had a fantastic time seeing your facility.”, “Thoroughly enjoyed the day. It was of great use to us.”, and “Look forward to visiting soon for our week’s training on the AOI we just purchased.”
Representatives from Principal companies were on hand in the Europlacer Distribution showroom to run live demonstrations and discuss the requirements of existing and potential customers. All equipment in the Europlacer Distribution portfolio was on display and open for scrutiny. Products included AOI, X-Ray, SPI, screen printing, reflow, PCB handling, PCB storage, PCB support tooling, optical inspection and BGA repair solutions.
An outdoor hog roast lunch outdoors was also provided, making the most of the fine early Autumn Dorset weather. “Apart from bowing to tradition at these annual events, a stand-up lunch outdoors gives an opportunity for User Day attendees to chat with members of the Europlacer and Speedprint Technologies staff based at our UK headquarters,” explains Jones.
The Blakell Europlacer Group comprises the Speedprint Technologies, Europlacer, and Blakell Europlacer Distribution business units. All three are active and pre-eminent in the electronic circuit board assembly sector with advanced product and service solutions for electronics manufacturers in the UK and globally. Speedprint Technologies is a provider of screen printing equipment used in surface mount assembly processes. Europlacer is a provider of surface mount component placement equipment. Blakell Europlacer Distribution augments the provision of screen printing and pick & place platforms in the UK with a range of associated equipment, including AOI, reflow and PCB handling.
