What is Surface Mount Technology?
Surface mount technology initially referred to as Planner Mounting, is a technique of mounting electronic components directly onto the surface of printed circuit boards instead of passing them from one side to another and soldering them. In IBM (mostly) introduced this way of soldering components by using SMT machines. Gradually the industry accepted the revolution of electronic components and started replacing through-hole components with surface-mount components, usually called surface-mount devices (SMDs). A prominent cause of the takeover of SMT over THT is its space-saving feature. In real-time, Surface Mount Devices save a lot of space and provide a better connection between the components and the circuit board.
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Nowadays, the industry utilizes both types of components through holes and surface mounts in a single board to maximize performance. Because yet not all electronic components are eligible to adapt surface mount technology. For instance, large transformers and heat sinks.
In this article,
- What is an SMT Machine and What Does It Do?
- Types of Surface Mount Assembly Machine
- Top 10 SMT Assembly Machines
- How to Choose the Best SMT Assembly Machine?
- Top SMT Assembly Machine Brands according to the Location
What is an SMT Machine and What Does It Do?
An SMT machine is an automatic assembling machine used to assemble surface mount devices SMDs onto the circuit boards. Usually, an SMT machine is supposed to pick and place surface mount devices in their respective locations.
The automation of SMT assembling has enabled the precise and fast assembly of electronic components. SMT machines aid the manufacturing process of printed circuit boards by minimizing the assembling time and potential errors regarding circuit board assembly.
Types of Surface Mount Assembly Machine
Surface mount assembling of electronic components does not involve a single automatic device. But, it requires six individual machines to carry out a single task of soldering surface mount components. In this article, we are discussing all six of them.
1. Pick-and-Place Machine
The first and most essential SMT machine is a pick-and-place machine. The purpose of a pick-and-place machine is to pick the components and place them in their respective locations. To accurately select and drop SMDs, the SMT pick-and-place machine uses the circuit board's layout, pick-and-place file, and Gerber file as references.
After the placement of the components completes, the circuit board goes to the soldering machine to cure the solder paste and avoid dry soldering.
The industry divides pick-and-place machines into three groups. These individual machines have various features and are equally significant in different factors.
The three types of pick-and-place-machines are:
a) Manual pick-and-place-machines
Manual pick-and-place machines involve a person who operates the machine to pick and place SMDs. The whole process of picking-and-placing components depends on the operator.
In several ways, manual pick-and-place machines perform better. Such manual pick-and-place machines reduce the risk of placement errors. But, due to the operator's limitation, the manual pick-and-place machines do not ensure component placement accuracy.
However, manual machines are an excellent option for producing a large amount of hand-held work with potential accuracy. The manual pick-and-place machines are also practical for de-soldering and resoldering some particular components on the circuit board. Further manual machines are also ideal for customizing the SMD for high-speed unattended operations.
b) Semi-Automatic pick-and-place-machines
Semi-automatic pick-and-place machines are a combination of manual and automatic machines. These machines aid the operator and reduce the risk of SMD misplacement. The semi-automatic pick-and-place machines provide a computerized closer view of the circuit board that helps the operator to place the components precisely in their respective locations. Also, the semi-automatic pick-and-place machines provide a set-up of X and Y coordinates that assist the operator in accurately setting the target to drop the surface mount device. This feature of a semi-automatic SMT machine makes it easier to work with massive circuit boards with ultra-thin leads and solder pads.
c) Automatic pick-and-place-machines
Automatic pick-and-place machines take over semi-automatic machines with their advanced methods of component placements. Automatic pick-and-place machines are an immense invention as they eliminate human limitations and provide greater accuracy.
Some benefits of an automatic pick-and-place machine include lower labor costs, high accuracy, and enhanced operating speed.
2. Solder Paste Screen Printer
A solder paste screen printer has the function of printing solder paste before the pick-and-placement of components. It mainly consists of two main parts a squeegee blade that directs the poured solder paste in a particular direction and a PCB holder.
But there are two types of solder printing used in the industry screen solder printing and stencil solder printing. The manufacturers usually prefer stencil solder printing due to its high accuracy and controlled process.
The price of an SMT solder paste printer varies depending on the machine's ability to handle the maximum size of the PCB and the speed of the equipment.
3. SMT Assembling Curing Oven
Right after the placement of SMDs, the circuit boards need to cure the solder paste to make the SMDs stick to the surface of the PCB. To do so, the circuit boards undergo SMT curing or baking ovens. The SMT curing or baking ovens function as standard household ovens. They provide high-temperature to melt the solder paste and make it a conducting adhesive.
The soldering of surface mount devices involves two steps, adhesive curing, and solder mask baking. Hence, it may require two separate machines for adhesive curing and solder mask baking. Otherwise, a single convection oven can serve both operations.
However, whether to use a single convention oven for adhesive curing, solder paste baking, and reflow soldering depends on the required quantity.
4. Reflow Soldering Machine
The reflow soldering machine carries out the process of permanently attaching the surface mount devices to the PCB. This machine is responsible for preheating the components and then melting the solder paste to form enduring joints between the SMDs and the circuit board without heat damaging the SMDs.
5. Solvent Cleaning Equipment
The soldering process leaves some broza and other sticky materials around the PCB. To clean this mess, the manufacturers use solvent-cleaning equipment. In short, solvent cleaning equipment is responsible for cleaning excess flux and solder from the circuit board left behind during the soldering process.
6. Repair and Inspection of Equipment
The repair and inspection equipment is the last machine required to complete the SMT assembly process. The primary function of repair and inspection equipment is to inspect the circuit boards against potential errors. The equipment not only performs inspection but also fixes the detected defects.
Soldering iron and hot air SMD rework stations are the two most common repair and inspection equipment.
Read Our Step-by-Step Guide to PCB Manufacturing Process
Top 10 SMT Assembly Machines
#1 Europlacer
Europlacer is another leading surface mount technology SMT machine brand. It provides a complete SMT Line Solution and assures a productivity solution that suits everybody's needs.
So, from the pick-and-place side, the best of Europlacer's production is iineo+. Europlacer claims its iineo+ is a multi-function pick-and-place machine with the highest flexibility level and feeder count in the whole industry. The iineo+ is a modern integrated intelligence-based SMT machine with digital cameras that facilitate a close-up look at the circuit board. A worth-mentioning feature of iineo+ is its ability to produce extra-large circuit boards. It is capable of producing mm x 600 mm size boards. The iineo++ is one of those machines offering two rotatory heads on X/Y coordinates, each containing 8 or 12 smart nozzles, which help to deliver a maximum placement speed of 30,000 CPH (IPC: 24, 200CPH).
Features of iineo++
- Rotary heads with 8 or 12 nozzles
- Provides up to 4 internal Jedec trays
- Ability to test Components
- No limitations on nozzles regarding component types. Each nozzle is capable of placing any component.
#2 DDM Novastar
DDM Novastar is one of those leading SMT manufacturers that provides both manual and automatic SMT equipment. It offers a wide range of SMT assembly equipment. Including Manual and Automatic Stencil printers, pick-and-place systems, Benchtops, and Conveyorized and reflow ovens.
DDM Novatars's L-NP00 Benchtop Pick and Place System is an entry-level, low-cost automatic pick-and-place system that delivers in a ready-to-use condition. It is a considerably good system for Prototyping, pilot manufacturing, and low-volume production. The L-NP00 provides placement accuracy of up to 0.004 inches and a placement speed of up to 2,100 CPH.
The DDM Novastar also provides machines with higher capabilities. It was just an example of budget-friendly small-scale equipment.
#3 Yamaha
Yamaha is a specialized company in manufacturing heavy equipment. Its quality can never be in doubt. Along with heavy motor equipment, Yamaha is a leading brand manufacturing high-quality surface mount technology SMT machines. The main focus of Yamaha is the pick-and-place machines that offer exciting placement solutions.
If you want to try something innovative with pick-and-place machines, Yamaha could be the best manufacturer for you to contact.
The Yamaha has an ongoing list of features that proves it a perfect SMT machine manufacturer. Some of them are as follows:
- Wide Range: Another factor that stands out the Yamaha is its wide range of SMT products. It offers almost everything required for the SMT assembling process ranging from Surface Mounters, Inspection Systems, SMD Storage Systems, Management Software, Solder Paste Printers, Flip Chip Bonder & Hybrid Placer, and Dispensers.
- Compatible Price: Despite being a big name Yamaha is budget-friendly; your budget does not matter; you will always have something from Yamaha that will surely meet your requirements.
#4 Mycronic
Mycronic is a reputable brand setting the standards of pick-and-place machines on another level. The MY300 of mycronic is its best version of the SMT machine. The operators of this machine state that they are confident about populating more boards with less floor space.
Features of Mycronic SMT Machine
The Mycronic surface mount technology machine has several features, some of which are as follows.
- Strong Software Suit of MY300: Mycronic offers a very user-friendly interface with its MY300. It also proposes a firm software suite that supports upgrading the software to the latest technology.
- Easy to Operate: An outstanding quality of MY300 is that it is easy to operate and eases the access of machine operators, other interactive crew, and engineers to the relevant information.
- More Work Less Effort: MY300 comes with an inventory management system. The MY300 merges innovative feeder technology and automatic storage with a material tracking feature. This feature of MY300 reduces human interference in the component loading process, which leads to fewer human errors and labor. With the inventory management of MY300, the material, and the information do not perform as bottlenecks anymore.
#5 Juki
Juki is an experienced, well-known name that produces the best quality SMT machines. The Juki has a lot to offer in the SMT industry, but its brand-new RX-8 has no match. It provides the highest placement rates per square meter and achieves placement of up to 100,000 CPH.
The high-speed compact modular mounter RX-8 supports a board size of 50×50～510mm*¹ *²×450mm and a component height of 3mm. It offers a placement accuracy of ±0.04mm (Cpk ≧1).
Other options from Juki include RX-6R/RX-6B and FX-3RA.
The company is the world’s best Yamaha Smt Nozzle supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.
#6 Panasonic
Panasonic has been in the business for more than a century. The company has a firm reputation in the market and offers a complete SMT Line Solution consisting of 5 modules of screen printers, inspection, component placement, inspection, and curing oven. Panasonic focuses on providing Smart Factory Solutions. Their range of machines varies from entry-level to extreme-complex equipment.
Another high-end of Panasonic is that it provides Open Source Software. Its NPM-W2; is one of the best pick-and-place machines with Open Source Software. It offers two types of heads 'Lightweight 16-nozzle head' and '12-nozzle head'. Each category of nozzle head provides an option of High Production Mode On/Off. With high production mode ON on the 16-nozzle head, NPM-W2 provides a maximum placement speed of 38,500 CPH and an SMD placement accuracy of ±40 μm/chip.
#7 Universal Instruments
The universal instrument is well-known for its electronic automation and assembly equipment. The company offers a wide range of SMT machines for low to high budgets and production needs. From the wide range of universal SMT machines, its FUZION PLATFORM is one of the best SMT machine series that implement the latest head and feeder technologies and software suits. The Fuzion has nine different models with individual features that target specific problems.
ADVANTISV PLATFORM is another series of SMT machines from the universal instrument. It is a pack of mid-range entry-level SMT machines that delivers budget-friendly performance without lacking performance.
#8 Assembleon (Kulicke & Soffa)
Kulicke & Soffa, formerly known as Assemblon, is another leading manufacturer and distributor of Semiconductor, LED, and electronic surface mount technology SMT machines. The company has been providing a reliable service since . Three of the most highlighted SMT assembly products of Kulicke & Soffa include iFlex, iX502/iX302, and Hybrid SiP.
The Kulicke & Soffa's iFlex is a low-energy consuming sustainable, high-yield providing SMT pick-and-place machine. The iFlex has three available modules:
- T4: It offers Chip and IC shooting from M () to 17.5 x 17.5 x 15 mm at 51,000 CPH (IPC(A))
- T2: Provides Chip and IC shooting from M () to 45 x 45 x 21 mm at 24,300 CPH (IPC(A))
- H1: Offers End-of-line placer placing up to 120 x 52 x 25 mm at 7,500 CPH (IPC(A))
#9 FUJI Corporation
Fuji Corporation built electronic assembly machines and machine tools as their main products. The Fuji corporation provides complete SMT assembly equipment, including
- Mounters
- Printers
- Inserters
- Automatic warehouses
- Softwares
- Automatic Maintainance Units
- Automation Units
Fuji has a list of brilliant SMT machines, all of which we are discussing in its brand-new NXTR S Model. Fuji's intention with its NXTR series is to smooth the future of smart factories. Hence, NXTR's S model comes with exciting features. Some of these are Real-time sensing placement, Optimized placement actions, and part-handling checks after their arrangement.
Features of NXTR S Model
Single Action Head Exchange: NXTR S allow operators to change the head without using tools. This feature of the S model enables hassle-free maintenance and troubleshooting.
Minimal Investment: It provides an option to upgrade the module by making additional investments on the scale of single modules to increase production capacity.
Placement: The NXRT S Model can pick and place surface mount devices with all-time high accuracy of ±25 µm, plus it provides placement pressure control.
Placement Checks: The most compelling feature of this machine is its ability to inspect the SMD placement within the placement machine.
#10 Hanwha Precision Machinery
Hanwha Precision Machinery built its first chip mounter in , and since then, it has facilitated the SMT assembling industry with the state of the art SMT machines. The Hanwha Precision Machinery offers a wide range of SMT assembling equipment, including surface mount technology mounters, semiconductor equipment, insertion, and assembly automation equipment, and integrated software solutions.
The most highlighted features of the company are its focus on innovation, versatility, and efficiency.
Some of the best SMT machines of
Hanwha Precision Machinery includes:
- XM520 (100,000 CPH, Optimum)
- HM520 (80,000 CPH)
- DECAN F2 (80,000 CPH)
- SM481 PLUS (40,000 CPH, Optimum, Fly+Fix Camera)
How to Choose the Best SMT Assembly Machine?
1. SMD Positioning System
There are mainly three methods available to position a surface mount device accurately.
- No Feedback System
- Rotary Encoders System
- Linear Encoders System
a) No Feedback System
No Feedback System uses stepper motors to position SMDs in their respective locations by following the number of steps in each X-Y axis. This system is a low-cost option. The only downside is that it does not accurately indicate whether the component is placed in its accurate position.
b) Rotary Encoders
The rotary encoders system uses an encoder mounted on the motor shaft of the SMT pick-and-place machine. This encoder sends back the SMD's position to the control system. But the drawback of this system is that it only sends back the position of the machine and not the actual component. Hence, this system of tracking placement positions is also not 100% reliable.
However, this system provides better details than the No Feedback System. Further, this system is low-cost and widely used in entry-level machines and provides a placement accuracy of ±0.005".
c) Linear Encoder
Linear Encoder Placement System utilizes linear scales with encoders. The linear scales are mounted on the X-Y axes table, while the encoder is attached to the traveling path that carries the components. It is the only method that provides the actual position of the SMD back to the control system.
However, the quality comes at a price. The linear encoder positioning system is usually higher in cost but provides the best performance and an accuracy of ±0.".
2. Component Placement Speed
The component placement speed of an SMT pick-and-place machine defines its suitability for an organization. Though we have different sizes of organizations, their desired component placement speed varies depending on their production requirements and budget. Hence, the placement speed of the SMT machine is of great importance to study at the initial stages of buying an SMT machine.
Further, the placement rate of an SMT machine elaborates on its productivity and the speed of picking and inspecting the surface mount devices before their positioning on the printed circuit boards.
So, before short-listing any SMT machine, check that against IPC standards. IPC is a standard manufacturer used to define the placement speed of their pick-and-place machines.
For an additional note, the placement speed mentioned by the manufacturers is usually 30%-40% extra than the actual value. So, to find an approximate placement speed of a pick-and-place SMT machine decreases the given placement rate by 30% or 40%.
While selecting an SMT pick-and-place machine, you should consider that the component placement speed also depends on the size of the circuit board, type of components, and feeders. If the surface area of the circuit board is large, the machine head has to travel all the way long from one side to another to place components, which will decrease the placement speed and increase the time taken to complete a board.
3. Feeder Slots and their Capacity
The SMT pick-and-place machines come up with different numbers of feeder slots and their maximum capacity to store the surface mount devices. The feeder slots and their volume somehow influence the production speed. Thus, when ordering a pick-and-place machine, one should always consider their requirement regarding the component quantity to take out a job successfully. It may be possible for small and dedicated assembly providers to calculate their needs, but for large-scale assembling houses, it is hard to estimate their upcoming requirements. Hence, it is better to select a machine with a larger feeder. Otherwise, order one that suits your needs best.
Bottom Line: To get higher quality production select a machine with a Linear Encoder positioning system. However, if you're short on budget or getting started in the field. Rotary Encoder Systems may get your job done.
4. Placement Accuracy
Placement Accuracy is another factor one should consider while making an SMT pick-and-place machine purchase. It is highly significant to check placement accuracy as it plays a crucial role in the performance and quality of the circuit board. Machines with higher accuracy always perform better and produce a high-quality yield.
The ideal machine should have an accuracy of 0. and a fine pitch lead of 12 mil.
5. Parts Size
The part size is another crucial factor to consider. On a random note, a pick-and-place machine should be able to work with these three sizes , , and . If the pick-and-place equipment that you have selected because it meets your other requirements and does not support these sizes, what you could do is buy an additional nozzle or feeder to produce circuit boards with these sizes.
6. Software
Software is one of the most important factors to consider while buying a pick-and-place SMT machine, as it enables the coordination between the operator and the machine. Any SMT machine of low to mid-volume range should deliver these three primary functions.
- Easy Coordination and updated graphical unit interface like Windows.
- Flexibility to move from one design to another without spending too much time.
- The machine should provide qualitative offline software to ease optimization.
Top SMT Assembly Machine Brands according to the Location
China
Ridong, Jingtuo, Itech, Hopesun Equipment, Autotronik, etc., are some local Chinese brands that provide high-quality SMT machines.
USA
In the US, Universal, Mycronic, and DDM Novastar are some of the most trustworthy and reliable names among consumers.
Japan
Panasonic, Juki, Yamaha, Fuji
Europe
Assembleon and Mydata
Korea
Samsung
Conclusion
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ajb
Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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on: June 26, , 05:01:36 pm »
We're at a point where we're seriously planning out a real in-house SMT production line. This decision is not based on volume/cost, but on the need to support high mix/low volume production with often very tight timelines, and support shorter R&D cycles on boards we don't want to be hand assembling. We've considered going with something like the XY or Neoden equipment to start with, but it doesn't seem like that equipment will last us long enough to be worth trouble of setting up and swapping out when we inevitably want to upgrade. So I'm currently looking at options for 'real' equipment, with a new placement machine, probably an improved manual stencil printer, and possibly a used reflow oven if we run into a good opportunity. (Unfortunately most of the used inventory for this stuff is on the wrong side of the country from us.) At some point in the future we would upgrade to an automatic stencil printer, and otherwise expand in feeders and the overall line from there. We have a good amount of floor space picked out, with plenty of power and air capacity. We also have experience with bringing up in-house CNC manufacturing capacity, so have some idea of the amount of workflow and tooling support that these sorts of things inevitably entail.
I've got pricing for Hanwha, Yamaha, and Panasonic equipment so far (and yes, the pricing is eye-watering), and I can look at brochures and promo videos all day, but that all only tells me so much. For those of you who have gone down this road:
- what's not covered in the sales pitch that you found was important to know when getting started?
- what's been your experience with getting started in any particular brand/class of equipment?
- per the above, any particular machines or brands you found to be easier or harder to get started on?
- what other equipment or accessories did you find were essential to support the SMT line? (aside from 'more feeders', that's already on the list!)
loki42
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #1 on: June 27, , 01:38:34 am »
I've had minimal problems with the pick and place section (with my Universal Genesis machines) apart from trim pots which have been very picky about nozzle choice. Check you're getting the nozzles you need, the UIC stuff has different heads with different nozzles and it's pretty confusing. There's a big spreadsheet for what picks what on what head. Oh trays have been a bit of trouble too, I think because my belt alignment isn't prefect and I don't know how to set it up.
Printing has been a lot of trouble for me, mostly around board support and getting the parameters right. I've just bought spi to try to catch errors. The on machine 2d inspection is handy but it can't capture volume errors (coverage is good but too thick/thin).
Is the Panasonic similar price to the hanwha and Yamaha? I thought they were much higher end, similar to Fuji.
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SMTech
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #2 on: June 27, , 07:35:51 am »
Understand your requirement first and foremost. Work out your inventory, your changeover, what parts might need to be loaded into feeders ready to switch between products. What feeders those parts need. Genuine low volume high mix is directly targeted by two manufacturers not on your list; Europlacer and MyData. Both of these have solutions that make owning a lot of "feeders" cheaper in a space efficient manner. And save yourself the pain and buy an automatic printer.
Get an idea of pricing on consumable parts like nozzles. Get hands on time with feeders and software see how intuitive or fiddly things are. Establish if you think you would be best served with "smart" feeders. Understand the software options included and your own requirements for things like traceability, these things cost extra and are sometimes part of expensive suites.
@loki42 have you looked at GridLok/QuikTool/Matrix https://quik-tool.com/ https://psasystems.com/smt ?
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loki42
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #3 on: June 27, , 01:39:46 pm »
I've looked into grid loc etc for my printer and given I'm only doing a very low number of different boards (very low mix) dedicated tooling makes more sense for us i think. I attempted to get some 3d printed by a professional 3d printer but the flatness was terrible so I just made some on our press brake. It's working well. I'm planning to machine some vacuum fixtures at some point too. I've got some of the official UIC board supports too and the similar ones from count on tools.
Other thing I forgot pnp wise that was wisely said by smtech, make sure you can put down the parts you want with the machines you are thinking about. Some are very limited with part height or can't feed from trays. If you need to place odd form you might either need to place it by hand or limit your machine options.
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ajb
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #4 on: June 27, , 02:56:47 pm »
Thanks folks, this is all helpful. I am planning to arrange some hands-on time with a couple of machines before we make a final decision to suss out some of the software/workflow considerations.
Is the Panasonic similar price to the hanwha and Yamaha? I thought they were much higher end, similar to Fuji.
They're all in the same general ballpark, but the Panasonic is a bit more expensive--or the same price for a few less feeders. Seems like everyone gives meaningless list prices with a big discount on everything, which makes comparisons annoying depending on how they break out that discount and option charges. For reference, this is for the Hanwha SM485, Panasonic AM100, and Yamaha YMR20-1. Several other manufacturers to look into of course, there are more options than I would have guessed before I started counting.
Genuine low volume high mix is directly targeted by two manufacturers not on your list; Europlacer and MyData. Both of these have solutions that make owning a lot of "feeders" cheaper in a space efficient manner.
Thanks, will bump those up the list to look at.
Some are very limited with part height or can't feed from trays. If you need to place odd form you might either need to place it by hand or limit your machine options.
Lack of internal trays is a downside for the Hanwha, it's either give up 23 feeder lanes for two trays, or pay $50k for the side tray magazine, neither is attractive for our current part mix.
jmelson
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #5 on: June 27, , 03:10:16 pm »
Big items to consider :
1. height of tallest component - especially electrolytic capacitors
2. width of widest component - like CPUs and FPGAs
3. What nozzles are available for the machine
4. what's the smallest part you will be placing
5. finest lead pitch of ICs
If you only will have one P&P, you want a machien that can handle the FULL range of parts you will use. On a multi-nozzle machine, if the nozzles are too close together, you have issues with the parts bumping into each other and messing up the alignment.
Does the machine have up-looking cameras or flying vision? The flying vision is a lot faster.
And, of course, feeders!!! The quality of the feeders is really key! My first P&P had mechanical feeders that were always jamming and not pulling cover tape reliably. It was a HUGE pain. My newer machine has electronic feeders that do quite a bit better.
How will you set up a job on the P&P? For both of my machines, I wrote programs to convert the placement file of my CAD system to what the machine needed for import, then I had to assign feeders and get the machine to accept the setup. Complexity and ease of use of the software during setup can make a HUGE difference. Also, self-diagnostic features are pretty important. A machine that tells you exactly what went wrong "Component from feeder # 43 X dimension too small 0.3mm" is much better than one that is vague "error ocurred".
Jon
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SMTech
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
«
Reply #6 on: June 27, , 03:15:23 pm »
Thanks folks, this is all helpful. I am planning to arrange some hands-on time with a couple of machines before we make a final decision to suss out some of the software/workflow considerations.
Is the Panasonic similar price to the hanwha and Yamaha? I thought they were much higher end, similar to Fuji.
They're all in the same general ballpark, but the Panasonic is a bit more expensive--or the same price for a few less feeders. Seems like everyone gives meaningless list prices with a big discount on everything, which makes comparisons annoying depending on how they break out that discount and option charges. For reference, this is for the Hanwha SM485, Panasonic AM100, and Yamaha YMR20-1. Several other manufacturers to look into of course, there are more options than I would have guessed before I started counting.
Genuine low volume high mix is directly targeted by two manufacturers not on your list; Europlacer and MyData. Both of these have solutions that make owning a lot of "feeders" cheaper in a space efficient manner.
Thanks, will bump those up the list to look at.
Some are very limited with part height or can't feed from trays. If you need to place odd form you might either need to place it by hand or limit your machine options.
Lack of internal trays is a downside for the Hanwha, it's either give up 23 feeder lanes for two trays, or pay $50k for the side tray magazine, neither is attractive for our current part mix.
Internal tray king is a Eurplacer iineo, it can be fitted with a tray area in the middle of the machine over the conveyor which can hold 10 trays, or a tray of lose parts or strips on sticky tape, your choice. Grippers, tall parts it does it all if you pay enough.
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loki42
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #7 on: June 28, , 12:57:25 am »
Internal maybe... but a universal instruments machine with PTFs you can have 100s of stacks of trays. The trays are automatically removed when empty and parts can be gang picked from the PTF conveyors. The PTFs are also pretty cheap second hand. Inspection during new part introduction is more annoying than with direct pick though as there's no camera on the ptf side so you have to pick the part with the ptf so see if the orientation is correct. I assume the Fuji, Panasonic etc tray feeding options would be similar.
« Last Edit: June 28, , 12:21:18 pm by loki42 »
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SMTech
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
«
Reply #8 on: June 28, , 07:50:49 am »
Internal maybe... but a universal instruments machine with PTFs you can have 100s of stacks of trays. The trays are automatically removed when empty and parts can be gang picked from the PTF conveyors. The PTFs are also pretty cheap second hand. Inspection during new part introduction is more annoying than with direct pick though as there's no camera on the ptf side so you have to pick the part with the ptf so see if the orientation is correct. I assume the Fuji, Panasonic etc tray feeding options would be similar. Europlacer is probably better for very short run prototype stuff but I'd say Panasonic, Fuji and ASM are the higher end stuff.
Every machine has its gimmick and its ideal target audience, every machine also has a PTF option, they mostly take away feeder slots and cost $$ whereas internal space is free(ish) (the Europlacer table does cost money). You just have to work out which niche you are in, "higher end" is a difficult thing to quantify, you'd never try and built millions of iPhones or Pi's with a Europlacer line, they're not designed to compete with an NXT. NXT lines have their own limitations.
We had similar deliberations when we last looked @ p&p we knew we needed to fit a certain number of feeders and trays and that basically was not possible with a single "conventional" placer, the double sized machines back then were not flex placers. That left Europlacers, long MyDatas, maybe the iPulse M20 or standalone machines that take feeders on all sides and have a placement area you can use as you like (Essemtec/Dima/Fritsch/Autotronik). In theory it could also have included Universal (ouch); the Panasonic AM100 (poorly sold then); Contact C5 (looks sorta cool, nobody buys it); or Mimot (because we all know them ). And there we were boxed in our niche, luckily the choice is better today, more machines like the RS1 are truly flexible but we would still need 2 of most and at that point you can trigger the gripe mentioned elsewhere, load balancing software suites that manage your multi machine line.
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loki42
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #9 on: June 28, , 12:20:32 pm »
Yeah, you loose a nozzle changer for each PTF with UIC but who needs 4 x 77 nozzles... you don't loose any feeder slots. There are for sure better machines for specific jobs. Feeders for UIC are giant compared to Mycronic and the handles are designed by people who haven't seen a human. I think used UIC are a decent deal used but I wouldn't touch them new. The company is all running on Lotus domino and I don't think they've updated any of their software in the last 20 years... I think finding a company that is actually friendly and easy to deal with would be much better.
I think some of the machines like the Europlace, Mycronic and maybe Essemtec can feed from cut tape easily which would be great for prototyping. You mentioned sticking them down or is there specific cut tape feeders? Like these things that I'm not sure how they work... https://www.nozzles4smt.com/STRIPFEEDERS-mod-Ver-2-Series_c_135.html
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SMTech
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #10 on: June 28, , 01:01:36 pm »
Yeah, you loose a nozzle changer for each PTF with UIC but who needs 4 x 77 nozzles... you don't loose any feeder slots. There are for sure better machines for specific jobs. Feeders for UIC are giant compared to Mycronic and the handles are designed by people who haven't seen a human. I think used UIC are a decent deal used but I wouldn't touch them new. The company is all running on Lotus domino and I don't think they've updated any of their software in the last 20 years... I think finding a company that is actually friendly and easy to deal with would be much better.
I think some of the machines like the Europlace, Mycronic and maybe Essemtec can feed from cut tape easily which would be great for prototyping. You mentioned sticking them down or is there specific cut tape feeders? Like these things that I'm not sure how they work... https://www.nozzles4smt.com/STRIPFEEDERS-mod-Ver-2-Series_c_135.html
Essemtec has an equivalent of that, it just works like custom tray, its a bit of pain to use to be honest, I tend to try and use a real feeder. The count on tools solution probably fits in a PTF and is more limited in component height. I can't recall what Mycronics solution was, Europlacer you can literally use sticky tape, and they will custom machine you things too. Europlacer also used to have a feeder element specifically for cut tape, I have no idea how it was different. The loose part thing however is very new. Yamaha offered the CoT tray, I think Hanwha has a fancy feeder that can handle tape strips but I'm not sure how short they can be or what the wastage is like. There are also "FeederFingers" for many brands, I think they try and copy the Agilis method onto a standard feeder.
I agree finding a company you can work with is also a good idea, if getting information and quotes out of them is difficult, imagine the support. We are doing some investment right now, I have one failure to reply, I'm not chasing. There are also some very different approaches to servicing...
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ajb
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #11 on: June 28, , 04:16:00 pm »
Any thoughts on backup pins, height mapping, placement force monitoring features? I don't think we need to worry about it, but those are features that show up in some brochures but not others, so I'm curious how widely applicable they are. We're not doing max width boards/panels, but some of our current tab routed panels have a fair bit of flex. Of course those could be redesigned into smaller panels and/or wider frames.
Reflow ovens: Sales reps are telling me 7-8 zones minimum for lead free, but I've also heard from a couple of people who are getting good results with 3-zone systems. Given that throughput isn't a big concern, I'm interested in what anyone else has to say on that.
Re: Trays, not sure about other brands, but Hanwha offer a PTF that installs on the conveyer side. So you don't lose any feeder slots, but do lose the dual conveyer/shuttle option, for whatever that's worth. Still more expensive than I can justify without more tray parts, but would be a decent future upgrade option.
Re: Cut tape, Panasonic also have one of those cut-tape-on-tray thing, which seems like any machine that supports trays ought to be able to offer. A fixed piece of cut tape is just a 1xN matrix tray after all. I guess the difference would be in how easy they make it to program that sort of thing. Those Feeder Fingers look interesting, will add those to the list. I would imagine the fancy autoloading feeders from any brand would be able to handle cut tape, but I'm sure a standard electronic feeder plus a Feeder Finger is a cheaper way to go.
For our purposes, being able to put two trays inside the machine, one for tray parts and one for cut tape, should work pretty well. By the time we need more tray capacity I will be much less concerned about cut tape. (Not that I'm even that worried about cut tape now, but it would be nice to use up what we have on hand.)
I agree finding a company you can work with is also a good idea, if getting information and quotes out of them is difficult, imagine the support. We are doing some investment right now, I have one failure to reply, I'm not chasing. There are also some very different approaches to servicing...
For sure. Of course that super helpful and responsive rep who holds your hand through the whole purchase process might vanish the moment their commission comes in, so hard to gauge that up front sometimes....
Thanks all!
SparkyStan
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #12 on: June 28, , 08:56:17 pm »
Any thoughts on backup pins, height mapping, placement force monitoring features? I don't think we need to worry about it, but those are features that show up in some brochures but not others, so I'm curious how widely applicable they are. We're not doing max width boards/panels, but some of our current tab routed panels have a fair bit of flex. Of course those could be redesigned into smaller panels and/or wider frames.
One thing you can consider for board flex is to use carriers, basically a rigid fixture for thin and flex PCBs usually. I haven't used one yet as we alleviated our flex by decreasing panel size but I have spoken to a company that manufacturers small IoT devices and they use carriers for their panels to support the, through pick and place and reflow with good success.
Reflow ovens: Sales reps are telling me 7-8 zones minimum for lead free, but I've also heard from a couple of people who are getting good results with 3-zone systems. Given that throughput isn't a big concern, I'm interested in what anyone else has to say on that.
In my experience, our 3 zone oven has worked well for panels less than 12x12" in size (1-6 layers so far, 2oz outer layers, 0.5oz inner layers). One thing to consider is if you plan on larger boards with heavy copper and large planes, the 3 zone might show it's limitations and require more tuning of your profile to ensure good soldering (i.e slower/longer profile and/or higher temperatures).
Re: Cut tape, Panasonic also have one of those cut-tape-on-tray thing, which seems like any machine that supports trays ought to be able to offer. A fixed piece of cut tape is just a 1xN matrix tray after all. I guess the difference would be in how easy they make it to program that sort of thing. Those Feeder Fingers look interesting, will add those to the list. I would imagine the fancy autoloading feeders from any brand would be able to handle cut tape, but I'm sure a standard electronic feeder plus a Feeder Finger is a cheaper way to go.
I'm only familiar with the ASM E/X feeders but I can just load cut tapes into feeders as normal, they just need a cover tape extension to go back to the peeling mechanism. This is nice as I just treat cut tapes as you would a reel. If you're not maxing out your feeders slots, consider seeing what the feeders of your options are capable of cut tape wise. I've definitely used some 10 part cut tapes from a sample kit in a pinch a few times but we have set minimums for parts depending on pitch as they are cumbersome to handle below a certain length. IIRC the Essmetec sales guy mentioned they could feed cut tapes down to 1 inch as well.
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jayx
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #13 on: June 28, , 10:43:51 pm »
Would be usefull if you let us know what you exactly mean by "high mix/low volume". You need to take into consideration how many feeders you need in the machine to assembly your most complex PCB, how often you're going to swap the components in the feeders (sales pitch/brochures rarely mention how long it takes to swap a tape in the feeder and set it up for use in the machine), is setup changeover time priority over placement speed or the other way round.
It will also have some impact on the other machines selection. For paste printing, it may be better to look at jet printing. For reflow oven, perhaps vapour phase.
Other equipment to consider is dry storage for moisture sensitive components, wahing machine for the PCBs, x-ray inspection, rework station for bottom terminated components (BGAs, QFNs, etc.).
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SMTech
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #14 on: June 29, , 12:13:04 pm »
A larger longer oven will increase throughput. A short oven with few zones tries to match the profile your paste would like to function against what is possible with the size of your board and the mass of components placed upon it. If you read a solder paste datasheet you will note there are 3-4 key periods. Fewer zones gives you less opportunity to bring every area on the board up to the windows requested by your paste profile and leaves you more reliant on conveyor speed, which in turn makes it more likely you will break the time rules instead. 6-8 vertical zones is a decent compromise, fits in an oven that is not too ridiculous (4m or less) and this is also where many major brands start with their ranges. My experience when we purchased ours was that of the major brands Heller was easily the value choice, it was cheaper and had more features than its rivals, BTU wasn't far behind. Similar spec'd well known Chinese brands were cheaper (about 25%). Its possible once its 20 years old you'd choose a more expensive brand 2nd user, but Hellers are everywhere. That said I visited a firm that primarily made boards for the European Space Agency and they ran a 3 zone oven, but it was a good one from ERSA.
Pipped and routed panels with a lot of flex will need support, you can do that with pins or systems like grid-lok. I wouldn't underestimate the importance of board support, on our Essemtec, boards are supported by manually adjusted pins, these are hard to place accurately under a double side board, hard to pack densely for a complex flexible panel and hard to set at just the right height. There was grid-lok style option, I wish I had chosen it but at the time it wasn't needed. This can have a radical affect on placement accuracy as the board surface isn't exactly where the machine expects it to be. Some but not all placement machines measure the placement force which would help in these cases or with warpage.
Other toys like X-ray, washing and even AOI are for later when volume, customer or complexity demands them
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loki42
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #15 on: June 29, , 12:29:38 pm »
I totally agree again with board support. I'm running 0.6 - 1.2mm boards and a lot of the problems have been board support related with printing and placement.
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SMTech
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
«
Reply #16 on: June 29, , 02:53:37 pm »
Its been mentioned in here, but I would suggest that while Jet printing sounds cool, no stencils to store, no waiting for stencils etc etc. You cannot buy those platforms without spending well into 6 figures, so you need to be not buying a lot of stencils before they pay for themselves, older Mycronics are out of support, they work best with special pastes and I bet servicing/care is a delight. There are no good manual printers, Reprint and PBT make decent(ish) Semi-auto's - you can buy old EKRA, MPM or DEKs everywhere and you should be able to find spares & support too.
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mikeselectricstuff
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #17 on: June 29, , 03:40:46 pm »
Its been mentioned in here, but I would suggest that while Jet printing sounds cool, no stencils to store, no waiting for stencils etc etc. You cannot buy those platforms without spending well into 6 figures, so you need to be not buying a lot of stencils before they pay for themselves, older Mycronics are out of support, they work best with special pastes and I bet servicing/care is a delight. There are no good manual printers, Reprint and PBT make decent(ish) Semi-auto's - you can buy old EKRA, MPM or DEKs everywhere and you should be able to find spares & support too.
Yeah, stencil jetting sounds good at first sight, but seems an expensive option and only really useful for niche cases. Leadtime isn't a good argument as you always have the PCB leadtime, and stencil leadtime will rarely be longer.
If storage is an issue, use unframed stenciles - there is at least one system, don't recall the name, that uses holes around the edge of an unframed stencil to mount it into a special frame that tensions it to make it like a framed one.
Maybe for places running very high mixes perhaps ?
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ajb
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #18 on: June 29, , 08:27:43 pm »
Would be usefull if you let us know what you exactly mean by "high mix/low volume". You need to take into consideration how many feeders you need in the machine to assembly your most complex PCB, how often you're going to swap the components in the feeders (sales pitch/brochures rarely mention how long it takes to swap a tape in the feeder and set it up for use in the machine), is setup changeover time priority over placement speed or the other way round.
Sure. For reference, our most complex board currently in production is ~90 BOM lines and ~300 total placements between top and bottom, roughly 130 8mm equivalent feeder lanes. BUT, we do NOT need to be doing that particular one in-house right off the bat or possibly ever, and there's room to knock a few BOM lines off the build anyway. Our initial board builds will be less than half that (both BOM lines and total placements), so I'm thinking we might start with about 50 feeders with room to grow from there. No BGAs, a couple QFNs, everything else is (imperial) up to ~25mm QFP. A day to set up and a day to run 50-100 boards would be great to start, with the idea that we can add feeders/carts later on to speed up changeover.
It will also have some impact on the other machines selection. For paste printing, it may be better to look at jet printing. For reflow oven, perhaps vapour phase.
From conversations I've had so far, it seems like a vapor phase batch oven wouldn't save much in terms of purchase cost, especially compared to used conventional inline ovens, plus we'd eventually want to replace it with an inline setup anyway. So I don't think that makes a lot of sense for us. On printing, coincidentally both jet printing and used MPM stencil printers came up in a conversation I had earlier today, and the latter seems a much better way to go as SMTech notes.
jayx
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #19 on: June 29, , 09:46:33 pm »
I've seen a demo of Essemtec (Fox if I remember correctly) with paste jetting option which cost (again if remember correctly) ~£20k, and was quite impressed with the speed and accuracy. So may be worth to consider if you go for this machine, as a stand alone probably not worth the price. If you decide to go for stencil printer, you should consider DEK VectorGuard system.
As for vapour phase, there is also potential running cost saving (less energy usage, no need for nitrogen), and I think much better solder joints quality, possibly less solder bridges and tombstones, less problems if you have large and heavy components, finally potential to significantly reduce voiding (if you need low voiding) if you go for vacuum option. Obviously there is the liquid (Galden) cost to consider, and not many second hand machines available.
For changeover consider how many tapes you'll need to swap if you change between a different PCBs. If you have 50 BOM lines on one board and 50 on the other, but only 10 are common, there is a lot to swap if you only have 50 feeders.
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Mangozac
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #20 on: June 29, , 11:01:09 pm »
On printing, coincidentally both jet printing and used MPM stencil printers came up in a conversation I had earlier today, and the latter seems a much better way to go as SMTech notes.
We run a 25 year old MPM UP printer and it still runs like a champion (albeit with the odd repair but nothing that has been catastrophic). Not that I'm suggesting you should go for something that old but based on our experience I would certainly consider a newer MPM printer when it comes time to upgrade (which I will likely do in another year or two before this one gets that bit too old).
I was told that jet printers require special paste and there is a lot of waste/hassle of cleaning the jetting head but that may have just been marketing talk.
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Reckless
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #21 on: June 30, , 05:39:53 am »
From conversations I've had so far, it seems like a vapor phase batch oven wouldn't save much in terms of purchase cost, especially compared to used conventional inline ovens, plus we'd eventually want to replace it with an inline setup anyway. So I don't think that makes a lot of sense for us. On printing, coincidentally both jet printing and used MPM stencil printers came up in a conversation I had earlier today, and the latter seems a much better way to go as SMTech notes.
I have 3 used MPM UP's for sale if interested in Chicago. Highly recommended, last forever and if ever a part is needed generally very cheap to find as it was the most popular machine sold. MPM still supports them in terms of technical support for FREE. The only SMT manufacturer that has friendly support.
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Reckless
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
«
Reply #22 on: June 30, , 06:06:02 am »
I've seen a demo of Essemtec (Fox if I remember correctly) with paste jetting option which cost (again if remember correctly) ~£20k, and was quite impressed with the speed and accuracy. So may be worth to consider if you go for this machine, as a stand alone probably not worth the price. If you decide to go for stencil printer, you should consider DEK VectorGuard system.
I have seen the Essemtec Fox live in person, it's definitely my favorite PNP in terms of form factor but I have reservations on it for actual production use (40+ hours/week). I saw it spill parts at 100% speed back in . My feeling is that it is the most expensive prototyping machine and is slow when compared to other brands. The jetting feature only started working recently in last year or so. They have sold ~250 units in 8 years since launch in . I think its because they are pricing it too high. It does have nifty features like doing parts (Smaller than , , ) using 4mm feeders:
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Reckless
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
«
Reply #23 on: June 30, , 06:36:48 am »
A larger longer oven will increase throughput. A short oven with few zones tries to match the profile your paste would like to function against what is possible with the size of your board and the mass of components placed upon it. If you read a solder paste datasheet you will note there are 3-4 key periods. Fewer zones gives you less opportunity to bring every area on the board up to the windows requested by your paste profile and leaves you more reliant on conveyor speed, which in turn makes it more likely you will break the time rules instead. 6-8 vertical zones is a decent compromise, fits in an oven that is not too ridiculous (4m or less) and this is also where many major brands start with their ranges. My experience when we purchased ours was that of the major brands Heller was easily the value choice, it was cheaper and had more features than its rivals, BTU wasn't far behind. Similar spec'd well known Chinese brands were cheaper (about 25%). Its possible once its 20 years old you'd choose a more expensive brand 2nd user, but Hellers are everywhere. That said I visited a firm that primarily made boards for the European Space Agency and they ran a 3 zone oven, but it was a good one from ERSA.
Pipped and routed panels with a lot of flex will need support, you can do that with pins or systems like grid-lok. I wouldn't underestimate the importance of board support, on our Essemtec, boards are supported by manually adjusted pins, these are hard to place accurately under a double side board, hard to pack densely for a complex flexible panel and hard to set at just the right height. There was grid-lok style option, I wish I had chosen it but at the time it wasn't needed. This can have a radical affect on placement accuracy as the board surface isn't exactly where the machine expects it to be. Some but not all placement machines measure the placement force which would help in these cases or with warpage.
Other toys like X-ray, washing and even AOI are for later when volume, customer or complexity demands them
For ovens I strongly recommend the Essemtec ovens. They were designed to replace 7 zone ovens and have some crazy space age technology in order to flow air properly/evenly across the entire pcb. I have had a number of ovens in my life including a few Hellers (1 brand new), goldstar ovens, chinese ovens, madell, vitronics, manncorp. The only one that gave NO issues were the Essemtecs. Everyone who visits my facility is generally in disbelief that a small oven can do what the bigger Hellers can do and much simpler to use/manage. They are soo good they are used to make clear contact lenses due to the level of swiss precision. In my opinion this is Essemtecs best product. I've owned 8 of them when running small production lines. Heating element never breaks, nor the controller.
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ajb
Re: Setting up a 'real' SMT line - advice?
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Reply #24 on: June 30, , 04:04:31 pm »
I've seen a demo of Essemtec (Fox if I remember correctly) with paste jetting option which cost (again if remember correctly) ~£20k
The very system we were discussing, in fact. As I understand it, you pay somewhat more than that for the factory-installed optional components to support jetting, and then you pay somewhat more than that again for the field-installable jetting equipment. Given that it adds up to about the cost of a standalone printer, I only see it making sense if you simply do not have the floor space for one. Or I guess if you absolutely need to do same-day prototypes and you're also getting a whole LPKF or whatever setup for in-house board fabrication.
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As far as placement machines, it's looking like we either go for cost effectiveness at meeting our near term needs or we go for flexibility for the future. As it stands, and with the caveat that I need to consolidate my notes and review the numbers again, the former looks like Hanwha or Yamaha and the latter looks like Europlacer. The other options generally cost more for nebulous benefit to our current needs, or have some sort of tradeoff in feeder/component capacity.
Europlacer definitely has a higher up front price tag, but that comes with some pretty attractive capabilities. In its favor, it does look like the ii-Feed tape feeders are much less expensive than conventional feeders, even accounting for the more expensive carts and magazines needed to support them. Having more internal tray capacity so we could use cut tapes to stretch beyond feeder capacity is also attractive, and we have in-house CNC machining capability to make trays and fixtures as needed. I'm trying not to get TOO smitten with Europlacer.
Again, that's all based on preliminary notes I need to review, and I have one or two more conversations to follow up on yet. The plan is to get it narrowed down to a couple of options and then try to schedule some hands-on time with the machines before we make a final decision. I appreciate all the input!
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