Pick-and-place equipment and SMT assembly are the foundation of the electronics production process. At Restronics New England, the sales staff has far-reaching experience with pick-and-place equipment. As pieces become smaller, novel gear may be required, and as volumes increase, current equipment may need to be swapped or upgraded for enhanced productivity. As organizations re-shore PCB manufacturing, there is an increased necessity for enhanced speed and capabilities. Throughout the country, supply chain issues and the desire for improved control over delivery cost and time are creating a need for higher performance of P&P equipment.
The necessity for NPI technology is growing, and it should be convenient to use and flexible, along with dispense paste or adhesive, and also install components. In doing so, users can produce small quantities of circuit boards without having to wait for stencils to arrive and then making modifications, then waiting again for fresh, altered stencils to arrive. Though these systems are not the fastest, they do give excellent versatility for extremely low volume and high mix applications. Moreover, most of these machines can pick and place parts including odd-shaped parts and connectors that are inaccessible to the majority of high-speed SMT equipment.
The latest version of SMT pick-and-place equipment features electric component verification, dual lanes of operation for ultra-high speed applications, and interchangeable pick and place heads for high speed and large component placement. Some systems place components at rates of up to 90,000 CPH (components per hour). Realistic CPH speeds can be calculated off-line to deliver exact speed and time for building particular PCBs. Line balancing and off-line programming are often common elements of pick and place machinery to maximize feeder set up and reduce turnaround time. Most jobs are set up on feeder trolleys that can be moved into place when the job is started. This minimizes feeder setup and changeover time.
Restronics New England's expert workforce can help you in all areas of picking and placing SMT equipment.