Quick change in stencil-free factory
16 December 2008
The introduction of Mydata’s ‘jet printer’ was met with a degree of curiosity and scepticism – was it too expensive for the type of job it was intended for? But the latest generation of the MY500 can more than pay its way, as one EMS company is finding to its benefit.
Gemini Tec, a Hampshire-based EMS company, has recently seen demand for its complex mixed technology PCB assembly services grow to the point where its new SMT facility (opened last year) needed additional equipment to provide capacity and versatility to its production portfolio.
“Because we decided to completely re-equip our line, we started with pretty much a blank sheet,” said David Harsant, Managing Director of Gemini Tec. “That left us free to look at what the latest technology could do for our business, and it wasn’t long before MYDATA’s MY500 solder jet printer caught our interest.”
Operating in a similar way to an office inkjet printer, but printing solder paste onto boards rather than ink onto paper, the MY500 completely eliminates the need for conventional stencils. Because of the high mix environment in which Gemini Tec works, this was particularly appealing to the company as its expenditure on stencils was large.
Since Gemini Tec also specialises in complex mixed technology boards, it was also impressed by the MY500’s ability to independently control the amount of solder applied to each pad. This allows for example, a thick layer of paste to be used for large components, with a much thinner layer for small components.
The paste thickness can even be profiled across a pad, thereby eliminating the risk of tombstoning and other defects with ‘difficult’ components.
The MY500 is undeniably a major investment and, before committing to a purchase, Gemini Tec wanted to try out the machine in the company’s own operating environment – particularly because at this stage there were no other users in the UK. Accordingly, MYDATA supplied and installed a loan machine.
The trial quickly made Gemini Tec aware of the full extent of the benefits that the MY500 has to offer. The defect rate on boards, for example, which the company had already considered to be low, fell so much further that it proved possible to free up a member of staff, who was previously engaged full time on rework, for redeployment elsewhere in the factory.
In addition, Gemini Tec’s customers were impressed, not only by the quality enhancements in their boards, but also by the very fast response the company was now able to give to new requirements, since the delays previously associated with the manufacture of new stencils had been eliminated.
At the time of writing, Gemini Tec has just put into service its own MY500, which replaces the demonstration machine, and continues to be delighted with the results it is getting.
“We were told time and time again that the MY500 is expensive, but that’s not really true,” said David Harsant. “It certainly costs more to buy than a stencil-based machine, but we’re absolutely confident that its lifetime costs will be lower.”
“We’re already saving cost of a rework technician, our defect rate is negligible, we don’t have to pay for stencils, and we can offer an unbeatable turnaround time that’s proving a real winner in gaining new orders. We certainly don’t see our MY500 as an expensive machine – we see it as very cost-effective business tool.”
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