Pick and Place Machine PM

I was doing a little work recently with a customer who had a PM coming up for his pick and place machine. I told him about Techspray and how they had most everything he needed for doing a PM on his machine. So I thought I might pass that information onto you. Consider this your PM toolkit.

For your convenience I’ve also included links to brochures/datasheets for each product as a hyperlink beneath each product.

All of these products are usually stocked locally with your favorite distributor. (EIS, HMC, Newark, Stanley, Techni-tool, etc.)

Commonly Needed Items for Machine PM

• Lint Free Cloth – Techspray PN: 2350-100
  • Techclean Wiper
• Duster (“compressed air”) – Techspray PN: 1673-10S
  • Economy Duster
• Spray Bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol – Techspray PN: 1610-PT
  • Alternatively Pre-Saturated IPA Wipes – Techspray PN: 1610-100DSP
• Foam Swabs – Techspray PN: 2302-1000
  • Foam Swabs
• LCD Screen Cleaner – Techspray PN: 1605-6FP
  • LCD Screen Cleaner
• LCD Screen Cleaning Microfiber Wipes – Techspray PN: 2368-2
  • LCD Screen Cleaning Microfiber Wipes

Items Needed For A More Aggressive PM

• Maintenance Degreaser – Techspray PN: 1635-20S
• G3 Industrial Maintenance Cleaner
• 
  
  General Maintenance Cloth – Techspray PN: 2359-300
  • Techclean Maintenance Wipe
• ESD-Safe Brush with Aluminum Handle – Techspray PN: 2061-1
  • ESD-Safe Brush with Aluminum Handle
• Contact Cleaner – Techspray PN: 1632-16S
  • G3 Contact Cleaner
• Degreaser/Lubricant (analogous to WD-40) – Techspray PN: 2421-12S
  • GC Kleen-It Silicone Lubricant

Let's Try This One More Time

The image did not display in the last post. Let's try this again. If
it doesn't work this time I'll just give up and use text only for
mobile posts.

Mobile Posts

I may start mobile blogging. This will be useful when I'm at a trade show or a sales meeting and I want to get exciting information out as quickly as possible.

In order to mobile blog, I need to set it up first with a test post. Here's a picture I took of a brochure I had sitting on my desk.

State of the Blog

So for the paste 6 months or so I’ve abandoned the blog. It wasn’t coming together right for me and I was disappointed with my efforts. When I put energy into something I don’t want to do it half way. I can only measure whether or not something is being done half way by the goals I place around it.

In my first e-mail update that I sent to you I made a promise that I would keep this blog useful and not bore you with information that you would not find beneficial. Well I wasn’t pleased with the information I was putting into the blog and so I abandoned it.

I’ve now realized that was not the appropriate action either. So now I’m back. I’ve decided that in addition to announcements that my principles make, I will also be highlighting key technologies that tools that you should know about.

I believe whole heartedly that no matter how smart we are or how old we get that we should NEVER stop learning. So, the new format of this blog will be about learning and sharing. I’m going to enable comments and I encourage them. Good, bad, or indifferent, let’s keep it clean, start some good debates, and let’s grow our common knowledge.

-Chris

Vicor chooses UIC

I’m going to take this opportunity to do a little bragging. But if you’d care not read the whole post, skip to the last paragraph which is a quote from Vicor.


Vicor, headquartered in Andover, MA has chosen Universal Instruments Genesis Platform over the 3 incumbents, Assembleon, MyData, and Siemens.

The purchase was for six machines. Two 136,000 CPH machines (GC-120Q) for their fluctuating high-volume needs. One GX-7S for NPI, capable of placing components within a 30 micron accuracy. And two GX-7S machines for a custom post SMT placement operation.

“The ability to use a common platform for our NPI and high-volume production SMT requirements is a key to our success in efficient transition through the NPI process here at Vicor. Additionally, the capacity to use that same platform for some unique pick and place requirements, post SMT is a huge plus” states Rudy Mutter, Director, Technical Operations at Vicor. “We viewed the technology behind Universal’s VRM linear motor positioning system and Lightning Head as unique differentiators relative to what else is available in the market.”

Some encouraging news…

The AP wrote an article recently discussing the manufacturing industry and what sort of impact it’s had on US counties and their recovery from the economic slump currently facing this country. It’s a great read so I encourage you to click the link and head on over.

Manufacturing areas lead surprise job comeback

Valor - An Overview

Valor has been around for a while but not everybody is aware of just how much they have to offer. Many of their products go way beyond just SMT. (normally I keep my posts very short as I'm sure all of you are very busy. I felt compelled to give more details in this post as I feel it's important to educate my customers as to what tools are available to you)

Valor has 8 software packages, but for electronics manufacturing, they really focus on 4 capabilities.

• DFM - Design For Manufacturability (DFM) Analysis
• vPlan - Machine Programming and Process Documentation
• vCheck - Quality Management, Data Collection and Reporting, and Analysis Tools
• vManage - Factory Floor Visibility and Control

DFM

With Valor's DFM tools you can analyse your bare board and assembly to ensure that when it comes time to manufacture, there won't be any gotchas' that cause delays in delivery. This can be a value add to your customers because it encourages optimal board design that can result in a higher quality product, without significant engineering time.

Anybody familiar with DFM knows that Valor is the name in DFM analysis.

vPlan

Machine programming can be a very time consuming processes. Valor offers CAD, BOM, and Gerber integration for machine programming so no matter what your customer gives you, you can write a program for your machine, even if you have multi-vendor SMT lines. Changeover can be improved as Valor can help you identify possible common feeder setups as well as check the program before it's built with their 'Virtual Sticky Tape' simulation.

vCheck

vCheck gathers data from all PCBA manufacturing processes and then provides standard or customized data reporting and analytics. The data output can even be implemented into in-house MRP, MES or PLM systems. vCheck also provides real time WIP tracking from 'Stock to Dock'. This can provide visibility to help with getting orders out in a timely fashion as well as monitor just how long it takes things to get done.

vManage

vManage is designed to help companies implement lean manufacturing. It provides real-time visibility to scrap levels as well as material consumption. This can help you identify when you will need to order parts so you can pay for UPS ground instead of FedEx Overnight rush!

Traceability is one of the best aspects of vManage. Ever had a bad reel of components. How many boards did you need to check. Wouldn't it have been nice to know which boards had the bad components?

Thank you for reading this. I'm not naive to how well ingrained my competitors are. But I know Valor has a better product offering that people actually like to use and don't just use it because they spent too much money on it. If you would like to meet with an old friend, Mike Dreyer is their current National Sales Manager. We'd be happy to show you everything else Valor has to offer.