Siemens Electronics Assembly Systems introduces a placement machine with rail-mounted gantries that can be added or moved within only minutes

Citation

(2009), "Siemens Electronics Assembly Systems introduces a placement machine with rail-mounted gantries that can be added or moved within only minutes", Soldering & Surface Mount Technology, Vol. 21 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ssmt.2009.21921dad.001

Siemens Electronics Assembly Systems introduces a placement machine with rail-mounted gantries that can be added or moved within only minutes

Article Type: New products From: Soldering & Surface Mount Technology, Volume 21, Issue 4

High-speed on-demand electronics production finally becomes reality with the new SIPLACE SX

With the SIPLACE SX, Munich-based technology leader Siemens Electronics Assembly Systems (SEAS) introduces a placement machine that opens the door to totally new manufacturing concepts and delivers significantly more efficiency in response to increasingly frequent product changeovers and massive demand fluctuations. The SIPLACE SX is the world’s first placement machine with rail-mounted gantries that can be added or moved within only minutes. This kind of gantry modularity allows users to scale the SIPLACE SX’s performance and capacity separately from each other in line with changing demands.

The SIPLACE SX gains additional flexibility from the new SIPLACE MultiStar Collect & Pick & Place (CPP) head. This intelligent 12-segment head uses software to switch between placement modes on the fly. With all these new features, the compact SIPLACE SX forms the ideal basis for new, future-oriented manufacturing concepts that are capable of adapting quickly to dynamically changing customer requirements – without having to constantly reconfigure the surface mount technology (SMT) lines as in traditional production environments.

The SIPLACE SX owes its high level of scalability to innovations that let operators make changes and adjustments as needed and in a very short period of time. It is the world’s first placement machine with full gantry modularity. The gantries are mounted on rails and can be installed or uninstalled by a single operator in less than 30 min.

Removable gantries instead of line reconfigurations

Reconfiguring traditional lines is usually complex, expensive and time-consuming, because it requires the addition and/or removal of complete machine modules. With the SIPLACE SX, such changes can be made quickly and easily by adding, removing or exchanging pre-calibrated gantries. Since the basic line structure remains the same, performance and capacity can thus be scaled independently and shifted easily between multiple lines.

Another benefit of this new machine: the customer pays only for what he actually needs. In addition to single-gantry (SX1) and dual-gantry machines (SX2), SIPLACE offers individual gantries. And customers who must satisfy temporary demand peaks can even rent gantries for a specific period of time (rent-a-gantry).

120 SIPLACE X feeders on only 1.5 m of line space

The new machine also sets new benchmarks in terms of feeder capacity. Despite being only 1.5 m long, the SIPLACE SX provides space for 120.8 mm feeder modules. Since it works with the intelligent SIPLACE X feeder modules, which can be replaced while the machine is running, the SIPLACE SX supports the same modern setup concepts for non-stop production changeovers that the premium machines of the SIPLACE X-series are famous for.

MultiStar CPP head switches operating modes on the fly

The SIPLACE SX covers the popular component spectrum with only three different head types. The ideal supplement to the proven SIPLACE TwinHead and the superfast SIPLACE SpeedStar 20-nozzle C&P head is the new SIPLACE MultiStar. With its patented CPP technology, the new SIPLACE MultiStar is the world’s first placement head that cannot only switch between the flexible P&P mode and the fast C&P mode with up to 62,000 cph (47,000 cph as per IPC standard), but combine both modes in the same placement cycle (mixed mode). The lightning-fast, software-driven switchover makes sure that the line always operates perfectly balanced, even in high-mix environments. Compared to traditional solutions, this removes the need for head changes and increases the line’s overall productivity significantly.

Designed for change concept makes production-on-demand easy

With the new SIPLACE SX, SEAS overcomes the tight limitations of traditional machine concepts and positions its new solution as the basis for the high-mix production concepts of the future. The new machine finally enables manufacturers to adapt their production capacities on-demand to even the most sudden demand fluctuations without having to add or move entire SMT modules. At the same time, the new SIPLACE SX delivers clearly lower total cost of ownership. Thanks to its high degree of modularity and the various purchase and leasing options offered by SEAS, the customer can reduce his investment to precisely the components and services he currently needs.

For further information, please visit the web site: www.ea.automation.siemens.com