“These days, the processes next to the SMT lines harbor the greatest potential for making efficiency improvements,” says Hubert Egger, Head of Product Marketing Software at ASM Assembly Systems. “As the industry’s technology leader, we place integrated solutions and consistent process and tool chains at the center of attention at this year’s Productronica. The Siplace Active Feeder Rack and our Siplace Material Setup Assistant accelerate setup processes and save time and money by eliminating unnecessary material trips from and to the warehouse.”
The Active Feeder Rack functions as a buffer storage area for feeders and components in the setup preparation area. Unlike on traditional racks, the feeders continue to receive power and stay connected to the Software systems. This opens up a whole new set of possibilities for achieving faster and more reliable setup processes through improved software support. Feeders coming back from the line signal via their built-in LEDs whether they can be torn down completely or should be kept in the Active Feeder Rack for an upcoming setup. This prevents components from being returned to the main warehouse (with the associated postings in the materials management system) only to be removed again shortly thereafter.
The Material Setup Assistant and the Active Feeder Rack do not only prevent unnecessary trips to and from the warehouse, they also provide support in the setup preparation area. Operators can check the required feeders for each slot, because LED signals in each feeder in the Active Feeder Rack guide operators, prevent long searches, accelerate the entire setup preparation process and prevent setup errors.
Additional improvements in material flow and setup operations can be achieved with options such as the Material Manager or innovative setup concepts with Split Table Mode, Constant Tables or Random Setup. All these software modules and functions work together seamlessly and provide electronic manufacturers with consistently optimized tool and process chains.
