Production quality meet stringent customer specifications while business pressures also demand high productivity. To be sure of the best results from the very beginning of assembly, the company AW Europe, part of the global Aisin Group, installed two Yamaha YSP solder paste printers, aided by Theo Loohuis and his team at Europe-SMT, Yamaha’s appointed sales representative for Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. After experiencing excellent results, including the outstanding speed and accuracy of the on-board 2D inspection system, the team purchased two more YSP printers for other lines in the factory.
AW researches, develops, and manufactures automotive infotainment systems and electronically controlled automatic transmissions. The company serves major European and Asian carmakers that place high requirements on every unit produced by their partners. Located in Braine l’Alleud (Brussels), the European branch builds the electronic control boards for the systems in-house using surface-mount assembly lines in its Baudour plant (Mons), where most operational activities are based.
Investment for quality and productivity
“Our surface-mount assembly capabilities significantly influence the quality of our products, so we simply must have the best,” comments the team of AW Europe operations improvement and manufacturing engineers. “We need flexibility and fast product changeovers, to handle anything from prototype requirements from our R&D department, to rapid NPI, and full production. The Yamaha YSP printer has delivered superior ease of use, speed, repeatability, and automated features that save time setting up and programming the machines. It is also extremely reliable.”
The YSP solder paste printer contains advanced features to assist setup and enhance process control. Leveraging graphical base layer alignment, the stencil and board are quickly aligned within ± 10 μm (6õ) for perfect paste on pad. The unique 3S Swing Single Squeegee head attack angle setting ensures the perfect filling of stencil apertures and excellent paste-volume repeatability. Automatic detection of remaining solder-paste quantity enables fast and easy refill by the Print Stability Control (PSC) system to ensure constant paste volume for excellent repeatability and minimise paste loss. In addition, automatic stencil cleaning at the optimum interval keeps the stencil surface clean and apertures clear to deliver perfect printed boards every time.
Printing quality control with 2D inspection
The printer contains a 2D inspection camera with a large field of view (30 mm x 22.5 mm) that can inspect the complete printed board with minimum impact on cycle time. With fast image capturing methods that leverage unique inspection technology, the complete printing cycle time including inspection is faster than the mounting cycle times in each line. The inspection camera has a LED dome containing three annular rings at different angles, each containing LEDs of two different colours, to illuminate the complete board without shadows.
At every view, it captures two images with one top light and one side light. This gives a 2.5D inspection result due to excellent contrast between the solder paste, the board surface, and the solder pads. Comprehensive inspection modes include paste positioning, paste volume, bridging, and excess paste on pad.
By testing the YSP built-in 2D inspection capability against the inline 3D SPI machines already in place, the team at AW Europe confirmed the performance is just as fast and thorough as a dedicated standalone inspection system. This gave them confidence to rely on the printer’s 2D camera and inspection system, and save the burden of running additional SPI machines in the lines.
“2D inspection with the Yamaha YSP printer delivers the same high level of solder-paste inspection capability as we had before, allowing us to provide the same, excellent quality assurance,” agrees Ludovic Anciaux, Senior Operations Improvement Engineer.
Easy access to superior capability
Impressed overall by the simplicity of the acquisition process, supported by Yamaha and Europe-SMT from the first equipment evaluations and help to choose the most suitable features and options, to delivery, setup, and operator training, he adds, “The service and support has been excellent, the equipment was installed and ready to use extremely quickly, and the machines are so reliable and intuitive that we have become highly proficient and productive in a very short space of time. Every experience has confirmed we made the right decision.”
Company contact
Yamaha Motor Europe N.V.
Niederlassung Deutschland, Geschäftsbereich IM
Hansemannstrasse 12
41468 Neuss Germany
Tel.: +49 2131 20 13 520
E-Mail: info-ymeim@yamaha-motor.de
Website: www.yamaha-motor-im.eu
