German production machine supplier Ekra was founded back in 1946 by Eduard Kraft, and since 2005 has been a member of the Asys Group with a worldwide staff of about 600. It is a leading company in the area of handling modules, process equipment and special machines for the manufacturing industry. Over the last 60 years, Ekra developed from a small garage-type rural family business to a global provider of printing solutions with more than 6000 systems installed. Since the acquisition by Asys, Ekra has again found back to its previously remarkable strength, and has now about 150 employees, also raising its sales figures by a factor of three. “We are still on a strict expansion course”, managing director Jakob Szekeresch underlines, “whereas many of our staff have been in our company for a long time. Clearly, the professional and at the same time familiar partnering with our people makes up the difference from other companies”.
Besides the company’s remote facilities in the US and Asia, there is a tight network of service and sales offices run by partners in many countries across the globe. Ekra designs and produces printing machines for the SMT process, chip packaging, hybrid manufacture and numerous special applications such as reel-to-reel processing in the Bönnigheim German headquarters (near Stuttgart). And the printing equipment specialist is of course also the supplier of machines to the Asys Automation Systems GmbH, one of the leading providers worldwide of manufacturing lines for solar cells.
Reportedly, Ekra’s modern printing systems are said to be very versatile. For example, the PCB clamping mechanism automatically adjusts to the different board thicknesses. High-resolution cameras in the vision system aid in the exact positioning of the PCB under the print stencil, and can also be used for the optical inspection of the printed image afterwards. The stencil cleaning system can be programmed for automated operation according to a company’s standards or working in the case of drift outside the specs, recognized by the optical inspection system. The company is however not only a supplier of printing equipment. The solution provider also delivers complete production lines to the industry.
Ekra’s X6 HSI (single track) printer is said to be fast, flexible and innovative. Special attention was paid during the design phase for high throughput figures together with high accuracy. The entire machine concept follows this aim. With the integrated 3-segment transport system, the handling time is now less than 7 seconds with a machine accuracy of ± 12,5 µm at 6-Sigma. The intelligent stencil cleaning system guarantees optimum results even when cleaning the smallest stencil apertures. The X6 Series is based on a common platform and has many additional and innovative options tailored to specific customer requirements. For example, the 2 1/2 D HSI print inspection, which utilizes wear-free linear motor drive technology, can provide even greater accuracy at higher speeds. The integrated twin CCD camera system with a field of view of 20 x 16 mm can inspect a large area of up to 1280 mm² in less than 1 second taking just 4 images. The image analysis provides additional and useful information for the quality assurance inspection of the printed solder paste. This machine is additionally equipped with the Ekra option iPAG (integrated paste and glue dispenser). This dispensing system is directly integrated in the printer and allows for immediately applying of more paste on single solder joints after the regular print stroke, or SMT adhesive on the printed circuit board. In the X6 HSI, Ekra sees a logical step forward in its continuing development of new printer platforms for standard and high-performance, high-speed applications. (gbw)
SMT, booth 7-550, 7-639
EPP Europe 404
Share:
