Yamaha Motor Europe IM Division has presented advanced solutions to manufacturers’ current and future electronic-assembly challenges at productronica 2017. The company, whose Total Line solution concept streamlines and interconnects all stages of surface-mount assembly, attracted visitors from more than 40 different countries across four continents to see the latest in printing, high-speed mounting, high-resolution optical inspection, 3D assembly, and inline robotics for industry-leading quality, productivity and capability.
“productronica 2017 has been extremely positive, showing a resurgence of confidence among high-tech manufacturers,” summarized Ichiro Arimoto, General Manager, “We received interest in solutions to future challenges, like 3D-MID assembly, and in the M2M features of our Factory Tools 4.0 software for smart manufacturing. This year, there were more visitors from more countries, with many outside Europe including the Americas and South East Asia. Clearly, productronica continues to grow in its international stature.”
Latest technologies
By demonstrating its 3D-MID solution placing SMD components on three-dimensional substrates (Molded Interconnect Devices), the company showed it is ready for the coming demands of electronics manufacturers to build extremely space-constrained products. The 3D-MID is hosted on the iPulse hybrid mounter, which also performs conventional SMD placement, delivering a space-efficient solution that makes 3D assembly cost-effective even for low-volume work like prototyping or small batches.
The company also unveiled its 3D camera with 7-micron resolution. This microscopic inspection is essential for assessing solder joints of the tiniest chip components, such as 01005 devices, which are now being adopted in space-constrained applications like Package-in-package assembly. At just 100-micron long and 50-micron wide, such components demand the most advanced camera resolution to verify acceptable height and slope of the solder fillets at each terminal.
Tools for smart manufacturing
Highlighting the critical role of powerful software, to assist programing, setup and management/monitoring, the company’s Factory Tools 4.0 suite provides real-time performance and feeder-status monitoring, M2M capabilities that deliver production data directly to the line supervisor’s mobile, and database-driven traceability and statistical process control (SPC). In total, this series contains over 20 applications covering setup, programing, monitoring, and traceability down to component and nozzle level. Flexible choices allow manufacturing managers to configure software tools to meet their needs; these can range from optimizing a single line or coordinating with automated component towers, to streamlining changeovers, simplifying feeder management, managing production on multiple lines, complying with quality demands from markets like automotive or aerospace, quickly fixing causes of stoppages or inspection failures, or using predictive maintenance to maximize uptime and utilization.
Solutions for efficient, high-speed assembly
The company also presented the latest models of their modular mounters, including the European debut of the compact single-beam YSM10, with its versatile multi-nozzle head options that deliver 46,000 cph placement speed. The 1 or 2 beam YSM20 and 2-/4-beam YSM40R with its 18-nozzle, 50,000 cph speed head giving world-beating speed of up to 200,000 cph in a meter footprint, were also on display. Alongside these machines, the high-speed Sigma G5S mounter with advanced automation, high-speed motion controls, and die-feature recognition for optically-accurate LED placement is used for fast and flexible capacity extension.
In addition, the latest evolutions in robotic technologies for electronic assemblies, using programmable SCARA and Cartesian robot systems, demonstrated high-speed inline parts-picking, assembly, press-fitting, welding, and inspection processes. These robotic solutions for electronic assembly are ready to install and fully reprogrammable hence offering flexible and cost-effective advanced automation.
