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Emerging Opportunities for Large-board Manufacturing
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
With increasing board sizes in the surface mount industry, manufacturers and suppliers will need to provide flexible, efficient equipment capable of handling large boards in order to remain competitive.
By Johan Lokind
Even in the wake of the "dot com" bust, Internet usage continues to grow 20 to 30 percent annually. As a result, the need for printed circuit boards (PCB) for routers, servers and other telecom equipment will remain strong.
Despite the trend to shift production to Mexico and Asia, many companies are choosing to keep production local — especially when it comes to large boards and new product introduction (NPI).
Risks of Going Large
Because large boards can be as long as 60" and as heavy as 70 lbs, they require specialized handling equipment. However, due to relatively small batch sizes, most surface mount equipment manufacturers have refrained from designing specialized machines for large-board placement. Instead, they often attempt to make drastic changes to existing equipment that was never intended for large-board manufacturing. The result? Manufacturers are in serious need of equipment that can address the size and weight demands of large boards. Without proper equipment, most large-board production is handled manually — a delicate process considering the high value of each board.
To avoid this scenario, companies are increasingly looking to a board-handling system that can eliminate manual board handling throughout the line. While it is important that the machine is built to handle large boards, it is equally important to have an in-line solution. That raises other concerns for large-board handling equipment such as flexibility, safety and repeatability.
Capacity Without Flexibility Loss
Although the capacity of a machine to handle large boards is one important aspect, flexibility is another. In fact, during slower periods, flexibility becomes more important than speed because manufacturers risk losing jobs if their machines cannot handle a customer's changing board demands.
In a market that is moving toward low-volume and high-mix, few subcontractors want to box themselves into large-board assembly. Facilities that purchase a large-board placement machine want to ensure that it can guarantee them as much uptime as possible. They want a machine that can shift from large- to small-board production easily, at any batch size. According to many engineering managers, flexibility and how quickly a line can be set up/taken down is key; it outweighs even fast placement speeds.
Still, time will remain important for placement subcontractors who want to be able to handle both large- and small-sized boards on the same machine. In short, any viable large-board machine also must be able to handle a high level of throughput.
Consistent Results
Although flexibility and safety are key motivators for automating NPI and large-board production, an even bigger concern remains the problem of repeatability.
When a large percentage of large-board production remains manual, there are still multiple opportunities for error. The weight and thickness of big boards, for instance, as well as odd-shaped boards and boards requiring difficult components all can cause production problems.
To remain stable as a 30 to 40 lb board moves in and out, large-board placement machines must have an extremely rigid design. Otherwise, components could be misplaced easily, requiring rework. Unfortunately, not only are most machines too small, but also few are built to handle such large amounts of shifting weight. To compete, surface mount equipment suppliers need to offer a machine that can handle board weight as well as size.
The issue of thickness also is crucial. Most machines are not equipped to handle the range of thickness required for both small and large boards. Nor are most machines prepared to handle large boards as thick as 0.50" (12.7 mm) — a common thickness when it comes to backplanes. One company,* long known for providing large-board equipment, offers a large manual load table that can handle boards up to 44 x 32". The company's latest innovation is an automated solution for transporting and mounting all components in a single placement machine.
But there is still more of the process for large boards that remains manual. Inspection processes also become a concern when working with large boards. Visual inspection methods are increasingly challenged because of product size and mass. Additionally, large-board manufacturers require printers, ovens, press-fit machines and automated equipment that can support both board size and weight.
Large-board Future
For most subcontractors, large-board orders are coming from diverse industries such as military, medical and even agricultural technology companies. Their primary customers; however, remain telecom and networking companies who design backplanes and network cards for card cages.
Because rigid backplanes are important for the structural integrity of routers, the trend toward larger boards is likely to continue, especially when telcoms not only reduce costs by limiting the amount of cabling in a chassis, but also enhance the structural integrity and get higher speeds through less circuitry.
Those placement subcontractors who are prepared to handle large boards will be positioned to meet the needs of telecom, networking, aerospace and medical technology, military applications, and more in the future.
- MYDATA automation Inc.
Johann Lokind, product manager, may be contacted at MYDATA automation AB; 46 8 475 55 00; Fax: 46 8 475 55 01; E-mail: johan.lokind@mydata.se.