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In recent years, many assembly operations have
avoided purchasing Through Hole Automation. It has been viewed
as a declining technology and unlike SMT it is possible to
assemble PTH boards manually. The reality is Through Hole
is not going away and by not having through hole automation
you may be unable to be competitive on some of the most lucrative
work available to the small and mid size CEM. Similarly many
OEMs, particularly in the industrial controls segment, are
throwing away profits by continuing to insert components manually.
Typically, if we see 3 or 4 assemblers manually
stuffing boards some level of automation is easily justified.
As the number of assemblers goes up from that level to around
4 to 6 people, axial automation will provide very quick pay
back for either the contract manufacturer or the original
equipment manufacturer.
Axial components account for about 75% of the
typical PTH content of a PCB. Axial automation, including
insertion and sequencing, will sell for $30 to $80K for a
typical installation. The equipment will net out 8,000 to
10,000 parts per hour on actual boards without requiring the
component prepping or manual lead trimming that go along with
manual assembly. Typically, an operator will assemble 300
to 400 parts per hour and if allowances are made for prep
and trim, the true number is closer to 200. Assuming a burdened
labor rate of even $12 per hour, each hand stuffed axial device
costs you around six cents for labor. Inserting only 4,000
axial per day will cost you $60,000 per year in labor by manual
means. With an axial inserter, these same 4,000 parts per
day will cost you less than $2,000 in labor for the year saving
you $58,000 or roughly the price of axial system. In this
case, the machines would provide a one year payback if you
had 2 ½ operators assembling axial components on a single
shift. In these days of tight labor supply, an axial insertion
system could take the place of 40 manual assemblers. If you
can fully load the machine, an axial inserter becomes a major
profit center.
Radial insertion capability is essential for
either the OEM or the CEM to maintain a competitive position
if they insert LEDs, capacitors, inductors, or transistors.
Radial insertion machines can be tailored to your requirements
for single, dual, or triple span with anywhere from a few
to 100 dispensing heads. Often, in order to keep the equipment
cost to a minimum we have configured machines to insert a
few LED part numbers typically for use in building LED lighting
boards. Standard radial insertion machines are available with
rated speed ranging from about 6,500 to 17,000 insertion per
hour. KEC also builds custom inserters for the SuperFlux or
Piranaha style LEDs that have been used by the automotive
lighting industry. These machines are based on the UIC 6772
or 6796 MultiMod or UniMod DIP Inserter. These custom machines
will insert approximately 4,000 parts per hour and fully clinch
the 4 leads of this square bodied component to retain accuracy
of location through the wave solder process. The unique design
of KEC's insertion tooling allows these components to be placed
with virtually zero clearance between the bodies in "brick
wall fashion".
KEC specializes in the rebuilding, installation,
training, and support of Universal Instruments axial and radial
insertion equipment. We can help you select the right equipment
for your task from our stock of UIC 2496, 6285, 6287, 6241,
VCD 8, 6348, or 6360 (Rad 5), or Radial 8 machines. Many applications
that involve odd for insertions or high mix low volume insertions
are best served by refurbished Contact Systems 400 computer
assisted semi automatic systems with cut and clinch. Call
Walt Kintner or Dick Porterfield at 607-757-9711 to discuss
your automation requirements. We will help you with your ROI
analysis and assist with the application engineering to determine
the optimum level of automation for your operation.
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