What is an SMT machine anyway?

To know about SMT machine supplier we need to study SMT first. SMT stands for “Surface Mount Technology” and our SMT range is made up of several machines working together in one line. You may have already seen images of such assembly lines in reports on installations for the manufacture of technological material.

As it weighs a good few tons, we had to hire a crane to put it inside the factory.

What is the cost for SMT assembly?

Well, an SMT assembly line costs basically the same as a 6 bedroom villa, so it was a considerable investment by any standard, but one that is already justifying itself with gains in the areas of efficiency and quality, something we can move on to our customers. We already had some SMT assembly lines but this new one is a real roadrunner.

SMT manufacturing technology for electronic boards has been widely used as an alternative for SMT machine supplier. They want to optimize processes and reduce costs. We've already talked about this subject here on the blog in the text “How to reduce costs with assembling boards”.

In it, we explain that the automation of processes. In addition to reducing failures by reducing human interference, also makes it possible to repair errors and reduce raw material losses.

 How to reduce cost and why?

Concerns like these are fundamental because, in a competitive market, every detail matters. According to this article published on magazine portal, the electrical and electronics industry is in a moment of retraction. According to the text, 38% of respondents reported a drop in sales/orders in May 2018, compared to the same month last year.

Therefore, finding ways to reduce costs without losing quality is essential for those who want to remain in the market and leverage the pace of sales.

Below, we will detail the steps for manufacturing in SMT and you will be able to understand how this form of production of electronic boards works. Moreover, you will find SMT machine supplier.

Advantages of SMT manufacturing

To understand the SMT manufacturing process we can start with the origin of the acronym. This comes from English: Surface Mount Technology – Surface Mount Technology. The process is also famous as SMD (Surface Mount Device) and consists of mounting components on the surface of the board.

Moreover, unlike the old PTH (Pin through Hole) technology, it is not necessary to manually drill and solder the plate. This change brings advantages both in relation to the process itself and to the efficiency of the final result.

How welding does occur?

 In the PTH process, welding can occur manually and end up being quite subject to failures, which are very difficult to repair in cases of error. Therefore, in many moments it was necessary to discard all material due to a soldering error.

Welding can also occur automatically through equipment, wave welding for example, but these are more complex processes to develop so that failures do not occur. Further, to find out SMT machine supplier is important.

What are the effects of speed?

As in PTH all processes can be manual, they depend on the efficiency and agility of the operators. It is mainly the insertion of components, which are rarely inserted automatically, due to the high cost of equipment maintenance.

More experienced operators can produce boards in less time, but certainly nothing comparable to the speed of equipment that assembles SMT boards.

SMT manufacturing: how does it work in practice?

Now that we've seen in detail the differences between the types of assembly and the advantages of opting for automatic methods of manufacturing boards.  We'll talk about each of the steps below so that you can understand in detail about SMT machine supplier and how the process develops.

Application of solder paste

Applying solder paste is one of the most important processes in SMT assembly. The solder paste is applied through a printer. That is, a printer. During the process, the machine uses a roller and performs the application with the help of a metal plate with openings.

This is an extremely relevant process for the final success. Moreover, it is recommended the use of high-quality equipment and stencil designed according to market standards. Although simple, it is in the application of solder paste that most defects on an SMT assembly line can occur.

There are some practices that can be adopted to achieve a perfect solder paste application and SMT machine supplier. Such as:

• equipment accuracy
• Perfect stencil condition
• PCI perfectly supported
• Perfect solder paste for application

How Solder Paste Inspection work?

Inspection processes are advantageous SMT manufacturing processes because they prevent the board from going down the assembly line with some inconsistency or defect. Thus, it is easy to correct errors punctually instead of having to disassemble various parts of the product or even discard the part.

For the inspection step, it is necessary to use a SPI (Solder Paste Inspection), equipment that allows, through the capture of images of the plate, to analyze the correct placement of the solder paste according to the stencil design. Thus, it is possible to determine the correct amount of solder paste applied.

If the result is negative, the plate will be removed from the line. Moreover, SMT manufacturing will stop and the plate must undergo cleaning before starting the first solder application process again.

Insertion of components: complete process

The SMT machine supplier in SMT has special equipment for the step component insertion: the inserting machine. In this way, the components have been collected and deposited according to their correct position on the board.

What precautions need to follow?

The speed and accuracy of the equipment used in this step is impressive. Good equipment is capable of guaranteeing sufficient reliability and repeatability to ensure that all boards are fundamentally the same. See other precautions:

• Offline machine programming software that allows for the most varied assembly configurations;
• Different coding for each assembly item;
• Have a system for reading the codes of each item and locking in possible improper feeding of components;
• Have the coordinates duly centralized of all insertions ofSMT machine supplier
• The coordinates file must contain the encodings of each item directed to each reference of the automatic insertion of components.
• Have the technical file (datasheet) of all components inserted;
• Define the correct dimensions of the components in the software and use the appropriate assembly configurations for each package;
• Arrange the sequence of insertions so that the heaviest and most critical components have assembled last;
• Have the Gerber manufacturing file of the panel for assembling;
• Ensure that all component packages are suitable for automatic assembly and that all components are suitable for automatic assembly;
• Have a setup optimization tool, among others.

Summary

For this, programming has needed to carry out with coordinates according to the size of the plate. The equipment is still capable of recognizing displacement during collection and promoting correction during component assembly.