UK-based Interconics, which provides high-end electronic manufacturing services for customers such as supercar builders, the military and semiconductor manufacturers, is the proud owner of a complete new Yamaha surface-mount line, chosen to help the company win ultra high-tech contracts that demand the most advanced inline assembly capabilities available today.

Interconics made the switch to Yamaha having been impressed by the powerful easy to use factory-automation software and taking advantage of Try Before You Buy. The YSP screen printer, YS12 and YS12F mounters and YSi-12 hybrid optical/laser inspection with 10µm resolution are now in full-time use at Interconics’ Atworth, Wiltshire, factory.

Managing Director David Weston tells us more. “As the recession is ending, our customers are coming to us with new proposals that involve incredibly high PCB feature resolution and the most advanced chip and IC packages, which are beyond the capabilities of much of the surface-mount equipment currently installed in the UK.

“We handled the recession well and are now in a strong position to make the investment in new equipment that is vital to win these contracts. Our new Yamaha line gives the high resolution, high accuracy and precision, and the potential for high-speed throughput that we need, and the unified software environment greatly simplifies programming of all machines. We can generate inspection programs directly from assembly CAD data, for example, which saves a huge amount of time. Moreover, Yamaha offers a special 8-year warranty that allows us to calculate our ownership costs for the effective lifetime of the equipment, which gives us the control we need to make sure we are always in a strong financial position.”

Pushing the Boundaries with Advanced 3D X-Ray

To help develop and monitor highly repeatable processes for advanced packages such as LGA and fine-pitch QFN, Interconics has recently taken delivery of the first Yamaha YSi-X 3D X-ray inspection machine to be installed in Europe.

The YSi-X represents today’s pinnacle of X-ray capability for surface-mount production, and uses computed laminography to generate more accurate cross-sectional solder-joint images than can be achieved using 2D or conventional tomographic 3D radiology.

“With packages like LGA, the solder joints are completely inaccessible to human or automated optical inspection. Still, we need comprehensive inspection data because voiding in solder joints is a tremendous challenge,” Weston explains.

The underside of a package like LGA or QFN is ultra flat, with large pads and very low standoff height. There is little provision for vaporised flux to escape during reflow, which can result in random outgassing causing voids or blowing solder away from surrounding joints. There are minimum allowable standards for voiding in solder joints, but Interconics needed an accurate and reliable means of verifying compliance.

David Weston continues, “We have a lot of experience with X-ray inspection, and knew we would need significantly more advanced equipment to help perfect our assembly processes for LGAs and QFNs and verify the quality of production units.

“The YSi-X takes X-ray inspection to a new level. In fact, there is a steep learning curve to understand how to optimise the settings and interpret the data and images. I’ve been really impressed at the resources Yamaha is making available to help us achieve it. Actually we are climbing this learning curve together, and there’s a feeling of sharing the excitement, of pushing the boundaries and redefining the limits of what we can do.”

Über Yamaha Robotics SMT Section
Yamaha Surface Mount Technology (SMT) Section ist eine Abteilung der Yamaha Motor Robotics Business Unit in der Yamaha Motor Corporation und wurde 1984 gegründet. Yamahas Bestücker haben sich im SMD-Markt einen Namen gemacht mit Ihrem "Modul-Konzept", dass sie hervorragend mit dem Trend bei der Bestückung von Leiterplatten, hin zu kleineren und vielfältigeren elektrischen/elektronischen Bauteilen, kombinieren können.

Yamaha SMT Section hat einen starken Marktanteil im Bereich der SMD-Bestückung mit über 40.000 (2017) installierten Maschinen. Dies ermöglicht, dass Design und Engineering, Herstellung, Vertrieb und Service in einem umfassenden System durchgeführt werden können. Darüber hinaus hat das Unternehmen seine Kerntechnologien in den Bereichen Servomotor-Steuerung und Bilderkennung für Kamerasysteme für Lotpasten-Drucker, Leiterplatten-Inspektion, Flip-Chip-Hybrid-Bestücker Dispenser und intelligente SMD-Lagersysteme eingebracht. Dies ermöglicht es, eine komplette Linie für die elektrische/elektronische Bauteil-Montage anzubieten, d.h. Yamaha kann den Bedürfnissen der Fertigung mit einer optimalen Auswahl an Systemen begegnen.

Yamaha SMT Section verfügt über Vertriebs-und Service-Niederlassungen in Japan, China, Südost-Asien, Europa und Nordamerika und bietet damit ein globales Vertriebs-und Servicenetz mit kurzen lokalen Wegen. Weitere Informationen über Yamaha SMT Section, finden Sie unter:

www.yamaha-motor-im.de

Kontakt

Oumayma Grad
Marketing Communications Manager

Hansemannstraße 12
41468 Neuss
Deutschland

Office: +49 2131 2013 538
Mobile: +49 1517 0233 297
Fax: +49 2131 2013 550
E-Mail: oumayma.grad@yamaha-motor.de
Web: www.yamaha-motor-im.de