Offshore Electronics expands PCB assembly capabilities with major machinery investment

Offshore Electronics has added the Yamaha Z:LEX YSM20R modular pick and place machine (PNP) to the production floor at its manufacturing facility in Guernsey. Fastest in its class at 95,000 component placements per hour, the state-of-the-art YSM20R will allow the company to ship a far greater number of boards to its OEMs each day. Over the course of a month, this investment will effectively double the number of parts placed, rising from two million to four million.

Accommodating a wide range of production formats, the YSM20R features two types of new heads, developed to give a one-head solution, allowing compatibility with a wider range of components without the need for head replacement. The wide range of chip and component sizes that the YSM20R can process offers limitless expansion from ultra-tiny chips to large and odd-shaped components – with an improved wide-scan camera on the head, the YSM20R can mount components from 0.2 x 0.1mm up to 12×12mm. The smallest components are roughly the same size as a grain of sand.

Alongside this investment, Offshore Electronics has also added the Yamaha YSM10 mounter and Heller 1707 MKiii reflow oven to its production line. Together these three units replace the older Philips Topaz placement machine, a Blundell forced air reflow soldering unit and a Philips Emerald placement machine.

The upgrades will ultimately improve production time and accuracy as the company seeks to expand its portfolio across consumer electronics, control and instrumentation, and other key markets. Reducing bottlenecks is particularly important in the current climate, with many OEMs facing long delays from supply chain disruption stretching back over two years. The new machines will also make the company more flexible by sharing programs for different products. This in turn will make it easier for operators to move between different assemblies and train up new members of staff. Perhaps most important of all, the new lines will make it more attractive for OEMs to place high-volume orders with Offshore, with throughput times much lower than before.

Steve Marshall, Managing Director at Offshore Electronics said: “The YSM20R is an impressive surface mounter and, as one of the fastest and most accurate machines of its type, will help us to maintain our competitive edge as a leading site for complex PCB design and assembly. We are always looking for ways to improve our business in terms of productivity and efficiencies, with particular focus on our production facility so that in partnership with our customers we can provide the varied and high-quality PCBs they need, on time and on budget. The YSM20R PNP will support the high-level service that our customers demand.”