Page 62


www.us- tech.com


December, 2014


ECU: Replacing Legacy Equipment with High-Performance Capability


By Michael T. McGrath, Contributing Columnist


eering Concepts Unlimited, Inc. (ECU) in Fishers, IN recently purchased a second Sigma modular mounter from Hitachi High Technologies America (www.hitachi-hta.com). ECU is a major supplier to original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) building generators, pumps, and mobile equipment for the industrial engine market. The purchase is part of an ongoing program there to replace legacy systems with newer equipment capable of handling higher volumes and more demanding assembly issues, such as smaller components, than legacy equipment installed 14 years ago. Purchase of the second Hitachi Sigma mounter is part of a program to grad- ually replace ECU’s Sanyo TCM equipment and with advanced high-performance Sigma series mounters from Hitachi.


U


Once we got the Sanyo/Hitachi line started, our jaws dropped with the amazing speed and it just kept running and running until the reels went dry.


Now in its 39th year of business, ECU has


built its reputation on reliability and value. According to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Adam Suchko: “It’s not uncommon to hear that we have controls more than 30 years old running just fine on an oil rig in the Gulf, or on a ship at sea. We supply commercial and military concerns.” He adds: “We have just doubled our product line offer- ings and had to assure a good production future. For these reasons we became interested in a sec- ond placement machine. We installed our first Sigma G5 about two years ago, and the product


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Adam Suchko on left and his son Alex Suchko on right with new mounters.


Form Mounter, and they added loaders and unloaders from Sanyo/Hitachi as well as a TPM1100 stencil printer. Fourteen years later, all of that equipment is on line every day. ECU has tried equipment from other manufacturers but, according to Suchko, “We had no idea what sur- face-mount manufacturing was until we got that


C


pgrading production equipment can usually support higher manufacturing volumes and increased capacity. For that reason, Engin -


quality was simply unbelievable. We only go down to 0603s but we pack them tightly on our boards. Because the placement is so accurate on the theta spins, it always nails the position perfectly. A row of 0603s look picture perfect parallel placed with the Sigma. On top of that we place a lot of 64 pin fine-pitch parts. They are placed so perfectly you can’t tell the pads from the leads. It moves boards very quickly keeping our board loader busy.” ECU has used been using Sanyo/Hitachi


equipment since around 2000. Their original line includes the 3000 Chip Shooter and the 5000 Odd


first Sanyo line.” He remembers: “We used to have to stand right with our machines and be ready for the constant stoppage they presented practically on the minute. Once we got the Sanyo/Hitachi line started, our jaws dropped with the amazing speed and it just kept running and running until the reels went dry. We were in shock —and we are still in shock watching that beast pound out the boards — and could not believe what we had been missing with other equipment brands.”


Added Capacity Needed Pleased with the results of their first acquisi-


tion, ECU began looking for added capacity and redundancy two years ago, investigating possible equipment solutions at the APEX show, looking for value that would justify any equipment expendi- ture. Numerous equipment vendors showed prom- ise, but they were competing with the performance and linear drives offered by the Sigma G5 system. Of the Sigma G5 system, Suchko recalls: “We liked the features and operations. The feeders were now electronic and it had a much smaller footprint on the factory floor.”


Placement Speed and Accuracy ECU’s second Sigma G5S system offers place-


ment speeds to 75,000 components/hour, high-speed head placement accuracy to 25µm, and multifunc- tion head accuracy to 15µm. The G5S system also utilizes the latest Hitachi feeder technology and can accommodate standard board sizes of 610 x 510mm (24 x 20-in.) and optionally 1200 x 510mm, and can be equipped with self?loading SL compo- nent feeders. All feeders can be changed in seconds. The Sigma G5S system is available in both high- speed and flexible high-speed configurations. It fea- tures a two?head placement system that offers


Continued on page 64


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