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www.us-tech.com
October, 2016
ElEctronic Mfg SErvicES WORLD Electronics and Yamaha:
Performance and Service Make the Difference By Michael L. Martel F
or an EMS company, choosing a production equipment supplier comes down to perform- ance and flexibility, equipment reliability,
speed of changeovers, and other related factors. But choosing the supplier heavily involves that supplier’s reputation for service and support, and the company’s continuing dedication. Will that EMS customer remain a loyal customer or contin- ue looking for the right partner? With more than 20 years spent manufactur-
ing world-class products for major OEMs and high- tech startups, the company’s choice has remained Yamaha and Trans-Tec America, Yamaha’s service and support team, since its first investment in Yamaha equipment.
From Elevators to EMS: Moving On Up “WORLD electronics® began as an elevator re-
pair company starting in the early 70s,” says Ed Fitzsimmons, WORLD electronics’ director of opera- tions. “By the late 1980s we had our own product line and we purchased our first SMT line. We soon realized that due to the efficiency of the SMT process, we weren’t fully utilizing the machine’s ca- pabilities. It was then that we made the decision to get into the EMS business, and it quickly took off from there.” He adds, “In 1999 we moved from our original 25,000 ft2 facility into our present 90,000 ft2 factory. Today we still produce elevator parts, but the EMS business is the focus of the company.” Now, with more than 30 years in the EMS business, the company continues to see steady
Mike Peffel, manufacturing technology man- ager (left) and Ed Fitzsimmons, director of operations (right) of WORLD electronics.
dustry, we have seen the last two years stay steady business-wise, but flat in terms of growth.”
Multiple Yamaha Systems WORLD electronics has already purchased
three Yamaha, high-efficiency, modular Z:LEX YSM20 surface-mount systems. They were installed and serviced by Trans-Tec America, Yamaha’s agent since 1988. The YSM20 accurately mounts up to 90,000 components per hour, its high-speed head
growth, even with some negative impact from the “dot-com” crash in 2001. “We saw a drop in busi- ness, but, it was not ‘ugly,’” Fitzsimmons recalls. “We still saw growth during the last downturn where we achieved a 35 percent increase in rev- enue between 2006 and 2013. Along with the in-
handles 03015 (0.012 x 0.006 in.) to 45 x 100 mm (1.8 x 3.9 in.) components, and its flexible head can ac- commodate odd-form components up to 28 mm (1.1 in.) tall. Its 8 mm (0.3 in.) feeders are hot-swappable, and it has innovative features that include a car- riage-style automatic tray stacker and intelligent, auto-adjusting electric feeders.
Flexibility is Critical “Our specialty is high-mix/low-volume applica-
tions,” says Mike Peffel, manufacturing technology manager at WORLD electronics. “Customer builds can range from 5-20 boards to a run of 200. We per- form 8-10 changeovers per day, spread out across four manufacturing lines.” With such a wide range of build sizes and constant changeovers, the flexibil- ity of the production equipment is absolutely critical to keeping production running without missing a beat or creating errors or confusion. “The flexibility of the equipment in terms of handling product changeovers is certainly one of the most important considerations in choosing the production equip- ment for our lines, and it is one reason why we chose Yamaha mounters,” he adds. “Other reasons includ- ed the overall robustness of the machines, and the infrequency of failure. The Yamaha equipment is very reliable with very little downtime, and in our high-mix manufacturing environment, any down time that isn’t necessary is hurtful. In more than five years of operation, the lines are running con- stantly with the only downtime being when we do
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