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Business news www.us-tech.com October, 2021


ETL Upgrades EMS Capabilities with Europlacer


POOLE, DORSET, UK — Long- term Europlacer customer Elec- tronics Technicians Ltd (ETL), located just 10 miles from Euro- placer’s U.K. headquarters, has embarked on a broad moderniza- tion investment program at its Dorset-based contract manufac- turing facility, which includes the purchase of new assembly equipment and accessories to ex- pand its surface mount produc- tion capacity and capability. ETL has been a loyal Euro-


placer customer for many years, with a Europlacer 4000 purchased in 1997 and an Access 4 machine in 2000. Now, a twin-turret iineo pick-and-place machine sits at the heart of its surface mount line headed by a Speedprint printer, both added in 2010. With the next generation of


management now running the or- ganization (ETL is jointly owned by James Arnold and Stuart Crook, the sons of the two original founders and industry veterans Pip Arnold and Ken Crook), the decision was taken to make a round of investment in equipment and infrastructure to enhance the company’s production capacity and capitalize on the speed of the new iineo pick-and-place machine. As part of a funding pro- gram for the entire ETL busi-


ness, which includes improve- ments to the company’s factory and office premises, the equip- ment investment focused on a new reflow oven, a strategic up- grade to its Europlacer feeders, new board conveying and han- dling solutions as well as an opti- cal comparator. To expedite the impact of the investment, the ETL directors opt-


tools. “This investment gives us the tools to greatly increase throughput,” says James Arnold. “By minimizing downtime in


conjunction with new offline set up functions, we calculate a ca- pacity uplift of at least 40 per- cent, without needing a new pick-and-place machine. In fact, this investment allows us to make the most of the speed and


ing system. “The OS upgrade augments a


satisfyingly cost-effective trade-in solution for around 20 of our older feeder trolleys. These have been replaced by seven new state-of- the-art intelligent ii-feed carts,” Arnold explains. Despite a chal- lenging 18 months for all busi- nesses, ETL has secured new cus- tomers in an impressive variety of markets, from the nuclear indus- try to the domestic electrical ap- pliance sector Arnold pins the success on


ETL’s continuing ability to quote and deliver on short lead times, including the company’s re - nowned fast-turn service for medium to large batch sizes. “We can still offer JIT manufacturing services for our customers de- spite the squeeze of global com- ponent shortages,” says Arnold. “But we did come to the de-


iineo pick-and-place machine at ETL Dorset.


ed for a range of specialist high- level technical support from the Europlacer Applications Team and upgrade paths for its legacy accessories and operating systems, as well as feeder setup hardware and stock management software


ITW EAE Moves German Office to Alzenau


LAKEVILLE, MN — ITW EAE has moved its Germany sales and customer support offices from Dreieich to Alzenau. Ger- many houses the European sales team and offers convenient training programs where Euro- pean customers can gain compre- hensive knowledge on ITW EAE equipment, specifically MPM printers and Camalot dis- pensers. The facility is fully equipped


for applications testing, demon- strations and trainings which of- fer the perfect balance of class- room and hands-on learning for technicians, operators, and engi- neers. ITW EAE training is de- signed to build basic operating and process knowledge as well as service and troubleshooting skills. Strategically positioned in the heart of Europe, in the geo-


graphic center of the European community, Alzenau is located east of Frankfurt International Airport. Frankfurt is the fifth- largest city in Germany, at the center of the larger Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region which has a population of more than five million. Frankfurt In- ternational Airport is one of the world’s busiest, and Frankfurt Central Station is one of the largest terminal stations in Eu- rope. From this hub, ITW EAE’s sales and service professionals are ideally positioned to serve their European customers


promptly and effectively. Contact: ITW EAE, a divi-


sion of Illinois Tool Works, 8860 207th Street West, Lakeville, MN 55044 % 952-469-8278 E-mail:


roger.dullinger@itweae.com Web: www.itweae.com r


throughput that our trusty iineo machine already delivers.” Much of the productivity im-


provement from the new re- sources at ETL are related to of- fline facilities that allow prepa- ration activities that do not im- pact the operation of the pick- and-place machine, or from con- temporary software solutions such as drag-and-drop program- ming for the iineo included in the latest Europlacer RC5.16 operat-


cision that we needed to upgrade our surface mount lines to meet the capacity demands of our in- creasing customer base. The great rapport we have with Eu- roplacer and the fact that we’ve always valued the service that Europlacer delivers and trusted the advice of its technical and ap- plications teams made that deci-


sion straightforward.” Contact: Blakell Europlacer,


30 Factory Road, Upton Indus- trial Estate, Poole, Dorset, BH16 5SL, UK % +44-0-1202- 266500 E-mail: andy.jones@ europlacer.co.uk Web: www.europlacer.com r


Mycronic Buys Chinese SMT Machine Maker


ROWLEY, MA — Mycronic’s high volume assembly solutions divi- sion has signed an agreement to acquire Shenzhen Huan Cheng Xin Precision Manufacture Co., Ltd., a company with around 120 employees and headquarters in Shenzhen, China. The company produces automated screen print- ers and pick-and-place machines. Screen printers account for 80 percent of sales and pick-and- place machines for the remaining 20 percent. China is the compa- ny’s dominating market, account- ing for 95 percent of sales. “With this acquisition we strengthen and broaden high vol-


ume’s product portfolio and are able to offer a more complete and attractive solution to our cus- tomers,” says Ivan Li, SVP high volume at Mycronic. In 2020 sales in the acquired


operation amounted to almost SEK 100 million. Initially 70 per- cent of the shares will be ac- quired. The remaining 30 per- cent can be acquired in 2025 in accordance with a pre-defined


earnings multiple. Contact: Mycronic, Inc., 320


Newburyport Turnpike, Rowley, MA 01969 % 978-948-6919 fax: 978-948-6915 Web: www.mycronic.com r


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