September, 2018
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company added another VERSAFLOW 3/45 to re- place the Ecoselect 2. The company uses its Ersa systems for both leaded and lead-free selective sol- dering of plated through-hole (PTH) components. “As a contract manufacturer, we have a wide
range of assemblies that we solder, from smaller single-side PCBs to very complex double-sided SMT mixed with doubled-sided PTH,” says Kevin Barrett, ADCO’s manufacturing manager. The initial Ecoselect 2 was purchased for a se-
lective issue on a specific product. At that time, most of ADCO’s assemblies were being produced with soldering pallets and a conventional wave sol- der machine. As capacity became available on the Ecoselect, Barrett says that ADCO experimented with programming and soldering additional as- semblies. “It took time to develop the process, but we were eventually out of capacity on the machine and saw that there was a larger opportunity for benefits, if we had additional capacity.” “When it came to which ma-
chine, there was no question we would purchase the Ersa,” Barrett says. “The machine is well built from the ground up with an eye for detail in every aspect. Repeatability was a big selling point — we switch from product to product throughout the day and we don’t have time to tweak programs every time we change. With the Ersa, we load the programs, install the proper nozzle and run.” He added that in addition to
performing well, the machine looks great both inside and outside. “Open- ing an Ersa machine and looking in- side, you see some very impressive workmanship that coincides with most opinions regarding German- made machinery. That impressive appearance continues when you close the doors and stand back. From an operational standpoint, the machine is a workhorse —it keeps going and is easy to operate, set up and change from job to job. The fact that we can expand the machine as capacity de- mands is a big plus.” Another benefit for ADCO is the
flexibility that the Ersa selective sol- dering machine offers. As board com- plexity increases, wave soldering re- quires dedicated pallets to assist in supporting and, at times, protecting areas of the board from solder, since a regular wave solder covers the whole bottom side of the board. Developing, ordering and vali-
dating these pallets takes time and up-front cost, generally seen at the launch of a product. Ersa’s VER- SAFLOW 3/45 does not require dedi-
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Page 19 Ersa Provides Versatile Soldering to ADCO Circuits
cated pallets since the solder only touches the PTH leads that it is programmed to solder. This saves time and money, allowing ADCO
to improve its time to launch. In addition to vol- ume production runs, Barrett says that the compa- ny manufactures prototype assemblies with PTH components that, in most instances, would need to be hand soldered, due to the lead time and the up- front cost of pallets. The Ersa allows ADCO to set up and selectively solder these assemblies to mini- mize tooling and lead time. When a new program comes online, the flexibility in using the equip- ment to achieve Class III solder joints for its aero- space customers is a given.
Customer Service In addition to performance and innovation,
Barrett says that Ersa’s customer service is out-
standing. In the case of ADCO’s most recent pur- chase, he says that the company contacted ERSA about additional capacity requirements and had a quote within a day. Ersa called the next day to ver- ify that the options met ADCO’s requirements and, soon after, both sides were ready to move forward. Upon placing the purchase order, ADCO was
notified of expected delivery date and updates were given regularly against that date. As delivery drew near, Ersa’s service department followed up for installation requirements and timeline. Quick- ly, ADCO had an install date as well as the Ersa technician’s name that would install the system. Barrett adds, “The technician arrived as ex-
pected and was very knowledgeable, not just about the machine but also about how it operates. Even though we’ve had our first machine for a while, the
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