Maybe I'm over-sensitive to this as my machine has poor feeders. It does deal sensibly with the situation by carrying on with other parts, but if it didn't it would be infuriating.That makes sense, I have no doubt it would be frustrating in that case. From what I've read, the Yamaha CL style feeders (and even the Chinese clones of them) are very reliable if you look after them.
Not just power failures, but anything that makes it stop, including user error.
Depends a lot on your jobs but could potentially cost quite a lot in unuseable parts
Another thing to check is how well it handles panelisation and cross-outs. You ideally want the machine to be able to panelise data so it is aware of which parts are in which panel, so individual panels can be omitted at run-time.Yes, that's a good point, I'll add that to the list.
If it doesn;t then at least a graphical representation of the panel, and ability to select parts via GUI to omit is a second-best.
The main issue here is how many different parts you have, which dictates how many tools you need. IME this is typically 3 to 4.I'm looking at 6/8 head machines, so based on your comments tool change is probably not a critical feature. You're right though - I wonder why they don't bother with this?
The primary thing you want is for it to do the whole job in one go without attending to it, so you want either a minimum of 4 heads, or a tool changer. If you have a changer, the head count only adds speed, and is only a benefit if the software is smart enough to use multiple heads effectively, ideally without the user having to do much explicitly.
Given the chouice between 1 head and changer or multiple heads, I'd normally prefer the former, but YMMV
The stupid thing is that tool changers are really easy to implement, and (assuming a suitable head design) don't need any additional motors etc. so it's odd that they are not standard even on low-end machines.
I was in the same situation you were in 18 months ago. I came very close to buying a chinese PnP machine but Thank God a number people talked me out of it. I recommend older used pick place machines that have a very large user base. I have Universal GSMs I am selling for $2,500 and parts/spares/feeders are easy to come by - sometimes free. They work great but run old software (OS2). You can also look at some other brands like Yamaha, Samsung, mydata, etc. Personally older proven machines are a much better bet than trying to make a Chinese machine work. I personally hate older used equipment especially for something like this but new machines are soo cost prohibitive. Recently there was an auction nearby for SMT equipment and they had a nearly new SMT Max (high end chinese machine) and no one would touch it. It had to be scrapped. The reason being is because they don't work. It took me a long time not to believe Chinese specs as their manufacturing and engineering is not up to the rest of the world. I would have thought given how much they manufacture that they would be able to copy an older machine but for some reason they have not perfected this. Precision and repeatability is not their thing. They are excellent for making something you use once and it breaks (see Dollar store).I disagree with you on painting all Chinese equipment with the same brush. There are horses for courses and while the Chinese machines may be unable to compete with Western machines in the mid to high end, this doesn't mean that they are unsuitable for the right application. You're lucky - the US has an abundance of used machines that can be picked up for cheap. Unfortunately here in Australia the market is extremely limited. Yamaha/Phillips/Assembleon machines are so coveted that nobody ever gets rid of them and when they do they are snapped up immediately. Exchange rates plus freight costs mean that importing a used machine from the US is an expensive exercise, still fraught with risk.
Take a look at the Smallsmt machines. They are produced in China under another name.While I do like the idea of Openpnp compatibility, ultimately in my opinion this style of machine isn't suitable for the level we'll be operating at.
The software is much better than the traditional Chinese machines and I believe that the communications protocol/commands are in the user manual so if you wanted you could switch over to Openpnp for the software, which is getting pretty good now. Also their distributor from Germany was pretty active on here and easy to talk to.
That makes sense, I have no doubt it would be frustrating in that case. From what I've read, the Yamaha CL style feeders (and even the Chinese clones of them) are very reliable if you look after them.However lack of these features is an indicator that the software hasn't been thought through very well, and may be lacking in other ways. [/quote]OK yes, that makes sense. A machine that doesn't have the ability to resume from a specific point (just not necessarily automatically as is the case with many Western machines upon power fail) would indeed be quite poor and frankly I'd be very surprised if they're not capable of this.Yes, that's a good point, I'll add that to the list.I'm looking at 6/8 head machines, so based on your comments tool change is probably not a critical feature. You're right though - I wonder why they don't bother with this?I disagree with you on painting all Chinese equipment with the same brush. There are horses for courses and while the Chinese machines may be unable to compete with Western machines in the mid to high end, this doesn't mean that they are unsuitable for the right application. You're lucky - the US has an abundance of used machines that can be picked up for cheap. Unfortunately here in Australia the market is extremely limited. Yamaha/Phillips/Assembleon machines are so coveted that nobody ever gets rid of them and when they do they are snapped up immediately. Exchange rates plus freight costs mean that importing a used machine from the US is an expensive exercise, still fraught with risk.SMT Max are low end machines far inferior to the ones I'm looking at - I wouldn't touch one either!While I do like the idea of Openpnp compatibility, ultimately in my opinion this style of machine isn't suitable for the level we'll be operating at.
Goto Hayawin to know more.
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