SMD placement machine AIMEX IIIc and storage system sItower Various 930 from FUJI EUROPE CORPORATION in use to optimize processes

Kelsterbach, November 7th, 2022 – In order to protect the climate and ensure a secure energy supply, Germany must make energy choices that ensure independence from fossil fuels. Hydrogen is recommended as a substitute for natural gas, oil and coal. The use of hydrogen offers enormous energy-saving potential – and the same applies to battery technology. Since the end of 2020, EA Elektro-Automatik (EA), a specialist in this field, has been successively modernizing its production and logistics to make them fit for the future in order to keep pace with the rapid development of battery and hydrogen technology worldwide. In the course of modernization, EA is using SMD placement machine AIMEX IIIc and the s|tower Various 930 storage system from FUJI EUROPE CORPORATION www.fuji-euro.de).

The EA Elektro-Automatik Group (EA) is a specialist in the field of power electronics for research and development as well as industrial applications. EA devices are applied in both battery and fuel cell technology. They are used in wind and solar energy, electrochemistry, process technology, telecommunications, the automotive industry and many other future-oriented application areas.

Over the past few months, EA has made extensive investments in the modernization of production and logistics. Together with a new hall and the newly designed warehouse, a total of approx. 19,000 m2 is available for state-of-the-art electronics production. SMD placement machines AIMEX IIIc and the intelligent storage system sItower 930 from FUJI are used in this process.

Highest productivity thanks to AIMEX IIIc: 30,000 components placed per hour

The placement machines of the AIMEX series create higher efficiency and precision in production. The pick-and-place machines can thus place around 30,000 components per hour – and this down to the smallest component size EIA 01005. The AIMEX series supports the processing of the smallest chip components up to large components in one machine and is a leader in terms of loadable part quantity, with up to 130 component feeders. It is designed for high-mix production and allows any type of production and changes in the package shapes used. Supporting high quality placement, each part is inspected by IPS at full speed, eliminating placement errors – without downtime or lost time.

Among other things, this placement machine is used to run the EA 10000 series. This includes more than 180 devices: EA-PS and EA-PSI programmable DC power supplies, EA-PSB bidirectional DC power supplies, and EA-ELR regenerative electronic DC loads. All models in the 10000 series feature active power factor correction, typically 0.99, to minimize the power drawn from the power grid. In addition, the EA-PSB bidirectional power supplies and EA-ELR electronic loads offer regenerative circuitry that feeds energy back into the grid with efficiencies up to more than 96 percent. These regenerative circuits save operating costs and the cost of cooling that would be required to dissipate the heat in a conventional electronic load.

Intelligent storage system for automatic supply of SMD production

Process efficiency in the new state-of-the-art logistics area is increased with Autostore storage robot technology and, among other things, the s|towerVarious 930 intelligent storage system from FUJI. It uses a gripper arm to transport individual SMD reels to storage locations. The system is capable of holding 930 individual SMD reels from 7″ to 15″ and can be expanded to a capacity of up to 1,300 SMD reels via goods carrier boxes. In addition, the design of the tower’s 7″ and 13″ storage locations can be individually configured for diameter and belt width. The Various 930 s|tower is designed for belt widths of up to 56 mm and can also be used for universal storage of materials and components.

“With the reorganization of our material management and our production, we will be able to efficiently produce highly technical power electronics in the future. With the support of FUJI solutions, we also increase our process reliability and create time savings and relief for our employees. Thanks to the modularity offered by FUJI, we can also react quickly to changing requirements. The placement solutions grow with our needs,” explains Michael Werthmöller, Head of Operations at EA Elektro-Automatik GmbH & Co. KG.