February 2025 - FUJI EUROPE CORPORATION GmbH

Reduced Changeover Times, Increased Quality, and Enhanced Flexibility – Thanks to New Placement Machines

Kelsterbach, February 20th, 2025 – The EMS industry is subject to high volatility due to shorter product life cycles, increasing product variations, and the ongoing miniaturization of electronic components. To meet these challenges with maximum flexibility and scalability, EMS provider Limtronik has expanded its production capacity with a new SMD line. This line is based on NXT III placement systems and additional components by FUJI EUROPE CORPORATION GmbH (www.fuji-euro.de). As a result, Limtronik has significantly reduced changeover times, increased quality, and enhanced production flexibility.

Like many other companies in the electronics industry, Limtronik faces high dynamism and increasing complexity in manufacturing. “Electronic devices are becoming smaller, while performance, quality, and functionality continue to increase. The miniaturization of PCB structures and components requires placement accuracy of ±30 µm. At the same time, we need to remain highly flexible—sometimes producing small batches, other times handling large-volume orders,” explains Gerd Ohl, Managing Director of Limtronik GmbH.

With the new SMD line, Limtronik has significantly increased its placement capacity. The line includes six new FUJI NXT III placement machines. “This setup theoretically enables a placement performance of up to 122,500 components per hour. At the same time, there are sufficient feeder slots available to easily handle products with a large variety of components”, says Gerd Ohl.

The NXT III is ideal for placing multifunctional and high-performance electronics, particularly when high-density placement of tiny components is required. The machine features a modular, scalable architecture and supports automated processes. This allows Limtronik to execute projects quickly, even under changing conditions.

Faster Changeovers and Maintenance

With the NXT III, Limtronik has significantly reduced changeover times while increasing maintenance efficiency. Feeders and placement heads can be exchanged quickly and flexibly. Additionally, the intelligent setup concept, featuring guided instructions and automated feeder recognition, ensures an error-free changeover. This allows for quick product transitions—regardless of batch size or assembly complexity.

Maintenance has also been optimized through smart automation solutions. The Smart Nozzle Cleaner efficiently cleans, tests, and stores nozzles (placement pipettes), extending their lifespan and ensuring consistent placement quality. At the same time, nozzle nests for the next product are pre-configured, enabling a fast transition between different jobs. This technology not only enhances placement reliability but also significantly reduces production process times.

Process Control Through Monitoring and Traceability

In addition to the new SMD line, Limtronik operates three other lines with FUJI placement systems, all equipped with powerful monitoring and traceability technology. A barcode scanner identifies incoming PCBs using their 2D codes before they enter the first placement module. This enables product-dependent, automatic program adjustments and process interlocking in case of deviations.

Furthermore, Limtronik utilizes a board-skip feedforward function, which automatically prevents defective PCBs—identified as faulty by the SPI—from being placed. This prevents unnecessary placements, reduces scrap, and saves materials and production time. All collected traceability data can be transmitted to higher-level systems for further analysis.

“Limtronik is a highly experienced electronics manufacturer that leverages the advantages of the NXT concept, particularly regarding the ever-growing demand for flexible setup strategies and changing market requirements. The EMS provider is so well positioned that it can quickly adapt to shifting production volumes while maintaining exceptionally high quality,” explains Sascha Frieling, Manager Technology at FUJI EUROPE CORPORATION.

New SMT Line Achieves Significantly Higher Output with Reduced Space Requirements

Kelsterbach, February 5, 2025 – The demand for higher output volumes is rising, along with the complexity of component geometries – all while manufacturing space remains limited. This situation posed a major challenge for FEIG ELECTRONIC’s electronics production, as the existing SMT line became a bottleneck for growing requirements. By implementing a new SMT line based on the NXTR series placement systems and additional components from FUJI EUROPE CORPORATION GmbH ( www.fuji-euro.de), the company has transformed its SMT production at its Weilburg site, making it future-ready.

FEIG ELECTRONIC GmbH develops and manufactures its own electronic products – from populated PCBs to complete systems – in the product areas of gate and barrier control systems, RFID and barcode systems, and payment terminals. Demand and output continue to increase, but manufacturing space cannot expand accordingly. In addition, the complexity of component geometries is growing in terms of size, shape, and special designs.

“Our previous placement systems required increasing maintenance and could no longer meet the growing demands for efficiency and flexibility. In December 2024, we installed a new SMT placement line with FUJI machines and experienced noticeable positive effects in a very short time. We were able to significantly increase output – while even saving space,” explains Markus Mink, Operations Manager at FEIG ELECTRONIC.

Higher and Automated Placement Performance in a Smaller Space

The new SMT line at FEIG ELECTRONIC consists of six NXTR S placement systems with an automatic tray changer, Smart Nozzle Cleaner, and a NEXIM software package that integrates HERMES and IPC-CFX interfaces for seamless communication.

The increasing number of PCB layers and the higher demands on placement performance required an extension of the reflow soldering system. Stefan Juchem, Regional Sales Manager at FUJI EUROPE CORPORATION, explains: “The additional space required was ideally offset by the compact design of the NXTR modules. These systems are specifically designed to provide very high placement performance while requiring minimal space. This is particularly beneficial in constrained manufacturing environments in brownfield settings.”

FEIG ELECTRONIC is also successfully managing the increasing complexity of components with the NXTR systems. Since the placement heads and nozzles cover a wide range of components, more complex shapes can be placed automatically. As a result, the number of manually placed components in the THT process is reduced.

Reduced Downtime and Higher Production Quality

Markus Mink summarizes: “With the new SMT line, we have significantly increased the efficiency of placement at our Weilburg site. The first few weeks of experience with the FUJI systems have shown not only increased output but also lower rejection rates and fewer errors, which significantly reduces downtime on the line.”

For FEIG ELECTRONIC, the new SMT line is a key element in maintaining competitiveness in this demanding market. Its modular design also provides the foundation for future growth – from efficient production to the already planned expansion of production capacities. Its modular design also provides the foundation for future growth – from efficient production to the already planned expansion of production capacities.

Limtronik Solves Increasing Placement Complexity with a New SMD Line from FUJI

FEIG ELECTRONIC Significantly Increases Output with FUJI Placement Machines

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