Feeder indicators
Main benefits
- Significantly reduces feeder setup time
- Increases system efficiency by providing early 'pre-empty tape' warnings
- Prevents wrong setups by indicating the wrong positioning
- Available for tape feeding and tray feeding
Quality of placement
Feeder indicators, as small as they can be, play an important role in change-over and new product introductions as well as in product quality. Costs of rework, caused by placing the wrong component on the board, are eliminated by preventing the machine to start if a wrong setup is detected. To guide this process as efficient as possible, the indicators immediately show if a feeder with its components is placed at the correct location in the machine.
Change-over and operating efficiency
After scanning a reel and the feeder, the components are matched to a feeder ID. When the feeder is placed on the feeder-bar, immediately the system will recognize the feeder (with its components) and will indicate if the feeder is on the correct position or not. Immediate corrective action can be initiated.
Once running, it can be that a feeder runs into an error, LED indicators lead the operator directly to the correct feeder. No time is lost in finding the feeder. Additionally, one of the main contributors to machine stops, is running empty of tape. When tapes are running empty, pre-emptive warnings are shown on the systems monitor and via the feeder indicators. Now, the operators can act in time by pro-actively replacing the feeder with a new reel or by splicing a new reel onto the feeder.
Feeder indicators:
