i-Pulse SMT placement machinesfrom Blundell ProductionEquipment have been a key

contributor to the success of aLancashire based electronicsmanufacturing company that hasbecome a world leader in the rapidlyexpanding field of LED lighting.

Just a few short years ago in 2008,KLH Electronics PLC was a mid-sizeddesigner of bespoke control systemand contract electronics manufacturerwhen managing director JohnWalkinshaw spotted a growthopportunity and decided to invest

Call us on:024 7621 0270January 2013 • Issue 48ELECTRONIC PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT

Continued on page 2

IN THISISSUE

ISYOUR TIP EXTRACTIONGOOD ENOUGH? Page 2

X2 COMPUTING BRINGSREWORK IN HOUSE Page 3

WHYWEWENT SELECTIVE –INTERVIEWWITH DAVIDDAVIES OF AXIOM Page 4/5

THE QUICKWAY TO PROFITABLEPCB ASSEMBLY Page 6

PLACEMENT MACHINES FOREVERY BUDGET Page 7

BOOST TO INVESTMENT INCAPITAL EQUIPMENT Page 8

Order Book Page 8

FREE HALF DAYWORKSHOPSAT BLUNDELL –TO REGISTER COMPLETE THEATTACHED FORMS.

LED LIGHTINGEXPANDSWITHiPULSE

heavily into producing LED ceilingpanels to replace fluorescent tubes incommercial buildings and offices.

A new company was formed toensure positive control and accuratemanagement of the LED opportunityand from a standing start in 2008, LEDLighting’s turnover had reached £8.7million by this year and is still on arapid upward growth curve. A separatesite was established for the LEDbusiness four years ago and has sinceexpanded from 6,000 to 27,000 squarefeet and over £3.5 million has been

IS YOUR TIP FUME EXTRACTION GOOD ENOUGH?Doyour Hand soldering employees complain about

fumes from soldering iron tips? You could keepthem happy by renewing your tip extraction.

As UK electronics industry distributor for Purex, we have instock a full range of tip extraction systems for soldering irons.The ‘Fume Cube Lite’ is a 2 arm system made specially forelectronics applications and is sold exclusively in the UK by

Continued from page 1

invested in the new premises andinfrastructure.

JohnWalkinshaw takes up the story:“When we were looking for placementmachines for the LED business wewanted machines with in-line heads topick and place LED’s fast. ‘We wereintroduced to Blundells’at a reception they heldfor the opening of theirnew factory in Coventryand we were immediatelyimpressed with their set-up and the knowledgeand skill of theirengineers. We installedour first iPulse machine,an M4 in 2008 and withina year we had added anM2 to the line, and a yearlater installed three ipulseM3’s”

“Growth has been sorapid in that this year wehave installed a further4off iPulse M10 machinesand a new M20 – all with6 heads. ‘When the linesare fully running we now have thecapacity to place up to 224,000 LED’sper hour which is one of the highestLED placement rates in the UK. Ourspeed of response, vast throughput, UKstock-holding and attention to detailmake us a difficult proposition tocompete with.

62% of the end products areexported to 53 countries and inaddition to lighting buildings other

applications include infra-red securitylighting, street lighting, retail shelflighting, office lighting, domestic andcommercial illumination, automotiveLED driving lights, rear lamps, bikelights, roadside beacons, signage,emergency and mobile lighting. ”It isan ever expanding field” says JohnWalkinshaw “Industry figures show

that LED utilisation generally is still atonly 20% of what is predicted in fiveyears time. “We are currently one of thelargest users in Europe of Osram andCree LED’s in both the UK and Europe.

Coupled with design, manufacture,automated thermal paste application,mechanical assembly, productassembly and custom / recycledpackaging – the clue really is in thename ‘LED Lighting Solutions’

Turning to the iPulse placementmachines John says “They have beenincredibly reliable. None of them hasever let us down and we have neverhad to call a Blundell engineer foranything but a routine service. Wehaven’t even bothered to take out amaintenance contract as we’ve neverseen the need. Blundells’ service

engineer Ian Bell comesin for special praise, ‘Ianknows the machinesinside out, and thetraining and supportfrom Blundells has beenexcellent’ says John.

‘In addition to theiPulse machines we haveno less than 9 DEKHorizon screen printersand 4 very big reflowovens’. A PVA conformalcoating machine was alsopurchased from Blundellsfor applying protectivecoatings to LED panelsthat are used outdoors orin hazardousenvironments.

As you would expect, LED’sLighting’s own factory is fully lit by LEDceiling panels. They give a verycomfortable light to work in withoutglare, they will last for up to 25 yearswithout maintenance and use less thanhalf the power of fluorescent tubes.

With such ground breaking productsand with such enviable productioncapacity, it is not hard to see that LEDLighting’s growth is set to continue.

Good Bad

Blundell Production Equipment.Whatever your extraction needs, contact us and we can

quote for any quantity from extracting one soldering iron to awhole workshop full of soldering stations.

For more information contact us on 024 7621 0270 oremail sales@blundell.co.uk

DEFLUXING • MOISTURE CONTROL CABINETS • REFLOW OVENS

X2Computing has eliminated third party PCBrepair bills and reduced inventory costs as adirect result of installing an Ersa IR550 and i-

Tool rework system from Blundell ProductionEquipment.X2 is a leading supplier of rugged tablet computers

to the retail and gaming industries. Their customersinclude Gala and Mecca Bingo halls andWaitrosesupermarkets, where the tablets are used for on-lineshopping. Several thousand are used in retail and over18,000 are used in the gaming market. These are oftenreturned for refresh (repair). They get returned becausethe units often have dry joints due to expansion andcontraction caused by frequenton/off cycles and exposure toheat, cold and vibration.This causes faultsparticularly if they arefrequently turned off orif the runningtemperature keepschanging. One large retailcustomer also suffered fromfrequent breaking the USBports due to heavy and roughuse.According to Dominic

Hodges, X2’s head ofprocurement and logistics, “Thecustomers send them backfor reworking, andpreviously we had beenshipping batches ofmother boards back to themanufacturer in Taiwan tobe repaired, but it was aslow process and took aminimum of 5 weeksbefore they were returned,often more. Some didn’tget repaired at all andnever came back so it wasa nightmare keeping trackof them and we has a lot ofmoney’s worth of stocktied up, as the motherboards are worth over£400 each. A local third party company was repairingthe USB ports but it was costly and having a lot of

PCB REWORK PROBLEMSOLVED

broken ones away being repaired off the premises wasproving very costly.

“So a decision was taken that itwould be quicker and moreeconomical to do it ourselves, whichis why we invested in the Ersa IR550 rework station and the iToolrepair unit from BlundellProduction Equipment”

Dominic continues: “Wetook a box of faulty boardsto Blundells’ Coventrydemo room and did sometrials, after spending half aday with Paul Cooper,Blundells’ applicationengineer, we could see itwas going to work andthat it would save us aconsiderable amount ofmoney and time. Non-skilled employees caneasily operate the reworksystem and now we havestopped subbing out therework and do it all inhouse. One of the USBport pins is attached to acopper track and we hadthought that it wouldpresent a problem, butBlundells’ supplied aspecial tip to solve thisissue and we have analmost 100% success rate

in removing and replacing these pins, which is a greatrelief.”

STENCIL CLEANING • SMT PROTOTYPING • PICK AND PLACE

The Ersa IR55o Rework station

X2’s rugged tablet computers in use

Paul Blundell asks David Davies, managingdirector of AxiomManufacturing Servicesabout its business case for investing in an Ersa

EcoSelect selective soldering machine.

PB: Tell me about AxiomManufacturing Services,what is Axiom as a company all about?

DD: Axiom is a world class provider of contractmanufacturing services, so investment in hightechnology is imperative to us. We develop supply chainsolutions that enable our customers' products to get tomarket faster, at an optimised totalacquisition cost in conjunction withunsurpassed levels of quality.

PB: What can you tell us about yourcustomer base and the type of work youattract?

DD: Our primary customers operate in highreliability fields such as defence, medical, oiland gas and high end industrial, meaningwe operate in a very dynamic marketplace.As a result we are geared up for high mix,and fast response production for missioncritical products that are at the leading edgeof technology.

Axiom’s customers benefit from printed

INVESTMENT IN SELEBRINGS REWARDS FO

circuit board design, manufacturing, development ofbespoke test solutions in conjunction with an agile andflexible supply chain that guarantees security ofcomponent and product supply.

PB:What made you decide to buy a selectivesoldering machine?

DD: As the demand for increased process reliability andhigher technology products becomes greater – theneed to migrate from a traditional wave solderingmethodology to that of selective soldering has becomeapparent. As volumes increase the efficiency saving andconsistency of process delivers the highest qualityproducts to our customer at the optimum overallacquisition cost.

PB: How did you select Blundell as the supplier yourselective soldering machine?

DD: As a result of the excellent service provided byBlundell to Axiom during the installation of two leadfree CMS 400 wave soldering machines, PVA ConformalCoating and an ERSA Rework station they were ourlogical partner of choice. Loyalty to our supply chainand supplier base is essential in embracing Axiom’s longterm sustainability and prosperity.

SELECTIVE SOLDERING • REWORK STATIONS • AQUEOUS CL

ECTIVE SOLDERINGOR AXIOM

PB:What form did the machine evaluation take?

DD: As well as making several visits to Blundells’demonstration facility in Coventry for soldering trials,they also took us on a user visit to Hanover Displays inLewes. There we saw theEcoSelect being used verysuccessfully by a third party customer and we were ableto talk to their engineers. It was very valuable to speakto others that operate the process and see the qualityfirst hand in a 24/7 operation; that gave us greatconfidence.

PB: How did the installation go?

DD: The installation of the new machine went very well.Blundells’ engineer, John Hayes was very thorough withhis training and he clearly had in depth knowledge ofthe process, there wasn’t a question he couldn’t answer.On going support has also been faultless, we always get

a very fast response, their culture matches ours here atAxiom, they are customer focused with a high level oftrust and credibility. It is all about trust and support.

PB:What has been the result of installing themachine?

DD: Axiom have retained a large contract and attractedfurther work by investing in the ErsaEcoSelect and wehave been able to re-deploy the highly skilled handsoldering operators onto more productive work. Theautomated process is consistent and repeatable and wehave total confidence in the quality.

David Davies concludes: “Axiom is on a growth path and2012 turnover is predicted to be £29 million, animpressive growth rate of 40% over last year. I believewe are successful because our commitment andreliability gives our customers assurance we will deliverwhat we promise”.

LEANING MACHINES • PCB INSPECTION • WAVE SOLDERING

THE QUICKWAY TOPROFITABLE PCB ASSEMBLYQuick Circuits was

founded 37years ago by one

Arthur Quick. He was aPCB designer whostarted off making fastturnaround prototypeboards in the mid1970’s, and to this daythe company stillproduces bare boards.But in recent years theyhave grown their PCBassembly side to thepoint where it is equalto the bare boardmanufacturing side ofthe business.The Reading based

company is now run bymanaging director CliffWithers, who hasrecently overseen anextension to theirReading factory and asizeable investment in machinery and equipment for PCBassembly, most of it sourced from Blundell ProductionEquipment.Cliff Withers takes up the story: “We had been using an

early model TWS Quadra pick and place machine but withnew projects involving micro BGA’s and sub-0402components, we were finding that the work we weregetting was too high tech for the old Quadra. We

approached Blundells’ to see what they could offer toreplace it and they showed us the newly launched TWSQuadra EVO machine. This is the new generation ofQuadra with vision centring which can place much smallercomponents, right down to 0201’s.”“On a visit to Blundells demonstration facility in

Coventry, we saw the new Quadra working and we alsorealised that we would need to upgrade our solder paste

printing and inspection facilities. TWS hadalso recently launched a new automatedbenchtop screen printer which was veryattractively priced. So we ended up placingan order for the new Quadra EVOplacement machine, a TWS SR2700 screenprinter and an Ersascope BGA inspectiondevice. The overall package was veryattractive price wise and I don’t think wecould have made a better investment. Wehave seen an immediate increase in outputand quality, and with a new managerrunning the facility, the new line is reallyhumming. We have improved ourtechnical and output capability and cannow offer a much wider range of servicesto our customers. Turnover has increasedby over 40% and it has the potential to goa lot further.”

X-RAY INSPECTION • CONFORMAL COATING MACHINES

Fritsch PA510 –Highly capablesmall footprint,high accuracypick and placewith very high

feeder count (up to 200 feeders

per set-up). Intelligentfeeders, block feeders

and tape strip feeders, custom LED feeders andautomatic kitting control.

ELECTRONIC PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT

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Blundell Production Equipment LimitedUnits C/D, Quinn CloseSeven Stars Industrial Estate, Coventry. CV3 4LHT: 024 7621 0270 F: 024 7621 0280 E: sales@blundell.co.uk www.blundell.co.uk

IBLX-Treme SeriesAuto Dry Cabinet

PICK &PLACE

SMT PLACEMENT

iPulse SMT mounters – The i-Pulse M20 high precision placer – the next generation in SMT assembly. Setting new standards in high accuracy, high flexibility surface mount component placement, the iPulseM20 has a wide ranging component handling capabilityand high feeder capacity. Can also assemble largeboards of up to 1240mm wide.

TWS Quadra Evo – Economical starter pick and place machine, now with 0201 component compatibility. Lowest capital cost and cost of ownership. Linux operating system, USB support, dynamic vision centering and low cost feeder banks. LED feeders available. The most economical way to get into automated SMD placement.

PICK & PLACEFritsch MP904 –Fritsch MP904 manually assisted SMD placer for short runs and prototypes, model shops and universities. Modular system can be added to as required to assemble a range of low volume high mix assemblies. Manual screen printers and batch reflow ovens available to provide a complete process.

SMT PROTOTYPING

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www.blundell.co.ukTel: 024 7621 0270

Quinn Close, Seven Stars Industrial Estate, Coventry CV3 4LH

ORDER BOOKAselection of recent orders received by Blundell Production Equipment.BAE SYSTEMS HAVE ORDERED A SECONDERSA HOTFLOW 2/14E CONVECTIONREFLOW OVEN FOR THEIR ROCHESTERFACILITY.

COGENT TECHNOLOGY OFWOODBRIDGE,ESSEX HAVE ORDERED AN ERSAECOSELECT 2 SELECTIVE SOLDERINGMACHINE.

CONNOR SOLUTIONS AND RENISHAWTECHNOLOGY HAVE ORDERED ERSAPOWERFLOWWAVE SOLDERINGMACHINES.

INTERCOLE SUB CONTRACT SERVICESARE ABOUT TO INSTALL THEIR FIFTHFRITSCH PA510 SMT PLACEMENTMACHINE.

RENISHAW PLC AND ESPRITELECTRONICS HAVE ALSO RECENTLYORDERED ERSA ECOSELECT 2’S.

SONIFEX LTD HAS ORDERED AN IPULSEM20 SMT PLACEMENT MACHINE

ESKAN ELECTRONICS HAVE RECENTLYINSTALLED AN IBL SLC 309 VAPOUR PHASEREFLOW SYSTEM.

BUDGET BOOST TO INVESTMENTIN MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT

TheChancellor gave an unexpected butwelcome boost to capital spending in hisAutumn Statement with the announcement of

a dramatic increase in Capital Investment Allowancefrom 1st January 2013. Any business intending toinvest capital to support their infrastructure orgrowth will benefit, whether the money is spentdirectly or with split payments as with Hire Purchaseor Leasing.Electronics assembly has always needed a significant

amount of regular capital investment due to theconstantly changing nature of the technology, so CEM’sand OEM’s will doubtless welcome this new initiativewhich may encourage investment that would nototherwise have taken place.

VAPOUR PHASE SOLDERING • FIRST ARTICLE INSPECTION