In Good Time

摘要

When it comes to high-volume assembly, platform speed and throughput rates are critical. How fast high-yield boards can be produced correlates to how quickly the profit line grows, right? Well, sort of. Let me explain. In the printing world, cycle time - the amount of time it takes for the printer to load, print and index the board to the next process step - is definitely important and a differentiator. Comparisons among suppliers in relation to cycle time are often a determining factor for assemblers when purchasing a printing system. But, if talking about manufacturing efficiency, cycle time is not always about making the printer go as fast as it can. Cycle time should really be centered on line balancing and the speed per PCB, not solely the speed capability of a single platform. There are situations where it might be more productive and efficient to actually slow the print speed to match the line beat rate, and there are cases in which the printer has to work as fast as it can to keep up with the placement process.