A hard look at feeder technology for 100k+ CPH SMT lines, where nominal placement speed often collapses under reel changeovers, feeder errors, and poor staging. We examine the machines, the bottlenecks, the data, and the uncomfortable buying decisions behind high-speed PCB assembly.
Labor cost savings with automated pick and place machines are real, but most vendors still oversell the headcount story. The better math sits in throughput, changeovers, error reduction, and the ugly cost of running a line that depends on hard-to-hire operators.
Cheap SMT equipment can become very expensive once downtime, spare parts, and weak service start stacking up. This article compares Chinese and Japanese pick and place machines where buyers actually win or lose money.
A wide SMT component size range looks impressive on paper, but placement capability alone does not guarantee yield. This article explains what really determines whether a line can run 0201 components and oversized PCB parts without hidden process failures.
Mid-range pick-and-place is where growing PCB assembly shops either scale cleanly or bleed money in quiet, stupid ways. This is the buyer-side playbook: what “mid-range” really means, what it really costs, and how to spot the glossy lies fast.
Cut feeder swap time between SMT jobs with offline kitting, common setups, and quick verification. Get stable starts, fewer errors, and smoother changeovers.
Shop-floor guide to pick and place for mass production: use IPC-9850A numbers