Today's drivers interact extensively with their vehicles through infotainment systems, including configuring numerous preferences and settings, and receive continuous navigation and driving assistance while on the go. Automatic transmission control units (ATCUs) must provide driver satisfaction and control emissions. Both types of systems are critically linked to the vehicle ownership experience, demanding not only advanced design but also impeccable production quality and reliability.

AW Europe, headquartered in Braine l'Alleud (Brussels) for development and administration, manufactures electronic control boards for its systems in-house using state-of-the-art surface-mount assembly lines at its Baudour (Mons) plant, where most operational activities are based. Production quality meets stringent customer specifications, while market pressures also demand high productivity. To ensure optimal results from the outset of assembly, the company installed two Yamaha YSP solder paste printers with the assistance of Theo Loohuis and his team at Europe-SMT, Yamaha's designated sales representative for Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. After experiencing excellent results, including outstanding speed and accuracy from the onboard 2D inspection system, the team purchased two more YSP printers for other lines in the factory.

New Investment for Quality and Productivity
“Our surface-mount assembly capabilities significantly impact the quality of our products, so we simply must have the best,” says the operations improvement and manufacturing engineering team at AW Europe. “We need flexibility and rapid product changeovers to handle everything from our R&D department’s prototype requirements to rapid NPI and full production. The Yamaha YSP printer offers superior ease of use, speed, repeatability, and automated features that save time when setting up and programming the machines. It is also extremely reliable.”

The Yamaha YSP printer incorporates advanced features to aid setup and enhance process control. Leveraging graphical base layer alignment, the stencil and board are quickly aligned within ±10 µm (6σ) for perfect solder paste on the pellet. The unique 3S Swing Single Squeegee printhead's angle of attack adjustment ensures perfect filling of stencil openings and excellent paste volume repeatability. Automatic detection of remaining solder paste allows for quick and easy refilling via the Print Stability Control (PSC) system to guarantee consistent paste volume for excellent repeatability and minimize paste loss. Furthermore, automatic stencil cleaning at optimal intervals keeps the stencil surface clean and openings clear, delivering perfect printed boards every time.

2D Inspection Camera Print Quality Control:
The Yamaha YSP printer incorporates a 2D inspection camera with a large field of view (30 mm x 22.5 mm) that can inspect the entire printed board with minimal impact on cycle time. With rapid image capture methods that leverage Yamaha's proprietary inspection technology, the total print cycle time, including inspection, is faster than the assembly cycle times on each line. The inspection camera features an LED dome containing three annular rings at different angles, each with LEDs of two different colors, to illuminate the entire board without shadows. It captures two images in each view, one with top lighting and one with side lighting. This provides a 2.5D inspection result due to the excellent contrast between the solder paste, the board surface, and the solder pads. Comprehensive inspection modes include paste positioning, paste volume, bridging, and excess paste on the pad.

By testing the Yamaha YSP's built-in 2D inspection capabilities against their existing in-line 3D SPI machines, the AW Europe team confirmed that the performance was as fast and thorough as a dedicated standalone inspection system. This gave them confidence in the Yamaha YSP printer's 2D camera and inspection system, and eliminated the need to run additional SPI machines on their lines.

"2D inspection with the Yamaha YSP printer offers the same high level of solder paste inspection capability we had before, allowing us to provide the same excellent quality assurance," says Ludovic Anciaux, senior operations improvement engineer.

Easy access to superior capacity.
Impressed overall by the simplicity of the acquisition process, supported by Yamaha and Europe-SMT, from the initial equipment assessments and support in choosing the most suitable features and options, to delivery, setup, and operator training, he adds: "The service and support have been excellent, the equipment was installed and ready to use quickly, and the machines are so reliable and intuitive that we have become highly proficient and productive in a very short time. Every experience has confirmed that we made the right decision."