Dartford-based contract manufacturer Texcel Technology PLC has invested in two new iineo+ placement systems from Europlacer. The investment comes after a year of record growth for the firm and expanded production space to support that growth. It takes the number of SMT lines on the Texcel factory floor to seven.

The new investment round, valued at more than £350k, boosts productivity and delivers more resources to address the growing need for small components. The iineo+ platform handles devices from 01005 profiles to 50mm x 50mm dimensions and leads the industry in flexibility with its huge on-machine inventory of 264 x 8mm component reels plus internal matrix tray options.

Texcel has been a Europlacer customer for 24 years. Back in 1994, the company was attracted to the flexibility of the Europlacer platform with its ground-breaking intelligent feeder concept and the wide range of devices that a single machine could place. “A quarter of a century on, nothing has really changed, which is a big positive,” says Peter Shawyer, Commercial Director at Texcel. “We still need absolute flexibility and have benefitted significantly from the instant compatibility of the intelligent feeder technology across our Europlacer platforms old and new. And this latest round of investment is all about addressing the miniature components that we increasingly handle for our customers.”

Texcel has amassed a large number of Europlacer trolleys and feeders over the years. Even the older units retain functional compatibility across the placement equipment range and can be used on the new iineo+ machines. “As the inventors and originators of the now-widely-copied intelligent feeder concept, we mandated forward compatibility as a design goal right from the outset,” explains Andy Jones, Business Development & UK Sales Manager at Europlacer. “Progressive manufacturers make a substantial investment in feeders over time, so it’s great to see our philosophy paying off for our customers by protecting that investment.”

In addition to the two new iineo+ installations, Texcel is upgrading its other Europlacer platforms to the latest RC5.16 operating system. Among the many new features included in the OS upgrade is multicore processing that allows faster data processing and transfer to increase productivity in a multi-machine production environment.

Highly-flexible placement technology is vital for Texcel’s business model, as Shawyer points out: “We love the flexibility of the Europlacer products as they can handle pretty much anything we throw at them. They offer a high degree of flexibility, which has become increasingly pertinent in the current climate. With component shortages impacting the market, we are already working with our customers to look at alternatives and PCB redesigns. Having the equipment in place that can handle a wide range of device sizes allows us to maintain that production agility.”