Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) is a leading electronics manufacturer that specializes in creating digital products and systems that protect, control, and automate power systems around the world. The company has added two Universal Instruments FuzionXC™ Platforms in its Lewiston, ID facility. The platforms have been integrated into existing production lines, enabling SEL to minimize changeovers and improve efficiency.

The new six-machine lines include three Fuzion2-60™ and the FuzionXC2-37™, followed by a Fuzion2-14™ and a Fuzion1-11™. The FuzionXC2-37 features an industry-best 272 8mm feeder inputs, providing the capacity to support multiple products at the same time. It also supports a large component range from 01005 to 150mm square and 25mm tall, including press-fit, connectors, micro BGA, die, PoP, and PTH parts.

“The additional feeder inputs of FuzionXC have really helped streamline our production schedule. Because of the increased capacity, we’re able to run production with minimal major changeovers,” said SEL Engineering Manager, Justin White. “And for our high-mix production, this is a considerable advantage,” added White. “We’re also leveraging the flexibility of FuzionXC to place many components from up-line and down-line platforms, giving us improved line balancing and 30% greater output.”

From generation to consumption, SEL’s products and solutions are critical at every stage of the electric power system. Many of these products incorporate new, cutting-edge technologies that are invented, designed and manufactured at SEL. This level of vertical integration has led to a successful long-term partnership between Universal and SEL, which leverages a full complement of Universal’s assembly equipment, including surface-mount platforms, radial and axial insertion platforms, and odd-form automation cells. SEL’s production requirements demand both high-mix and high-volume environments and the company now has five SMT lines in its Pullman, WA facility and four lines in its Lewiston, ID production facility, with another on the way this year.

“We’ve had the pleasure of working with SEL for many years and it’s impressive to watch the team using barcode changeover to seamlessly execute changeovers on the high-mix lines. However, even with this level of proficiency, FuzionXC has taken SEL’s high-mix productivity to the next level,” noted Kevin Clue, Universal Instruments General Manager, North America Field Operations. “Many of our high-mix customers have seen exceptional utilization gains by incorporating FuzionXC and driving down changeovers. FuzionXC also enables SEL to place complex components outside the scope of basic surface mount – a capability that prompted the company to implement Universal’s SMT solutions more than ten years ago.”

To learn more about Universal’s solutions for any electronics manufacturing challenge, contact Universal Instruments at +1-800-432-2607 or +1-607-779-7522 or visit www.uic.com.