Contract Electronics Manufacturers (CEM) demand the very best equipment to ensure the products they produce are of the highest quality and meet exacting requirements. As a leading CEM in the UK, Axiom Manufacturing Services turned to Altus to assist with upgrading its depanelling capabilities to develop and future-proof its processes.

With electronic designs becoming more multifaceted and board complexity increasing with increased components and joints, higher density, and shrinking package technologies, manufacturers must ensure all production equipment is up to the job for now and the future.

Looking to upgrade its depanelling capabilities, Axiom approached Altus for advice on the most efficient long-term solutions for milling and laser break out processes. To meet their growing PCB break out requirements, Altus recommended a Cencorp 1300 SR milling platform, a modular, robust platform that enables extremely high accuracy production and increases Axioms overall milling capabilities.

Chris Nye, Axiom Managing Director, said: “Our current Cencorp router capability is very accurate to within 0.20mm tolerance and so adding another SR1300 was a no brainer to reduce single point of failure risk. For most of our customers this tolerance is sufficient, but some of our military customers require even tighter tolerances on certain products and we see this trend continuing.”

To further enhance production and the flexibility they can offer customers, Axiom invested in LPKF Cutting Master, an advanced laser depanelling system. Laser-based depaneling technology is essential in the manufacture of intricate and complex PCBs with tight tolerances, products that require stress free break out, flexi PCBS, or those composed of unusual substrates.

“Laser depanelling gives us an impressive 0.02 mm capability,” said Chris. “Because we manufacture very delicate products, laser depanelling helps to guarantee there are no shocks to the PCB or devices. This is a great advantage to have on our side for future business.

“The machine gives us a leading edge of very accurate and precise depanelling, and ensures we do not put any products at risk. It’s also a great process for the fast turnaround of new product introduction, especially on quick turn products because we can make the tooling on the machine itself.” Joe Booth, Altus CEO added: “Manufacturing within the electronics industry require versatile systems that can keep up with capacity demand, but also design complexity. LPKF Laser Depanelling machines are modular and scalable and can be adapted to meet specific requirements. Importantly, they ensure stress-free, low thermal shock singulation on populated rigid and flexible PCBs. These are extremely important features in modern production.” To find out more about how Altus can help with system upgrades visit www.altusgroup.co.uk

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