BURGKIRCHEN, GERMANY – cts GmbH made a major appearance at SMT-Connect to present its contribution to the Smart Factory in PCB assembly. The focus was on the Mini Smart Warehouse as a production-related automatic storage option for PCBs in magazines, assemblies and components in boxes or trays. An autonomous mobile robot (AMR), a drop point unit and an unloader from Flexlink as the end point of an SMT line brought the innovative concept to life. This makes cts the first intralogistics and automation specialist to offer a standardized solution for automating material flows and short-term intermediate storage in production. The goals: Avoiding employees having to walk around in production and saving space.

The intelligent software from cts, which can also be used to manage larger smart warehouses, is supplied with information via ERP or MES. Based on this data, the system consisting of the Smart Warehouse and a self-organizing AMR fleet ensures that all materials are available at the right place along the lines at the right time. Materials that are not needed are removed from the way. At SMT-Connect, the process was demonstrated using PCB magazines, trays and KLT boxes, just as it had been at SEMICON Malaysia. Thanks to its compact form with storage areas around a central robot, it is even possible to set up the Mini Smart Warehouse in clean rooms. The cts Smart Warehouse portfolio is completed by the SMT warehouse for component reels.

"Printed circuit boards and components, but also consumables such as solder paste or cleaning fluid - there are many things on SMT lines that need to be tidied up and are also needed again quickly. We are convinced that mixed automatic storage and delivery using a production-related intelligent system is the right way forward," explains Alfred Pammer, VP of Sales, Marketing and Product Management at cts. "Our system is open for integration with existing software and hardware. The discussions we have had at the past two trade fairs show that our intralogistics concept is a very practical smart factory approach that is well received."

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