Interview
with placement rates close to 20,000 cph. Customisation seems to be a growing factory-trained service people, even at our
Despite the big competition we are very part of your business. How do you ap- distributors.
happy to get our market share expanded proach customization requests and does Additionally, service does not end only
every year, mainly by having a highly satis- it interfere with your normal production at the support side of the business. We
fied customer base, but also by putting a environment? already provide services in advance of a
lot of efforts in to develop machines which machine sale. We run, for example, a fully
fit exactly the customer needs in the High We have been always also in customiza- equipped SMT process centre where cus-
Flexible segment. tion of our products. With the creation tomers can be trained on the process itself.
of a separate business unit in 2008, we We help with financing equipment, main-
The RO300 reflow oven was your ‘cash have now a specialized staff providing such taining it with preventive maintenance, or
cow’ product, yet it is only a three-zone solutions to customers. This was needed even guarantee buy-back prices in case the
oven. What was the reason behind its to separate the standard development customer needs to move one level higher
success? processes for our standard machines from in productivity.
the customization department, speeding
You are correct, in our oven segment, the up both business units. The new extension adds 11,000 sq. ft,
RO300FC is sold in the highest quantities bringing the total size of the factory up to
compared with our larger and small ovens. Many of your higher end machines are 40,000 sq. ft. What will this enable you to
The main reason is that the RO300FC is using linear motors, Cyberoptics vision do going forward?
the only oven in the market which allows systems and Cognex component recogni-
to truly solder lead-free in such a compact tion software. How do you manage to We are using the new floor space to get
format. The innovation and the know-how drive the manufacturing cost out of your more efficiency in the assembly of the
lies in the construction of the heating equipment using so many key third party machines. Until two to three years ago we
chambers. We can prove to customers that components? built machines to order, piece by piece.
profiles can be done in such a small system Today, as we are building large series, we
in the same way as a six-zone oven can do These are about the only third party prod- changed to building groups which are
it. ucts we’re using. All the rest is designed preassembled and tested, enabling us to
and developed in house. Additionally we minimize lead times as well as reduce as-
The RO-VARIO oven is unique design are focusing on assembly only and have sembly times. Our stock is tracked in real
that really starts to differentiate you from all the parts manufactured according our time, making purchasing more efficient
the other ‘me-too’ type ovens. Can you ex- designs outside of Essemtec. Switzerland is and a finer production planning also helps
plain the philosophy behind this system? an ideal country for doing it. Our suppli- to reduce costs. One part of the additional
ers, most of them are in a distance of only floor is additionally used to build up
We are in a market where most of the about 50 miles around us, have a very high complete turnkey lines, as some of the
products simply follow a ‘me-too’ strategy. level, combined with the latest equipment, customers are taking the chance to take a
In all our four product segments, we are which ensures us the well known “Swiss full training at our site already before their
trying to separate ourselves from the com- Quality.” line is installed at their site.
petition by providing new ways of doing Regularly analysis with manufacturing Additionally, our new business unit
things. The RO-VARIO is a very good ex- sites in low cost countries show us that the for customized solutions got its own space,
ample for it. Due to its modular construc- prices for such parts are really competitive, so there are also on the assembly floor no
tion, it allows us to configure nearly every even if they are produced in Switzerland. conflicts between standard and customized
possible configuration out of standard machines.
modules. Customers are using it today for You have a large global installed base.
soldering, but also for specialized curing How do you maintain the service side of Martin, as always it is a pleasure. Thank you
solutions. The modularity also includes the the business? for talking to us.
patented transport system, where multiple
rail and support systems can be easily Service is one of the keys of our success. —Trevor Galbraith.
installed. Using the same modules over Providing a professional service in all the
and over again drives down the price of parts of the world is a must for today’s cus- A video interview taken from Global SMT &
the oven, which results in an outstanding tomers. We ensure this through a multiple Packaging’s visit to Essemtec AG is available on
price/performance ratio. level service structure, including free of the website at
www.globalsmt.net/
charge remote services, 24-hour hotlines, essemtec_factory.html
local spare parts stock and of course
They say a picture speaks a thousand words. A video can tell the whole story.
video.globalsmt.net
Global SMT & Packaging video news
www.globalsmt.net Global SMT & Packaging – September 2008 – 33
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