Versatronics pick&place machine video

[mikeselectricstuff]

[FreeThinker]

I WANT ONE!

[deephaven]

Thanks for the fascinating video, Mike. It scares me seeing all those moving parts and contemplating all the different ways it could go wrong! I think I will stick to relying on my subcontractors for assembly work.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Thanks for the fascinating video, Mike. It scares me seeing all those moving parts and contemplating all the different ways it could go wrong! I think I will stick to relying on my subcontractors for assembly work.

Actually this is one of the mechanically simplest P&P machines out there, and from what I hear from other users, the mechanics have proved to be pretty reliable over the years.

The problem with subcontractors is it's pretty much impossible to get small jobs turned round quickly. I still use them for bigger jobs but this machine fills a useful gap between hand assembly and subcontract, and is one of the smallest and cheapest machines on the UK used market.

[deephaven]

Thanks for the fascinating video, Mike. It scares me seeing all those moving parts and contemplating all the different ways it could go wrong! I think I will stick to relying on my subcontractors for assembly work.

Actually this is one of the mechanically simplest P&P machines out there, and from what I hear from other users, the mechanics have proved to be pretty reliable over the years.

The problem with subcontractors is it's pretty much impossible to get small jobs turned round quickly. I still use them for bigger jobs but this machine fills a useful gap between hand assembly and subcontract, and is one of the smallest and cheapest machines on the UK used market.

I'm quite lucky as I have a smallish local subcontractor that is quite happy to make prototypes and small runs for me. If I say it's urgent, I get really good turn-around times from them (1-2 days). They also pick up and deliver straight to my door so I'm really spoilt. Of course, nothing beats having your own pick and place machine.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Make that 'extremely lucky'...
The problem I've found is the small places can be economically shaky and have a habit of disappearing,  they are typically depending on one or two main customers who will always get priority, and bigger places aren't generally interested in smaller jobs. Finding the 'right-sized' place with a good attitude can be very difficult.
 

[deephaven]

I've used the same place for some twenty years now. They have re-invested in the business and grown slowly but are still quite small. They have a couple of machines, so even if they have a big run, they can still accommodate small runs at the same time. Plus they have some really good hand assemblers who do our small boards plus some wiring. They are prepared to do this even for a couple of hundred boards and they will turn these around in 2-3 weeks, quicker if I asked. The quality and accuracy of their work is excellent to the point that it is very unusual to have a single error in a batch of boards.

[EEVblog]

I'm still getting my board hand assembled by a guy out his garage in Melbourne! 

Dave.