“Herbie busters” and other novel methods to optimize assembly equipment

In the late ´80s, large electronics manufacturers installed tremendous capacity of the “turret” SMD (Surface Mount Device) placement equipment variety. This type of equipment is fast when placing, on one PCB (Printed Circuit Board), SMD components which are of like sizes, but slows down when placing components with a large size spread, thereby reducing its effective throughput capacity. The 90´s have seen several developments which further aggravate the problem-greater polarization of package sizes (very small “0402” vs. very large Quad-Flat-Packs), recessionary pressures which prevent companies from upgrading equipment, competition from small SMD contract manufacturers with low overhead, to name a few. This paper suggests novel techniques to squeeze more throughput out of existing installed SMD placement capacity with minimal additional investment