Panasonic Connect to Showcase New Automated Manufacturing Solution at IPC APEX Expo 2024

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Panasonic Connect North America will showcase its smart manufacturing solutions at IPC APEX Expo 2024, including its brand new NPM-GH Pick-and-Place machine. The robotic surface-mount technology is the latest addition to Panasonic Connect’s autonomous factory lineup within the company’s G Series of smart factory solutions that enables customers to run their manufacturing operations as efficient, reliable, and productive as possible.

As manufacturers face continued challenges related to labor, quality, and costs, automated technology continues to be a priority to digitize the factory floor and future-proof operations. A recent Deloitte study also found that 86% of surveyed manufacturing executives believe that smart manufacturing solutions will be the primary drivers of competitiveness in the next five years.

Implementing automated manufacturing solutions, like Panasonic’s new NPM-GH, help create a fully connected factory floor. This can reduce costs due to material waste and provide relief for ongoing labor shortages within the industry. The new pick-and-place solution helps manufacturers reach Industry 4.0 to maximize decision quality, resource efficiency, and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).

The NPM-GH is a pick-and-place machine with industry-leading mounting accuracy (±15 µm). Using a smaller and lighter mounting head, the NPM-GH achieves high-level productivity, reaching 51,000 chips per hour with outstanding accuracy. The mounter can also be configured as the industry’s first ultra-precise specification (±10 µm) focusing on achieving highly precise and accurate placement capabilities. The enlarged operation screen has an intuitive user interface making the machine easy to train on and execute operations in real-time. While enabling a better worker experience, the new interface and machine design will reduce production errors and delays.

“The new NPM-GH Pick-and-Place machine will bring greater accuracy, speed, and efficiency to manufacturers of all sizes,” said Gustavo Sepulveda, robotics and automation business head at Panasonic Connect North America. “We’re in a period of great opportunity for manufacturers across the world, particularly in North America. Investing in automated solutions today will go a long way in strengthening operations for the future and showcasing the resiliency of U.S. manufacturers.”

Panasonic Connect’s G Series also includes the NPM-GP/L screen printing machine that features automatic printing process functions. On display at APEX Expo 2024, the screen printer maximizes performance while addressing production line changes that can occur within a cycle time of just 12 seconds. The machine delivers sub-four-minute automated production line changeover from start to end and increases uptime by monitoring machine conditions and performing maintenance at exactly the right time. By automating operations required for model changeover and operations involved in production, the screen printer reduces both machine availability and performance losses. The screen printer also boasts intelligent machine-to-machine (M2M) process control, which enables constant material monitoring during production and the ability to automatically change printing parameters to achieve stable production.