DDM Novastar Delivers Custom Pick-and-Place Machine

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

DDM Novastar, a U.S. manufacturer of SMT and PCB assembly equipment, shipped a custom pick-and-place machine to a large multinational laser cutting tool manufacturer. The customer was looking for a custom machine to assemble a set of micro lasers into a final head assembly.

The process required the machine to pick up 16 single micro-lasers from a wafer tray, one at a time, place it into a burn-in test fixture, remove it for testing and burn-in, pick it up from the burn-in fixture and place it in a multi-array head with extreme precision, ±0.0005” tolerance, into the final assembly. The package would then be removed and soldered elsewhere.

The customer reached out to four well-known US suppliers of SMT pick-and-place equipment, but DDM Novastar was the only one able to handle the customization needed to do the job. Once DDM was engaged, the project was designed, manufactured, tested and shipped in just 10 weeks from date of order.

DDM Novastar was selected because the company has vertically integrated engineering, software programming and manufacturing capabilities, all under one roof, and demonstrated a core competence in customization.

"There are a lot of companies that can provide a very respectable pick-and-place machine for the printed circuit board or SMT market, but not many of them are true manufacturers, so they are limited in their ability to perform much – if any – customization. This is the type of project we like because it showcases our engineering and manufacturing skills," said Robert Voigt, DDM Novastar’s applications engineer. "Adapting our pick-and-place machine for an unusual or unique application is not that difficult for us."

About DDM Novastar

With over 24,000 SMT and PCB assembly systems sold, DDM Novastar is a leading USA manufacturer of OEM equipment for the short to medium run production environment. Since our introduction of the first Through Hole Lead-forming and Component Counter products in 1982, DDM Novastar has remained an industry leading innovator. By offering our customers the most reliable, easy-to-operate, easy-to-service, and lowest total cost of ownership “turn-key” SMT OEM systems available today, our commitment is to be your primary source for the most comprehensive range of solutions for prototyping, pilot manufacturing, and low to medium run high mix applications.  DDM Novastar’s unparalleled array of stencil printers, automated pick and place, reflow and batch ovens, selective and wave solder equipment is backed by superior technical support and can accommodate the most demanding applications with absolute precision. For more information, visit www.ddmnovastar.com or call +1.610.337.3050.