Green Circuits adds sixth SMT line, with three more in the pipeline
US EMS provider Green Circuits has installed its sixth SMT production line at its San Jose facility, increasing SMT capacity by around 20%. A seventh line is about to ship, and an eighth and ninth are at the quotation stage.
The expansion responds to rising demand across the company's customer base, which spans aerospace and defence, medical technology, industrial electronics, and semiconductor and AI hardware, according to a press release from Green Circuits.
"Bringing our sixth SMT line into service is an important milestone for Green Circuits and comes at a time when we are seeing increased demand across our customer base," says Mark Evans, COO of Green Circuits.
The new line is built around Juki equipment: a G-Titan screen printer, an FX-3 chipshooter and two RX-6 pick-and-place machines. It also includes a Nordson SE-600 3D solder paste inspection system and a 14-zone Vitronics Soltec Centurion reflow oven. The oven's 20-foot tunnel is designed for the company's most challenging boards, including high-layer-count designs and assemblies with 4- to 6-ounce copper layers.
Green Circuits chose to stay with Juki for placement because flexibility and fast changeovers matter as much as speed in its high-mix production. The RX-6 machines use a dual-gantry architecture that allows them to pick and place components simultaneously.
"Juki's flexibility allows us to efficiently handle the variety of products and component sizes that move through our factory, while the dual-gantry RX-6 machines provide a significant productivity advantage over some of our older platforms," says Evans.
Green Circuits does not disclose the size of the investment or when it expects the seventh to ninth lines to be in operation.
