ASS Luippold and SAA get equipment contract from Unimicron Germany

On December 28, 2016, most - if not all - of the innerlayer manufacturing facility of Unimicron Germany in Geldern was lost to a fire. Less than one year later, Unimicron Germany was ready to move the first machines into a new building. Some of the earliest tenants in the new production hall are automation and handling systems from ASS Luippold and SAA. Together with ASS Luippold project management teams in Taiwan and Germany and the Unimicron Germany project team, a modern inner layer production was designed. 100 percent single panel tracking using DMC (Data Matrix Code) and cassette barcode tracking meets all future needs of end customers in all market segments, a press release states. In addition to the fully automatic load- and unload systems and smart FIFO buffer systems for a reliable 24h-operation, new concepts for DI-, AOI- and edge treatment automation were designed by ASS Luippold and SAA in close cooperation with Unimicron. An entirely new direction for the PCB industry was provided with the selection of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and Work In Process (WIP) storage systems. The processed PCBs on their cassettes are automatically stored in an intermediate storage facility via the AGVs, managed there via an intelligent software system and automatically transferred to the next process step via manual trolley or other AGVs provided. The automatic provision of new empty cassettes is also integrated. The first systems werde presented at productonica in Munich and Rico Schlüter, CTO for Unimicron Germany, is "very satisfied with the first 'trial run' of his new equipment".

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Image: Frank Tinnefeld, Tamara Schwarz, Oliver Koch, Elmar Daubenmaier (ASS Luippold and ASS-SAA Automation GmbH) and Rico Schlueter (Unimicron Germany)