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Product News: Electric Drives and Controls
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[08/31/2007] |
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Application Story: Rexroth Control System Helps Semicon Machine Shatter Production Speed Records
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Bosch Rexroth motion control helps the IPT company set a new throughput standard for integrated circuit inspection/packaging machines: Up to 15,000 units per hour (UPH). That’s up to four chips per second. The previous industry benchmark was 10,000 UPH.
(Hoffman Estates, IL – www.boschrexroth-us.com) The semiconductor industry has an urgent need for speed. Driven by intense cost and competitive pressures, semiconductor producers are trying to maximize productivity and profitability across the globe while improving outgoing quality.
IPT of New Berlin, WI (www.ipti.us) is one of the top manufacturers of inspection and packaging equipment for the industry. Recently, the company launched a high-performance integrated circuit (IC) inspection and packaging machine under its Systemation® brand with throughput speeds that leave previous production records in the dust.
Their new machine is the ST-868 Handling System. It sets a new throughput standard for integrated inspection/packaging machines: up to 15,000 units per hour (UPH). That’s up to four chips per second. The previous industry benchmark was 10,000 UPH.
To help set this production record, the new machine relies on a high-performance, robust motion control solution from Bosch Rexroth: the FirePoint IEEE 1394 system, which is part of the company’s NYCe family of motion controllers.
According to Rob Bertz, vice president of engineering for IPT, the capabilities and modularity of the motion control system was critical to the ST-868’s performance, enabling distributed self-contained intelligence for every sub-system. The result is a 50 percent increase in the raw sprint speed of the handling system.
“By leveraging the motion control advantage plus maximizing packaging process efficiency, Systemation is able to provide a 100 percent increase of UPH per square foot of plant floor space,” Bertz said.
The FirePoint system is a complete, high-performance motion and logic system that uses a distributed architecture and modular components to give machine builders an “out-of-the-box” solution.
It provides fully configurable I/O and functional nodes networked via high-speed FireWire backbone to an industrial PC. Each node’s functionality is user-programmable, and is capable of controlling digital and analog I/Os, servo motors and stepper motors.
According to IPT’s Bertz, the speed and reliability offered by the FirePoint platform were crucial to engineering the lightning-fast production of the ST-868.
“The ST-868 hosts dozens of motors and several hundred digital I/O points,” Bertz said. FirePoint provides extremely fast response times with very little overhead, which allows us to perform the complex real-time control operations required to meet our goals.”
Download the complete application story from the Bosch Rexroth Success Stories web page.
Bosch Rexroth AG, part of the Bosch Group, achieved sales of approximately $5.7 billion (4.6 billion Euro) in 2005 with over 28,200 employees. Under the brand name of Rexroth the company offers all drive and control technologies, from mechanics, hydraulics and pneumatics to electronics and associated service. Over 500,000 customers worldwide utilize Rexroth’s unique technological know-how to implement their innovative and future-oriented systems and machine concepts. The global player, represented in over 80 countries, is an extensive supplier of components and systems for industrial and factory automation and mobile applications. For more information visit www.boschrexroth-us.com.
For more information, please contact
Bosch Rexroth Corporation
Vicky Fisher
5150 Prairie Stone Parkway
Hoffman Estates, IL 60192
Telephone (847) 645-3600
Fax (847) 645-6201
vicky.fisher@boschrexroth-us.com
Godfrey Public Relations
Todd Walter
40 North Christian Street
Lancaster, PA 17602
Telephone (717) 393-3831 ext. 133
Fax (717) 393-1403
twalter@godfrey.com
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