Amistar 7100FV

Anyone out there have any experience\thoughts about the 7100FV. All comments appreciated.

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I did see the Amistar at NEPCON Texas and it appears to be a fine machine. The multi-heads and vision-on-the-fly is nice. Feeder capacity seems to be a concern, though. Ibelieve it holds 120 8mm feeders and if you purchase a tray sequencer, it takes up 40 slots. You're left with 80 slots. If you run multiple 7100FV's in-line and configure them for separate functions (i.e. mach.1 for small tapes, mach.2 for larger tapes, and mach.3 for misc. tapes and waffle trays, you would have a line worth really looking at. One thing I did see at NEPCON was that the salesman set a penny on it's side on the main base of the machine while it ran at full speed and the penny didn't flinch. I thought it was glued down, but the salesman knocked it over and set it back up. Good stability for a machine placing over 18,000 cph. Wish I had a few. Good luck with your purchasing.| Anyone out there have any experience\thoughts about the 7100FV. All comments appreciated. |

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It looks like a great memory machine, but the thruput is cut in half when running typical SMT boards.

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| It looks like a great memory machine, but the thruput is cut in half when running typical SMT boards. | Ya but all gantry machines run at half their highest rated speed in "real life applications." That aside, on paper, this looks like a good machine. The questions I have are:

1 Is the "person machine" interface designed for "carbon based units?" This doesn't necessarily mean "Windows 95(R)." 2 Can Amistar provide service? .... The traditional slam against Amistar

TTYL

Dave F

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Drawing from my experience with Amistar's PlacePro 7100, here's a bit of additional info and comment on previous postings...

- The 6-head PlacePro 7100 is an INCREDIBLE memory machine and is equally capable as a line balancer. As a fine-pitch placer it is rivaled by none in throughput and value. Its performance with chips is equally impressive. - It accepts up to 120 8mm feeders. Using the MX-40B Tray Exchange System expands the total component count to 160 part types. - Supported component package types include SOIC, PLCC, TSOP, QFP, BGA, micro BGA, CSP, Flip Chip, DCA, Odd-Form, and SMD connectors. Component sizes range from 0402s to 54mm2 QFPs or 80mm long connectors. - Centering is accomplished using either an on-the-fly, gantry-mounted camera or one of three fixed position cameras. The imaging system can perform assymetrical, and missing ball inspection (i.e. RAMBUS). - Any pick & place system, gantry or turret-based, will perform in "real life applications" at less than its rated speed. The performance of a machine is entirely dependant upon YOUR application and the level of expertise employed in generating the placement program. Pick & place applications are as wide and varied as the number of companies assembling products. - The man-machine interface of the 7100 has been praised by every user and prospective user as one of the easiest to use they've encountered. - Amistar's service and parts organization is professional, responsive, capable, and readily available worldwide. The "traditional slam against Amistar" appears to be tactic rather than fact. Talk to Amistar's customers for the straight scoop.

If you want the straight facts, talk to actual end-users. I'll be happy to point you in the right direction. Amistar is refreshingly honest about their products and support. If the machine doesn't fit the application and user expectations, they won't sell it.

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Jim McCarten and Dave F,

Jim - How about a little explanation on your PlacePro 7100 comments? I'd like to know what a "typical SMT board" is and how "thruput is cut in half" by assembling it. Is this typical SMT board something that most manufacturers assemble? How do other pick & place systems perform when assembling the typical SMT board?

Dave - Give us some insight into the "traditional slam" against Amistar's service. Tell us what the traditional slam is.... I'd also like to know the methodology behind deducing how "all gantry machines run at half their highest rated speed in real life applications."

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| Jim McCarten and Dave F, | | Jim - How about a little explanation on your PlacePro 7100 comments? I'd like to know what a "typical SMT board" is and how "thruput is cut in half" by assembling it. Is this typical SMT board something that most manufacturers assemble? How do other pick & place systems perform when assembling the typical SMT board? | | Dave - Give us some insight into the "traditional slam" against Amistar's service. Tell us what the traditional slam is.... I'd also like to know the methodology behind deducing how "all gantry machines run at half their highest rated speed in real life applications." | David: Welcome to the discussion on Amistar.

AMISTAR SERVICE

Let me see. Real life stuff, no passing-on stories from others. OK. I sent a questionnaire to Harry Munn, VP Marketing & Sales in September 1998. Mr. Munn sent the questionnaire to Mike Ortolano, Northeast Regional Sales Manager. Then Paul Foley in Amistar�s "Chicago office" called and said he would be completing the questionnaire. I haven�t heard from Amistar since.

"But Dave you should have called, we would have completed the questionnaire." No!!! That lack of response fits with the rumors I have heard about Amistar. Why bother?? There are other suppliers.

TYPICAL BOARD

I�d like to see placement machine suppliers shut-up, stop whining about other suppliers run time specs, and publish set-up and run time for a SMTA SABER board. The SABER board is well documented, easy to obtain, and would provide everyone with a baseline to compare machines.

So David, what�s your set-up and run time for "Side 1" on a four-up SMTA SABER board? How does that run time compare with your published maximum run rates?

RUN TIME DERATING

I ask suppliers the same question I just asked you about your run times for SABER boards to determine run rates. Sure 50% is a broad generalization for derating gantry machine placement rates. Some machines will be faster, and some machine will be slower. What�s your point?

Dave F

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| | It looks like a great memory machine, but the thruput is cut in half when running typical SMT boards. | | | Ya but all gantry machines run at half their highest rated speed in "real life applications." That aside, on paper, this looks like a good machine. The questions I have are: | | 1 Is the "person machine" interface designed for "carbon based units?" This doesn't necessarily mean "Windows 95(R)." | 2 Can Amistar provide service? .... The traditional slam against Amistar | | TTYL | | Dave F | I purchased a 7100. Sorry, as I did not find your info to be correct. Any other "good" data?

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