Sep 03, 2013 
ÉOLANE upgrades their printing process with Speedprint’s AVI platform to manage the most demanding technical applications
The ÉOLANE Group is the 4th largest European electronic subcontractor, currently employing 3,000 personnel across 20 European facilities, with 10 sites manufacturing in France.
In the first quarter of 2013, the EUROPLACER Group supplied ÉOLANE its fifth Speedprint automatic stencil printer. This investment is in addition to the 15 Europlacer SMT placement machines that have been installed in its premises since early 2000, including the Finesse, Vitesse, iiNEO and XPii range of machines.
In 2008, the Saint-Agrève facility, then within the NCF group, selected the first Speedprint stencil printer to be integrated as part of the purchase of the new iiNEO platform. Having joined the ÉOLANE Group, this company purchased a second Speedprint unit in 2011 to replace another automated SMT printer. This new investment was due to increased technical demands, in particular the production of a large quantity of electronic boards with 0201 packages and an assembly of BGA packages through PoP technology. This SP210avi printer provided full capability and a high level of satisfaction with ÉOLANE able to manage this very demanding process.
The Speedprint range was selected by two further facilities within the group a few months later, replacing alternative branded printers in order to manufacture the most technical products.
As stated by Mr. Destaing, Manufacturing Manager at the Epierre (73) site, “Since the AOI inspection previously evidenced that nearly two thirds of the faults came directly from the screen printing process, we required a tool to improve our control over this process. Following the influx of 0402 and BGA packages, it was necessary to accurately inspect the solder paste deposit, which was not possible with our previous automatic screen printing equipment.”
As another key feature of this equipment, he added, “Thanks to the characteristics of the Speedprint machines, especially the positioning of the support pins by laser, we also gained a lot of flexibility on our main SMT line, by dividing the changeover time in the screen printing process by more than two. We can now also feed our SMT prototype placement unit with this stencil printing equipment while we permanently had to use two before.”
In 2012, the Saint-Agrève facility went a step further by qualifying the placement of 01005 components on a demo board in mass production (1000 chips per panel). The production team observed that the Speedprint machines are specifically suited to such an application, extending the printing process window and allowing greater flexibility in stencil design choices.
With ÉLOANE’s continued development of its high-technology manufacturing solutions, the partnership with Europlacer and Speedprint is set upon a strong foundation.
Speedprint became a division of Parable Trust Ltd., which acquired all assets of the Blakell Europlacer Group in 2013. In keeping with the ethos of the Blakell Group’s desire to offer flexible and innovative solutions to the market, Speedprint is committed to delivering outstanding value and service with affordable leading-edge stencil printing technology. The realization of this ambition is clearly illustrated by the company’s award-winning flagship avi range of fully automatic inline printers. With more than 30 years’ experience in the design and manufacture of screen printers, Speedprint operates from a hi-tech facility based in Poole, in southern United Kingdom.
