Making Mobile Machines Perform. Sensor-Technik Wiedemann relies on Ersa selective soldering technology User Report

The first contact between the Allgäu-based medium-sized company STW and Ersa took place last year during a visit to a trade fair. The company with 550 employees defines itself as a know-how company, which is underlined by a high proportion of hardware and software engineers and a strong product management. STW addresses manufacturers of mobile machines with its solutions and sees its corporate vision not only in the performance of the machines themselves, but also in their integration into complex and increasingly sustainable work processes. 

The requirements of the electronics experts from Kaufbeuren were clearly defined as part of the inquiry, the Allgäu-based company knew in advance what they wanted - it was a matter of replacing an existing selective soldering machine; an integrated automatic optical inspection (AOI) was also a must-have, in addition to great flexibility in the direction of high-mix-low-volume. Further details were recorded during the initial meeting at the trade fair in Nuremberg. A few weeks after the trade fair, the project started rolling and the first successful trials were launched at the Ersa Demo Center in Wertheim am Main. "The tests at Ersa were really convincing and we were very impressed by the demonstration. In the end, the Ersa VERSAFLOW 4/55 best met our requirements thanks to its great flexibility in the area of axes, intuitive software operation and easy maintenance accessibility, and therefore logically won the contract," concludes Roland Holderried, System and Process Engineer Manufacturing Software and Operations, and Industrial Engineer Sonja Thürwächter-Jäger, who both traveled to Ersa for the customer acceptance test at the end of February as part of the STW delegation. STW's typical customers are manufacturers of machines for agricultural technology, the construction industry, the municipal sector, the aircraft apron, heavy transport and much more - in general, these are demanding, mobile applications in which reliable function is very important, sometimes even essential. "The top priority for our products is quality, as our customers' electronics are required to meet the highest standards in terms of shock and vibration resistance, tightness and EMC. In addition to standard products, we also manufacture around 50% customized products," says Roland Holderried.

For many customers, the modular system is the decisive argument for choosing STW as a manufacturer. The STW modular system combines STW's many years of expertise in the digitization and automation of mobile machinery with its knowledge of user-friendly integration into corresponding solutions. Thanks to open interfaces, the highly compatible products from the control, telematics and sensor modular system guarantee optimum solutions for machine development that can be adapted intuitively. Thanks to software support, the programming of new applications is greatly simplified. This unique combination of hardware and software expertise enables the machine manufacturer to reduce the necessary development time and costs. With holistic technical and organizational consulting, the company supports its customers from analysis and conception to proof of concept and systematic implementation.

VERSAFLOW 4/55 - almost unlimited configurability

The perfect counterpart to the STW philosophy was found in the Ersa VERSAFLOW selective soldering technology, which has proven itself thousands of times over in demanding applications around the globe. Building on the features of the VERSAFLOW 3, the top model VERSAFLOW 4 offers additional flexibility in the fluxing and soldering area. The optional Ultra-Flex modules in the fluxing and soldering area each accommodate two fluxing heads or soldering pots on two separate, independently operating axis systems in one module. This gives the user maximum freely usable X, Y and Z variability for processing assemblies. With automatic programming, this flexibility offers the highest degree of variable use possible. This makes the Ersa VERSAFLOW 4/55 the leading inline selective soldering system, designed both for series production with high quantities and few product changes as well as for small series production with frequent product changes. With almost infinite configuration options, it can be perfectly adapted to individual customer requirements. A VERSAEYE module was installed in the VERSAFLOW 4/55 for the integrated optical inspection required in STW's specifications. After the assembly has passed through the soldering module, this AOI module checks, classifies and documents the soldering results directly. This ensures analysis, documentation and traceability.

Designed for almost any selective soldering adventure

Based on full modularity, a mini wave with up to six soldering pots, with an intuitive operating concept and maximum process reliability, the Ersa high-end system is available for pretty much any selective soldering adventure and reliably increases throughput with the highest soldering quality. "In contact with the Ersa team, which was always available and approachable, a mutual trust and understanding quickly developed in order to complete the 'Selective' project quickly and successfully," summarizes STW engineer Sonja Thürwächter-Jäger. After successful customer acceptance, the VERSAFLOW 4/55 was installed in Kaufbeuren at the beginning of March. Using a heavy-duty crane to move the machine to the second floor, where the assemblies are produced, was a challenge. But the STW team was not fazed by this either - the use of mobile machines is a permanent part of the Allgäu-based developers and engineers' day-to-day business anyway, in this case in direct application. In combination with the Ersa selective soldering system, a handling solution was also commissioned to ensure more automated and ergonomically optimized production. As a single-source provider, system supplier Ersa was also able to offer a convincing solution by bringing in the automation division of the Kurtz Ersa Group. "STW's requirement is that all assemblies in the THT field are automatically tested to ensure 100% functionality ex works. With the VERSAEYE integrated in the VERSAFLOW 4/55, we were able to close this gap on the production side. And with the handling solution, we are also taking account of the increasing automation and digitization in production," says Sonja Thürwächter-Jäger.