Service ... that´s esw GmbH´s thing! EMS service provider once again relies on Ersa User Report

Metal processing has a long tradition in the copper town Stolberg, which belongs to the North Rhine-Westphalian city region of Aachen. With contemporary electronics production, electronic service willms GmbH & Co. KG is part of the history of the region. Based in Stolberg-Breinig, esw GmbH has matured into a competent system supplier over the course of almost forty years and is active in areas as diverse as industrial electronics, communication, medicine and sensor technology. With a 100-man team, esw GmbH focuses on high-quality, comprehensive service in electronics production and provides its customers with an important advantage in the market by using the latest production technologies.

Well on the road with Ersa Service

Andreas Korr, Head of Conventional Production, Final Inspection and Shipping at esw GmbH, has been with the company since 1995 and was quickly faced with the task of purchasing a new wave soldering system. As usual, the market was sounded out, several inquiries were made and machines were inspected on site - including at Ersa GmbH in Wertheim, where the order for an N-WAVE 400 was placed in the end. Two more Ersa soldering machines followed in 2015 - a HOTFLOW 4/08 reflow soldering system as well as an ECOSELECT 350 selective soldering system. "The procedure was slightly different with the POWERFLOW PRO. Firstly, we were already familiar with the Ersa machines, especially the wave soldering technology - even though three generations with various technical optimizations have followed in the meantime. We knew that we were in very good hands with Ersa Service because we always have known contacts for different technologies. Ersa does a good job here and responds quickly - even when it comes to procuring spare parts for older systems that are still doing their job 100%," says Andreas Korr.

For the current POWERFLOW PRO, all it took was a visit from an Ersa sales manager in Stolberg-Breinig followed by a few digital calls. "The ESW team contacted us in May to discuss some specifics for the planned wave soldering machine - the sticking point was the connection of the new machine to the old transport system with corresponding frames and soldering masks, the transfer points were quite a challenge. Two of our Ersa service technicians used their experience to find a great solution on site. In the meantime, current transport systems actually run via their own control system and are no longer connected to the control cabinet of the soldering system as they used to be in the past. The machine at ESW was rewired without having to install a separate control cabinet for the peripherals," says Daniel Haubenreich, the responsible Ersa Sales Manager.

Minimal flux consumption at high processing speed

With the POWERFLOW PRO, ESW has decided on a full-tunnel wave soldering system in a nitrogen atmosphere that impresses with its compact dimensions, even in tight production spaces (L x W x H: 4,450 x 1,400 x 1,600 mm). Its spray fluxer with intelligent spray pattern programming ensures minimum flux consumption at high processing speeds - the ideal basis for economical and reproducible processes. Flexibly configurable emitter cassettes combined with convection enable a machine that is perfectly tailored to customer requirements. This allows the user to reliably solder even high-mass or temperature-sensitive components. The soldering module relies on proven Ersa double wave soldering technology, with which long wetting times and high wave heights can be achieved. Compared to its previous machine, ESW has upgraded here and there with the POWERFLOW PRO, for example with a more powerful heater - thanks to its modular design, all process sections can be retrofitted if required. After two months, ESW states: The quality has improved, the process is stable and consumption values have fallen. "With our new wave soldering system, we cover the wide spectrum of our customers - we have a complete mix, with the soldering programs we get the jobs on track quickly and flexibly, sometimes 4,000, sometimes 100 pieces, it doesn't matter. If the new machine runs like the old one for 20 years and always delivers cleanly, then we have done everything right with our investment. The cooperation with Ersa as a system supplier has shown for a good 30 years that we have made a good decision here over and over again," says Production Manager Andreas Korr.

ESW has already received several inquiries for new projects and prototypes for the second half of the year, which definitely have the potential for series production. "esw GmbH is investing here as a family company, our management with the two managing directors Artur Kreus and Heinz Willms believes in the location Stolberg-Breinig. Our capacity is 70 million components per month at full steam - at the moment we are running two shifts, but we can increase this at any time if the economic situation picks up. With the POWERFLOW PRO wave soldering system and Ersa as a partner at our side, we are ideally equipped for future tasks and projects," says Jörg Kreus, Head of Sales & Supply Chain Management and member of the Management Board.