Ersa Best Practice: VOIGT electronic
Wave or Selective
After successful test phase, VERSAFLOW ONE replaces wave soldering system at VOIGT electronic
Having started in Erfurt almost 35 years ago, VOIGT electronic today is a modern EMS service provider with great passion and know-how for electronics manufacturing. The product spectrum ranges from components for biogas plants to medical technology. By investing in a VERSAFLOW ONE, their THT production has now been modernized.
VOIGT electronic GmbH was founded in GDR times on April 1, 1989 – after a nine-month marathon with the authorities, Matthias Voigt finally received his business license and started manufacturing PCBs. From the beginnings in his parents’ house with self-made production equipment, VOIGT electronic developed into a modern EMS service provider with outstanding expertise for the customers and their products. These are, among others, components for measuring instruments, communication and industrial electronics as well as for railroad and traffic technology. With the advent of SMD technology in the 1980s, electronics changed rapidly – mixed assembly with THT components and SMD assembly on both sides increased steadily and became state of the art.
More flexibility for customer projects
However, VOIGT reached its limits with the previous wave soldering process. Their portfolio includes products suitable for wave soldering, for example assemblies with large THT content on four-layer PCBs. However, many new customer projects are not anymore – these involve assemblies for measurement technology or test systems with up to 18-layer multilayers and large component variance. In addition, there are many small orders: In addition to series of up to 1,000 pieces, also prototypes and batch sizes of 20 to 25 assemblies. Up to twelve product changes per day must be handled. In an evaluation project, VOIGT therefore investigated whether the wave soldering process could be replaced by selective soldering.
Advantage of selective soldering: In addition to the elimination of soldering masks, individual components can be soldered with their individual parameters in the selective process. This is different with wave soldering, where heating and wetting time in the solder wave can only be set for the entire assembly. “Quality is crucial. But in this case, output was almost more important. At the end of the day, a certain number of assemblies must be manufactured to meet delivery times,” says production manager Frank Koppetsch.
Technologically equipped
VOIGT electronic has been operating an ECOSELECT 4 for three years, so it was an obvious choice to again inquire in Wertheim for the new production line. “We place great value on long-term partnerships. We need partners who take us along technologically to be equipped for the future,” says company founder Matthias Voigt.
The machine project was a win-win situation for VOIGT electronic and Ersa: At Productronica 2021, the VERSAFLOW ONE was introduced to the market as Ersa’s new entry-level model into high-end selective soldering. Like the “big” Ersa selective systems, VERSAFLOW ONE has features such as solder level monitoring with automatic solder wire feeding and monitoring of the solder wave height. As a beta tester, VOIGT electronic found out under real conditions whether the existing wave system could be replaced by a selective soldering system.
Intuitive operation with ERSASOFT 5
“Our team got to grips with the system extremely quickly,” reports production manager Koppetsch. VOIGT certainly benefited from its previous experience with the existing ECOSELECT 4. Like all Ersa systems, the VERSAFLOW ONE is controlled with the ERSASOFT 5 operating software. Programs for a product can be saved and are quickly available when needed.
Soldering quality and throughput of the VERSAFLOW ONE were convincing – as was ease of maintenance and low nitrogen consumption. Thus, VOIGT electronic decided to adopt the VERSAFLOW ONE as a replacement for the wave soldering system after the test phase. “We are now even more flexible in production and have the desired capacity buffer. Maintenance is significantly easier and faster than with our old wave soldering system. We are excellently positioned for the future,” sums up Frank Koppetsch.