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WHEN DOES TAPE AND REEL

MAKE CENTS AND SAVE $$$???

Cutback, Downsize, Increase Productivity, Reduce Costs and when you done with that, empty your own trash! You and I both know that we’ll be hearing hat for a long time even though the experts are finally saying the Electronics Industry has finally started to recover.

It seems there’s a lot of confusion about when its cost effective to Tape and Reel components, as opposed to hand placing them, using a tube feeder or trays. This month we’ll be looking at HOW and WHEN Tape and Reeling your components can save your company both time and money.

Most experts agree that components with fine lead pitch or, BGA’s, Bare Die and Flip Chips are strong candidates for tape and reel.

We have a customer that occasionally Tape and Reels a SINGLE PART. We have several that regularly have us do less than 100 pieces per line item. We also have manufacturers that have us tape and reel parts by the millions. Ironically, each company has the same general goals and intentions in mind. INCREASE EFFICIENCY, INCREASE YIELD, INCREASE PROFITS.

First off, an automated pick and place line with vision is faster and more precise than hand placement for any kind of component. This is such a well-known fact that I have only found one company that actually did a study on this. They told me that on low volume / high mix runs 25 pieces is the break-even point for standard components.

As a general rule, the 25 piece rule works for most parts unless you’re paying a huge amount for your Tape and Reel service. We’ve had a minimum $25 line charge for years and all it takes is a single misplaced component to more than pay for the added value.

Tube Feeders

Keep in mind that Tube Feeders were originally designed in the dark ages of IC’s. The packages they were intended to handle were the Sherman Tanks of the component world like DPAK’s, SOJ’s and other large sturdy devices. Tube Feeders were great when they were State of Art, but so was the Model "T".

All the Tube Feeders I’ve ever seen end up using a vibratory track to get the components to the pick and place head. Because of this its slower and more difficult for the equipment to locate and inspect the device. That’s why they’re so slow. Our customers who have both Tape and Tube Feeders typically prefer to use tape exclusively unless there is simply no other option.

Tube Feeders present an additional problem that you almost never hear about – solder pad contamination. Sliding down the tube and vibrating down the feeder track can only wear on the finish of the solder and contaminate it. And for those instances where fine pitch components like a TSOP54 that is both BIG and HEAVY, co-planarity can also become an issue. I don’t know of any studies that have been done on this, but I do know with quality Carrier Tape leads and solder balls can be protected from abrasion, damage and contamination by using tape with properly designed pedestals. These pedestals not only prevent contamination to the solder but also lock the component into place making damage virtually impossible.

Matrix Tray Handling

The first drawback is the pick and place equipment is slow and needs a lot of attention compared to Tape and Reel Feeders. The second drawback is when you drop them. Remember how people clapped when somebody dropped a tray of food in the cafeteria? Dropping a stack of Trays with components is so much worse I’ll spare you the imagery of bent and broken leads.

This damage can be avoided by using sturdy reels like our 3 piece reel. Designed for real life challenges, our reels will typically withstand a vertical fall of 3 to 5 feet fully loaded with large QFP’s. Best of all, not only does the reel stay together, but the components sustain no damage if quality carrier tape is used.

Now, there are some manufacturers that prefer Matrix for delicate components like QFP’s because of potential damage in Carrier Tape. We have addressed this in our article "There Reely is a Difference". It is a real concern if parts are not correctly Tape and Reeled. For companies that have already made the decision to use Trays, I can only urge them to consider qualifying both carrier tape and reels that would allow the benefits of Tape and Reel.

All in all, Tape and Reel is faster and provides less risk of damage – even when the reel is dropped. Trays and even tubes can be dropped and the parts scattered all over. It doesn’t matter if they’re QFP’s or Serialized parts, they won’t fallout of properly prepared carrier tape until the feeder is ready to present them to the line.

Tape and Reel

Using standard feeders and ANSI/EIA 481-C tape and reel standards, Tape and Reel is simply the fastest and safest way to handle parts and populate a PCB. Feeders take up less room than Tube Feeders or Matrix Tray Handlers, and the reels provide the greatest level of protection for the components under normal circumstances.

There are other benefit to Tape and Reel that often get overlooked. UCSD did a study for Qualcomm a few years ago and found that by intelligent feeder and material management, over $2,500 in labor could be saved for each production line setup using Tape and Reel. That is a significant amount of savings and only deals with the actual setup and running of the boards. Money saved by reduced rework due to mistakes was not considered.

Situations can vary, but you should always tape and reel components when:

There are more than 25 pieces

The components have fine pitch leads

The components are BGA’s

The components are difficult to hand place

You want to maximize through-put

You want to minimize misplaced parts

You want maximum protection for components

You want maximum yield

You want repeatability

You want zero defects

You want to make you life simple and better

That’s why we say, Got Parts? Get Taped!

Find out what we can do to make your life easier è moreinfo@actaping.com