Panasonic wins Global Technology Award from Global SMT and Packing for its new NPM-W2S placement solution at Productronica on November 15 in Germany. The NPM-W2S is the next stage in the evolution of the award-winning NPM-series and is geared for manufacturers who value setup and changeover time over speed.

“The NPM-W2S was designed to solve manufacturer’s need to tighten control of their work in process, minimize changeover, and expand feeder capacity while accommodating smaller-lot sizes in a cost-effective manner,” said Shawn Robinson, Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Panasonic Factory Solutions Company of America. “The solution addresses these challenges as well as expanding standard component range from 03015mm microchips to massive 100x90mm components and connectors nearly 6” long (150mm) and up to 30mm tall.”

The NPM-W2S delivers 100N insertion force for greater odd-form capability and increases pin-through-hole device imaging capability via optional Pin-in-Paste Illumination. Equipped with the Industry’s only and award-winning multi-recognition camera, it enables component alignment, defect inspection, chip thickness, and 3D co-planarity inspection in a single pass to promote high productivity and quality. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Pre-Pickup Inspection features allow unique recognition of tray-fed parts from barcodes, lines, and polarity marks to determine proper pickup angles—even if parts are fed incorrectly.

Single- and dual-lane mode functionality promote the capability to process extremely long LED panels nearly 4 feet in length (1,200mm). It can automatically convert modes to dual-lane “shared”, or ultra-productive “hybrid” mode. The NPM-W2S offers features to enhance efficiency such as automated board support pin placement, self-aligning feeder cart changeover, intelligent feeder anywhere, and 2D-coded nozzle anywhere. It further enhances production quality with thermal expansion compensation, board warp mapping, a 20- or 40-position direct pick tray tower, and closed-loop component monitoring with material verification, control and trace.

As always, manufacturers can scale production lines from low to high volume depending on production needs while conserving investments until production or technology requirements mandate. OEMs and EMS providers can reconfigure the machine heads in minutes—maximizing flexibility, accelerating ROI, and protecting investments. The NPM-W2S also incorporates existing CM Series Panasonic feeders and nozzles to minimize capital investment and reduce inventory expense.