KLH Electronics
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KLH Electronics
KLH Limited was formed in the late 1980s, quickly growing to become a premium provider of through hole assembled components for a wide range of industries. This included subcontract work as well as our own range of bespoke products. We became a PLC in 1998 but remain family owned and operated. The company expanded steadily over the next 20 years, by the start of 2001, the company had over 50 employees, moving to a 15,000 square feet purpose built facility in 2 acres of grounds. In 2003, the company decided it was time to switch the companies direction from conventional and into surface mount technology. This was driven by market forces and by the ever increasing labour rate and of course the ultimate threat from China with its vast resources of cheap labour. Several companies were contacted during the initial investigations, Europlacer being highlighted as the one offering the most complete package in terms of equipment, training and above all the high level of support ( which we needed initially ). The decision was finalised in February 2004 to order a Flexys 8 from Europlacer with a Speedprint 200 semi-auto stencil printer. Coupled with a CXE1500 oven from Reddich, we had the basis of a low/medium placement system. Over the next 12 months, our designers quickly migrated our products to surface mount and, along with our sub-contract customers, the company quickly switched almost 80% of its workload over to surface mount. During January of 2005, it became apparent that the placement rate of 8,000 components per hour was now becoming the limiting factor within the business, this starting to require long working days and in itself causing planning / production issues. Consequently, the decision was made to order the newly announced Xpress 25 Tornado 2 chip shooter from Europlacer and incorporate this into our line. This now provided a more tenable 33,000 placements per hour. During July 2004, we identified the need for a fully automatic stencil printer and broached the subject with Speedprint. Offering an excellent deal to take back the original printer, we opted for a Speedprint 200 AVI, its optical alignment and inspection taking the company forward further into uBGA and flip-chip capabilities. During 2005, we acquired Prelude Electronics taking the decision not to adopt the DEC 265 stencil printer or the Panasert range of pick and place equipment they currently operated. In early 2006, we have identified the need for a mid-range machine, again choosing Europlacer for the Flexys-10, this offering the flexibility of a wide range of components and yet sill capable of handling the uBGA, CSP, Flip chip, 0201 and LLP packages we need to place. At the same time, we identified the problem of vibratory stick feeders slowing the lines down when we are unable to secure product on tape and reel and therefore took the decision to invest in two 8 lane belt feeders to improve the throughput rate. We now have some 285 feeders, 32 lanes of IC feeders, 20 matrix trays at our disposal. At current expansion rates, it is likely that by June/July of this year, we will need an additional machine, either an Xpress 15T or another Xpress 25T and probably a further 40 or so feeders. We are talking to some major users of volume electronics and depending on the outcome, we may be back for more before the end of the year. KLH would strongly recommend Europlacer to any serious electronics business whether they be a start up or a volume manufacturer, the combined knowledge within the company both in terms of sales knowledge, installation, technical and service support would become a major asset to any growing business. Accessibility when needed to technical support and importantly to the same people each time should not be underestimated when choosing a pick and place provider.
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