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22 SMT Magazine • September 2014 PTH parts significant distances from the com- ponent body, allowing insertion without dam- age to the leads. Case Study 1 A customer had plated through-hole ca- pacitors that required two persons at manual stations to trim, form, insert and clinch the leads. This process cost the company not only time on the line, but the expense of two op- erators who cannot do any other jobs. The equipment vendor was asked if they could provide a machine that was capable of com- pleting the process. After an investigation pe- riod, the vendor responded with a quotation for a machine and feeder that could perform the process. The investigation required find- ing a feeding solution where through-hole components could be fed and trimmed for the robot to pick and place and then forming of the leads could occur (Figure 5). Creating a nozzle to pick the component from the feed- er, and finally a method to clinch the leads on the underside of the board was the key to the vendor's solution. A small machine with a camera system to identify through-hole leads accurately and a feedback system indicating proper insertion matched with the feeding system were an ideal solution for this custom - er (Figures 6 and 7). Case Study 2 A customer had a mass production require- ment of placing many connectors on a board of the same size and shape but different colors (Figure 8). The customer was experiencing many problems with this process. Manual operator stations were being used and the quality was not to standard. The operators for this station did not stay long so newly employed persons were making mistakes and having to be trained. If the product was changed many accidents by the operator occurred with incorrect place- ment. The proposed solution was to replace the manual operator station with a flexible robot that could have many different component in- puts, and high quantity supply. A stacking stick feeder that allowed for adjustment to varying sizes of sticks was provided (Figure 9). A robot that could accept multiple stick feeders and was flexible enough to handle many variations and could be quickly programmed with offline software was proposed to the customer. The re- sult of this proposal was the customer saw pro- A rObOt'S pLACe IN Smt continues feATure figure 7: ensuring proper insertion.