Bestronics wants to turn high-tech into low-tech with automation

On Wednesday, September 29, the interactive presentation 'Smart Industry makes reshoring really work' will start at 9:55 am in the Croesefoyer in the Jaarbeurs. This lecture is part of the overarching seminar on Electronics Production that takes place during the Electronics & Applications 2021 trade fair. In this lecture by Jan Van Lieshout from Smans (stand no. 7E034) and Anton van Limpt from Bestronics (stand no. 7D082) it is, among other things, about reshoring and improving efficiency.

Van Limpt is at the helm with his brother Hans Bestronics in Veldhoven. The printed circuit board assembly company has fully automated the production process in collaboration with Smans. The industry faces competition from Asia and Eastern Europe. When it comes to series of more than five hundred pieces, the market advice is to place these orders abroad. The reason? The wage costs of staff in Asia and Eastern European countries are much lower than in the Netherlands.

To compete with abroad, Van Limpt looked for a solution. “In Asia they work with the same systems as we use in Europe, but the biggest difference is the salaries. Personnel costs in the Netherlands are much higher than in China and this affects the price of the printed circuit boards. We have therefore decided to see how we can respond to this, so that we can also take on the production of large series. The solution turned out to be automation and robotization. Our customers can also come to us for larger orders and do not have to move to low-wage countries with all the advantages that entails,” Van Limpt explains.

Overhead is low
It was clear that working more efficiently was the solution. The credo is to do as much as possible with as few people as possible and that is why Bestronics entered into a partnership with Smans. The latter company is a total partner for high-end automation within electronics assembly. All processes within Bestronics are automated as much as possible. “Everything we do here must be done as efficiently as possible. We have simplified all business processes so that the staff can work with them and everything is clear. High-tech must be low-tech,” says Van Limpt. 

Everything we do in the factory has been carefully thought through, the director explains. “If we can work even more efficiently, we will ensure that this happens. If necessary, we develop the software or systems ourselves that make this possible. By continually investing in new equipment, we make a difference and keep production costs low. The overhead of our office is low. Purchasing is done digitally, so we need few staff. Thanks to these applications, we keep personnel costs low without sacrificing productivity and quality.”

Major expense item
There are four SMD lines for the production of printed circuit boards in Veldhoven and a fifth installation will be added soon. Smans supplied the equipment. This company is located in Turnhout, Belgium and is relatively close to Bestronics. “The lines are short. Our latest high-volume lines are from the Hanwha brand, based on their state-of-the-art HM520,” Van Limpt explains. “Each line is in the hands of a single employee. This person maintains an overview of the line and should only intervene if components need to be replenished, which is identified well in advance.”

The largest cost item lies in human error. Picking orders is a process where such errors can occur and that is why this process has been simplified within Bestronics. “We work with QR codes that our intelligent inventory system needs to grab the desired parts or components ourselves. These codes are error-free and the system works very quickly so that the order picking process can be reduced to five minutes. That saves a lot of time,” says Van Limpt.

Showroom
The post-processing of the plates has also been simplified. “In the past, our employees stickered the printed circuit boards manually, but from now on this is done by a machine. This way we save a lot of time. We have also made a lot of progress in the field of follow-up. All printed circuit boards undergo an inspection tour in which the machines detect errors. In the past, we had to employ a battalion of part-timers to check these records. Now that a machine has taken over this inspection round, the margin of error is virtually nil and the pace has increased considerably.”

Bestronics' efforts have not gone unnoticed. The factory in Veldhoven functions as a kind of showroom. “People can see how we work and what equipment we work with. We also carry out tests if desired,” says the director.

Presentation
The presentation given by Van Limpt and Van Lieshout at Electronics & Applications discusses the production process and the effect of automation in more detail. Photos give visitors a glimpse into the kitchen of Bestronics. The company from Veldhoven wants to make a difference by working as smartly as possible with advanced equipment.

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