Lawo is preparing for increasing product demand with its investment in a state-of-the-art, high-precision SMD production line from market leader Fuji Europe Corporation GmbH.
“As a manufacturer of top video and audio technology, we guarantee compliance with the highest production quality standards. After all, our products must provide our clients with years of reliable service around the clock,” explains Andreas Hilmer, Chief Marketing Officer at Lawo. “So it goes without saying that our manufacturing technology must also be the most modern the market has to offer.”
Lawo develops, manufactures and distributes advanced network, control, audio and video systems for TV and radio, industry, live sound and theater applications. These IP-based products are manufactured to the highest quality standards at the company’s headquarters in Rastatt, Germany, where Lawo employs about two-thirds of its approximately 300 worldwide employees. Lawo products and solutions have become the market’s choice for high-profile events such as World Cup championships or Formula 1 races, where only the highest audio and video signal quality and 100% reliability will do.
To meet these demanding requirements, Lawo has invested in three new Fuji AIMEX-series pick-and-place machines, which can assemble around 30,000 components per hour of even the smallest component size, EIA 01005, equivalent to twice the diameter of a human hair.
Stefan Janssen, Managing Director of Fuju Europe Corporation GmbH explained: “AIMEX IIIc is a machine platform that enables any type of production and changes in the package shapes used. It supports in one machine the processing of smallest chip components up to large components. At the same time, it is possible to easily ramp up new productions or react to changes in package shapes. This creates a high degree of flexibility.”
Christian Lukic, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Lawo is justifiably proud. “With this significant investment of around one million euros in our Rastatt production line, we are securing Lawo’s future viability as a manufacturer of high-quality hardware products and ensuring that we can continue to map the full vertical range of manufacture within the company. This enables us to remain independent in the future, and to ensure our quality standards as befits a premium manufacturer of broadcast and media technology.”
The new production line also includes an integrated vapor phase soldering furnace and automated component storage cabinets, which save working time and space and extend the shelf life of parts and components.
“This sophisticated new production line works much more precisely than its predecessor,” says Lukic. “It reduces the possibility of errors nearly to zero and reduces setup times while significantly increasing placement speed — a clear step towards Lawo’s continued successful future.”
