Investing in agility

Wilson Process Systems has increased its range of services for 2020, adding new plant and a fast track RFQ portal to further increase agility and responsiveness to customer requirements Contract electronics manufacturer, WPS, recognises that it is essential to offer customers the latest and best technology, plant and equipment to manufacture client products. The company’s latest improvement has therefore been to add a fifth production line to its surface mount facility. The new line consists of an Ekra X4 SI IPAC enabled solder paste printer, a Soltec 7038 reflow oven and a Universal Fuzion OF1-11 oddform assembly machine. Reliable odd-form assembly Not only does this investment increase WPS’s surface mount capacity to almost a quarter of a million placements per hour, it also adds additional odd-form assembly capability. The new Fusion machine has a surface mount capacity of 16,500 component placements per hour from 0201 up to 150mm², 25mm tall components and can also assemble a full array of throughhole components, including connectors, sockets, transformers, heatsinks and many other component types. Manufacturing director at WPS, Steve Russel, commented: “We are delighted with the new machine, which is a great upgrade for our surface mount facility, but the added ability to machine place a full array of through-hole components as a fully automated process is a huge bonus in adding repeatability and assured quality for our customers.” Quicker cost enquiries WPS has also added a new ‘Get a Quote’ portal to its website, which was the brainchild of sales manager, Steve Cooke. Steve’s background is in the component distribution market where he recognised that most distributors have on-line portals that allow customers to quickly and efficiently make enquiries for costs and component lead-times, without the need for personal interaction. Steve duly set about establishing a similar portal for PCB assembly quotations, in order to simplify and streamline the process. Steve commented: “For some time I have had a vision of a user-friendly RFQ portal where OEMs, engineers and purchasers can visit our website and, in just a few clicks provide the basic information and upload the files necessary to obtain a no obligation quote for PCB assemblies and box-builds.” WPS materials manager, Nigel Starkey, added: “I believe this is an exciting step forward for buyers, simplifying benchmarking and sourcing activities, with the added confidence that WPS’ highly experienced quotation team will always ensure best value and that only fully franchised, high quality materials are used.” The new ‘Get a Quote’ service is now live on the WPS website and is already getting a good reception. In order to increase its face-toface engagement with new and existing clients, WPS has also decided to increase its exhibition presence in 2020 and has recently been showcasing its services at Southern Manufacturing in February. The company has also booked stands at PCB Design and Manufacture Live in March and SUBCON in June.