EPP Europe P2.2022

PCB & ASSEMBLY «
Source: ED&A
Source: ED&A
Part of the production opened in 2012: an Ersa stencil printer
View of the ED&A production – at the front: the Ersa Hotflow 3/14e reflow soldering system
One person was central to the transformation: Eric
Vets. Vets joined ED&A in November 2011, and
brought with him many years’ experience of electronics
production working for a large mobile phone
manufacturer where he had become very familiar
with Ersa systems (provided via Belgian representative
Smans NV). After one day on board, Eric and
the ED&A team went to the Productronica trade
show in Munich to see the Ersa portfolio up close.
Shortly afterwards, they ordered a Hotflow 3/14e reflow
machine, a Versaflow 3/45 selective machine, a
Versaprint 2 stencil printer and an HR 600 Rework
System. Driven by Eric, ED&A went on to invest in a
top-class machine park with state-of-the-art soldering
systems, which, among other things, enabled full
inline X-ray inspection of every PCB and comprehensive
digitization of production with traceability down
to the component level.
“Of course, it was a big challenge to begin an electronics
manufacturing operation from scratch – we
actually had zero experience until we started production
in the fall of 2012,” Gert D´Handschotter recalls.
“Eric and his extensive experience in electronics
manufacturing were worth their weight in
gold for ED&A, it was an absolute win-win situation
for everyone involved – otherwise it would have been
very difficult to get such a production up and running,”
says Tom Berx, Ersa Sales Manager responsible
for Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg at the
time. Eric retired in 2017, but he, together with the
ED&A team, had initiated a development that allowed
the company to grow to its current size. “The local
support from the Smans team, who is not far away
with its headquarters in Turnhout, was invaluable,
especially at the beginning,” says D´Handschotter.
For every machine ED&A has ordered, quality has always
been the most important factor. This is where
Eric´s expertise came in, as he had had the most experience
with high-quality machines. “Our goal with
our own production was to become the leader in
terms of production quality in Belgium. We succeeded
in this, and the Ersa systems we ordered initially
and subsequently have contributed significantly
to this,” D´Handschotter adds.
More flexibility, more speed
Since starting its own production line, the company
has reduced lead times by more than 60%
while increasing product quality by a factor of 10
(compared to its previously outsourced manufacturing
model). A few years after starting, the selective
Versaflow 3 machine was exchanged for the larger
Versaflow 4 model with four solder pots and two flux
“After ten years, we have gotten to know
each other well, have a stable business
partnership and know what our teams
and systems are capable of – we are
looking forward to the next decade and a
strong continued cooperation.”
Gert D´Handschotter, Managing Director, ED&A
heads (at that time, the first system of its kind in
Belgium). The highly modular character of the large
4/55 machine offers a great deal of freedom of configuration
and meets high process and qualitative
productivity standards. This results in reliably repeatable
solder joints, as well as complete documentation
of all individual process parameters.
EPP Europe » 11 | 2022 31