Article about low-end pick/place options

[Mike]

A bit USA oriented but mentions some European machines
http://lowpowerlab.com/blog/2014/07/14/pick-and-place-commercial-options/

[Gopher]

I'm not sure I follow all of his logic. Mechanical centering certainly allows for alignment on the fly by design which gives a slight speed boost but it has been ditched by just about everyone, there can only be a reason for that. Laser alignment is still successfully used even in high end machines often in combination with a camera that handles larger objects or BGA inspection a laser cannot handle. It sounds like someone was whispering evils in their ear to steer them towards something else. In high end systems I think lasers are used for co-planarity checks.
With the exception of Madell (I think there might be a European distributor in France) & the PPM updated QuadIV you can get all the models he looks at over here , Autotronik & Mechatronik are sold by TurnerElectronics and that hideous MDC thing can be had with Manncorp branding from Shawline and possibly with MDC branding from Mekko. The Dima machine he lists is something of an odd choice, I think they are virtually impossible to buy in the US and if they were available the ATOZ would be a more suitable model. Add two more nozzles to the MP-100 head and it becomes the MP-200 which also features on the fly vision.
The Essemtec model mentioned in passing is also an odd choice as they don't make it anymore. Their low end machine is the Pantera, built on the old FLX chassis (now Lynx) the difference between the two being feeders and software. My understanding of the older "CSM" models is that they are largely based on Essemtecs original platform and really did wear out with age, once they wear out they are scrap. FLX onwards use a much more robust steel chassis. Essemtec incentivise trading in so 2'nd user stuff is less common on the open market than the size of their install base would suggest.
However we do finally seem to be seeing the signs of the smaller DIY machine becoming a reality and ina few years who knows what they will manage.