Apr 20, 2011 
Essemtec, a leading manufacturer of surface mount technology production equipment, announces that it has been awarded a 2011 NPI Award in the category of Component Placement – Multi-function for its Cobra. The award was presented to the company on a Tuesday, April 12, 2011 ceremony that took place at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Convention Center in Las Vegas during IPC APEX 2011.
Cobra is the second generation of assembly systems based on ePlace, the new software designed entirely by Essemtec based on the company’s eez-technology. ePlace has been fully developed in .net, uses an integrated database, and offers a modern, interactive, intelligent and intuitive tool for controlling all parameters. Additionally, Cobra is the world's most modern SMD pick-and-place machine and the first SMD pick-and-place system to combine the advantages of a highly flexible pick-and-place with the throughput of a multi-axes placer.
The system is equipped with the best that today's drive and material technologies have to offer. Linear motors, a high-speed bus and signal processing system, carbon fiber parts, and a mineral compound base are a selection of the many features that make Cobra fast, reliable and extremely precise. Cobra offers an 8-axes placement head in which each of the axes can place the full range of components that range from 01005 to 80x70 mm. Additionally, the system has a capacity of up to 240 feeders with 220 feeders in inline mode. The placement area is specified at 23.6 x 23.6" and placement speed is rated at 20,000 cph (IPC-9850). Cobra is not only fast, but flexible as well.
Premiering in 2008, the NPI Awards program is an annual celebration of product excellence in electronics surface mount assembly. Premier products based on the finest examples of creative advancement in technology are chosen by a distinguished panel of industry experts.
Essemtec is a worldwide leader in the manufacture of Surface Mount Technology (SMT) production equipment. Essemtec specializes in high mix production equipment for printed circuit boards (PCB) using Surface Mount Technology.
Essemtec is the only manufacturer to cover the entire production process, from printers and/or dispensers, to pick-and-place and soldering equipment. Therefore, customers benefit from unparalleled knowledge and the ability to select, from a single source, a complete process solution to meet their requirements.
