Europlacer full-line installation boosts productivity at Cursey Technology

The firm, requiring exceptional manufacturing precision and quality, sought to enhance productivity. The new management team evaluated surface-mount assembly solutions in the market and selected Europlacer to facilitate its expansion and investment initiatives.

Previously, Cursey Technology operated two legacy surface mount lines but needed a more efficient solution. Europlacer provided a single surface mount line capable of surpassing the productivity of Cursey’s existing operations.

Europlacer emerged as the preferred choice following equipment demonstrations, site visits, and benchmark comparison tests. The decision to consider Europlacer’s equipment was influenced by a recommendation from an existing customer of the company.

Within weeks, the CEM was operating at a rate five to six times higher than the combined rate of the two legacy lines, using just one operator on the new Europlacer line.

Paul Barnett, Managing Director of Cursey Technology, commented: “It was a massive learning curve for us. The speed of the line is immense in comparison to our old lines. We have one board in particular where assembling 500 units would take several days, and sometimes a whole week. Now we run a batch of 500 of those boards in a few hours! It’s excellent news for the company.”

Production Manager Dan Weaver discussed the impact on the shop floor: “For me, it’s now far easier to manage the company’s production. We’ve doubled our job run rate and reduced the assembly time by between 50% and 75%. So we are now able to work some three weeks further ahead than before and can plan in the tougher jobs with ease.”

The primary goal of Cursey Technology's investment was to increase flexibility for existing customers, expand the range of work the company can undertake, and provide the capacity to accept more complex projects that the previous lines couldn’t support.

“We succeeded in hitting that goal,” says Paul Barnett. “So yes, we’re talking to our existing customers and proposing assembly projects to prospects in industries including medical, aerospace, solar energy, and EV technology.”

Paul Barnett believes that the productivity of the new Europlacer SMT line positions Cursey Technology well to pursue greater business opportunities.