Tower-XL Stores More 13 Reels

Tower is a fully automatic, modular and secure storage system for SMD components. Electronics manufacturers can reduce logistics cost by installing Towers near the pick-and-place machines. As such, machine operators can store components and retrieve them from stock just where they are needed.

The Tower-XL can store a maximum of 336 reels with 13 diameters, where the conventional Tower can store only 196. The footprint of the Tower-XL is 12 cm (4.7) wider, which offers the additional room for larger reel storage cassettes. In total, the new Tower can store 406 trays and reels (7 and 13). When storing a reel, the Tower controls reel diameter and barcode. The access time for each reel is less than 12 seconds.

The Tower system includes stock management software with modules for job planning and tracking of MSL classified components in addition to other features. With one mouse click, it can dump all components for a machine, resulting in significantly fewer hours of setup time compared to conventional storage methods.