In recent years, surface mount technology contract manufacturer MRP Electronics (Bedford, England) has been investing in both facilities and equipment to meet growing demand in the telecommunications, information technology and medical sectors. As part of this evolution, MRP has been switching from low-volume contracts to mid-volume manufacturing, with batch runs typically in the 1,500 to 2,000 range.
Two years ago, the company moved into a newly refurbished 30,000-square-foot workspace. In early 2004, it installed an AX-5 chip and integrated circuit placer from Assembléon, formerly Philips Electric Manufacturing Technology (Veldhoven, Netherlands) to boost both productivity and flexibility. The AX-5 is part of Assembléon's recently introduced A-series, which also includes the AX-3 chip and IC placer, and the AQ-1 multifunctional placer.