We have been manufacturing 8051 based instruments for eight years and are approaching volumes where a small pick-and-place machine would probably be justified. Our PCB's already used surface mount components with 0805 size parts the smallest part being used and IC's with a pitch of 50 thousandths so an older used machine will work for us.

Does anyone here have any experience as to what make and model machines would be good candidates for us to look for and any idea of what a fair price would be? How many feeders we should start out with and how much they would cost?

The PCB size for 90% of our products is about 2" x 4" with approximately 8 IC's (PQFP44, SOIC-20, SOIC-16, SOIC-8) and 30-40 SMD 0805 & 1206 resistors and capacitors and SOT23 transistors and diodes per panel. There are 28 PCB's per panel. At the moment these are being hand placed using vacuum picks.

A Google search shows that there are plenty of SMT machines available but we have no experience as to which are reliable and easy/possible to repair and which to steer clear of. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Bert